House lawmakers clash with DOE over outages

Title House Lawmakers Clash with DOE Over Outages A Call for Priorit
Prioritizing Power Supply

The House of Representatives has challenged the Department of Energy (DOE) 
over recurring red and yellow alerts and rotational brownouts in the Luzon 
and Visayas grids. The lawmakers argue that the core problem lies in insuff
insufficient power supply rather than transmission failures alone.

During a joint hearing of the House Committees on Energy and Legislative Fr
Franchises, several members of the House pointed to generation shortfalls a
and plant outages as the main drivers of grid instability. Meanwhile, DOE o
officials maintained that multiple factors affect system reliability.

Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez emphasized that records pr
presented during the inquiry showed that the National Grid Corp. of the Phi
Philippines (NGCP) properly handled the May 13 transmission disturbance, re
restoring both affected 500-kilovolt lines within hours. He questioned what
what he described as an attempt to assign blame solely to NGCP for extended
extended grid alerts.

We should focus on increasing power supply rather than pointing fingers, 
Rodriguez said. Clearly, NGCP performed its duty. They reported the incide
incident, they fixed the lines, and they preserved the power supply that wa
was available.

Murang Kuryente Party-list Rep. Mark Artur Yap echoed the same position, pr
pressing DOE officials to explain whether reportorial compliance issues cou
could be responsible for rotating brownouts.

To the DOE, are you trying to tell me that the entire explanation for rota
rotating brownouts is that NGCP was not able to file its report on time? Y
Yap asked.

Yap highlighted the basic imbalance between supply and demand, saying that 
the recurring outages were better explained by generation deficiencies than
than administrative lapses.

The real issue is supply and demand. If supply is more than enough, why ar
are there rotating brownouts? he said.

Pangasinan 2nd District Rep. Mark Cojuangco criticized the government's lon
long-term energy direction, particularly the growing reliance on renewable 
sources without sufficient baseload support. He questioned the reliability 
of solar energy during peak evening demand and raised concerns over the cur
current limitations of battery storage technology in addressing nighttime d
demand.

Bad policy. The Philippine Energy Plan is a dream. You are making the publ
public hope for a failed dream, Cojuangco said.

DOE officials acknowledged that several plant outages following the May 13 
incident were separate and not caused by NGCP transmission line trips. They
They also confirmed regular coordination with NGCP on grid advisories and s
system alerts.

NGCP reiterated that both affected transmission lines were restored within 
hours and that grid stability was maintained during the disturbance.

The grid operator also noted that supply conditions were tight prior to May
May 13, with around 1,728 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity in Luzon on
on forced outage or derated, while the Visayas had about 857 MW unavailable
unavailable, placing the region under Yellow Alert even before the transmis
transmission incident.

Historical grid data cited during the hearing showed that from 2016 to 2025
2025, 235 out of 243 red alerts – equivalent to 96.7 percent – were linked 
to generation-related issues rather than transmission failures.

Lawmakers said the data show a growing consensus that the country's recurri
recurring power disruptions stem primarily from inadequate and unreliable g
generating capacity, rather than grid transmission performance alone.

Conclusion

The House lawmakers' call for prioritizing power supply is a crucial step i
in addressing the country's recurring energy woes. By focusing on increasin
increasing power supply rather than assigning blame, we can work towards a 
more stable and reliable energy system. As we move forward into 2026, it is
is essential that we prioritize concerns about the reliability of renewable
renewable sources and the limitations of battery storage technology.

Recommendations

1. Prioritize increasing power supply to address recurring outages.
2. Focus on generating capacity rather than transmission performance.
3. Develop a comprehensive energy plan that takes into account the limitati
limitations of renewable sources and battery storage technology.
4. Engage traditional crafts enthusiasts in discussions about energy securi
security and reliability.

Call to Action

Let's work together to create a more stable and reliable energy system. Sha
Share your thoughts on prioritizing power supply and what you think is the 
most effective way to address recurring outages.

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Edward Lance Arellano Lorilla

CEO / Co-Founder

Enjoy the little things in life. For one day, you may look back and realize they were the big things. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.