Energy consumers were warned of potential brownouts on Thursday as the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed both the Luzon and Visayas grids under red and yellow alerts due to a critical shortfall in power supply.
The NGCP clarified the severity of these alerts, noting that a red alert is triggered when:
“Power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.”
A yellow alert follows when the:
“Operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.”
In Luzon, available capacity stands at 12,479 MW, failing to meet the peak demand of 12,595 MW. The grid will be under red alert from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with yellow alerts scheduled for the surrounding hours. Similarly, the Visayas grid faces a deficit with only 2,413 MW available against a 2,541 MW peak demand, triggering a red alert between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The crisis is largely attributed to a massive number of plant failures. In Luzon alone, over 4,200 MW is currently unavailable.
“17 plants are on forced outage since March 2026, 3 since 2025, 2 since 2024, and 1 plant out since 2019; while 14 plants are running on derated capacities.”
In the Visayas, the situation is mirrored by 866.7 MW being offline, with the NGCP reporting:
“11 plants are on forced outage since March 2026, 4 since 2025, 2 since 2024, 2 since 2023, and 1 plant out since 2021; while 12 are running on derated capacities.”
With reserves precariously thin and demand exceeding supply, the grid operator continues to monitor the situation to mitigate the impact of the supply deficiency.