ILOILO City – The city government is pushing to bring three additional power-generation projects online in Iloilo and Guimaras as it seeks to reduce Panay Island’s vulnerability to recurring brownouts and strengthen a power system disadvantaged by its location at the “tail end” of the grid.
Mayor Raisa Treñas said the city is pursuing additional generation capacity from Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC), the expected entry of PH Natural Gas in Iloilo City, and a proposed 40-megawatt facility of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) Barge in Guimaras.
“Even while in Korea on official travel, we are still actively working on solutions to strengthen Iloilo’s power supply and, more importantly, build the redundancy that we need, especially that our region is growing so fast,” Treñas said.
The three projects could provide Panay with additional sources of electricity instead of leaving the region heavily dependent on existing generation facilities.
PEDC has committed additional generation capacity targeted to become operational by 2028, while the MORE Power Barge is targeted to become operational by the first quarter of 2027.
The push for additional generation comes as electricity interruptions and rotational brownouts continue to affect consumers and businesses across Panay.
“We are calling on the national government to help fast-track the approval process so they can immediately start construction,” Treñas said.
The mayor stressed that expanding local generation capacity has become increasingly important as Iloilo and the rest of Western Visayas continue to experience economic and population growth.
“These are the investments that we need to continue pursuing because we cannot depend on just one source of power,” she said.
Treñas particularly pointed to Panay Island’s position at the far end of the grid as a reason the island needs more generating facilities and alternative sources.
“It is very important that we have more generation, more sources, and more redundancy,” Treñas said.
She acknowledged the frustration among households and businesses over recurring electricity interruptions and rotational brownouts.
“We know how frustrating these continuing interruptions and rotational brownouts are for our people,” she said.
Treñas noted that the manual load shedding being implemented by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is beyond the city government’s direct control.
“Even though the manual load shedding being implemented by NGCP is not directly within the control of the city government, we will not simply wait,” she said.
Instead, the mayor said the city will continue courting power investors and coordinating with utilities, the private sector and other stakeholders to expand the region’s generation base.
For the city government, Treñas said the goal is to ensure that Iloilo’s power infrastructure keeps pace with its growth while reducing consumers’ exposure to disruptions in the regional grid./PN
