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Gerry Lee Gorit - The Philippine Star
June 11, 2026 | 12:00am
The alert was hoisted from 3 to 4 p.m. and from 5 to 9 p.m., according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — The Mindanao grid was placed under yellow alert from noon to 3 p.m. yesterday as available power reserves fell close to projected electricity demand due to multiple power plant outages and high electricity consumption.
The National Grid Corp of the Philippines (NGCP) said the grid had an available capacity of 2,731 megawatts against a peak demand forecast of 2,611 MW during the alert period.
NGCP Mindanao spokesperson Mae Curiano said the alert was triggered by the reduced operating margin brought about by several plant outages, including the tripping of GNPK Unit 4 and the continued forced outage of major coal-fired generating units such as SEC Units 1 and 2 and SMC Units 1 and 2, which were affected by the recent earthquake.
Also contributing to the tighter power supply situation was the unavailability of FDC Unit 3 due to a boiler tube leak, along with the high demand forecast across the Mindanao grid.
As of yesterday, a total of 12 power plants were on forced outage, while three plants had remained offline since May 2026, one since September 2025 and two others since 2024.
Thirty-three power plants, on the other hand, were operating at derated capacities, resulting in a combined 1,259.9 MW of unavailable capacity in the Mindanao grid.
The insufficient power reserve was further compounded by the unavailability of large-capacity coal-fired power plants affected by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Mindanao.
“A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency reserve requirement, indicating a tighter power supply situation but not necessarily resulting in service interruptions,” NGCP Western Mindanao information officer Teotimo Rommel Icao said.
In the Visayas, the grid was placed yesterday under a red alert, with the government warning power companies behind prolonged plant outages of possible penalties.
The red alert took effect from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. after available supply was no longer sufficient to meet demand, according to NGCP. The situation later eased, with the alert downgraded to yellow from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
At least 25 power plants were on forced outage, while 12 others were operating at reduced output, cutting nearly 900 MW from the system.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the Visayas’ power situation remains a concern due to its dependence on electricity imports from Mindanao and Luzon.
Power bill to spike
The high power demand and tighter power supply situation also pushed electricity prices to rise sharply in May nationwide.
The system-wide Wholesale Electricity Spot Market rate surged by 38.5 percent to P7.79 per kWh in May from the previous month’s P5.63 per kWh, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines.
IEMOP vice president for trading operations Isidro Cacho Jr. said the extreme summer heat drove up electricity demand, placing additional strain on the system already challenged by multiple power plant outages. – Roel Pareño, Brix Lelis
