ILOILO City – A shortage in available power generation is driving power interruptions across the Visayas Grid, affecting not only power generators but also distribution utilities such as MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) as available supply continues to fall below demand.
Several power plants remain on forced outage, reducing the amount of electricity available to the grid. In the Visayas, TVI Unit 1, with a capacity of 169 megawatts (MW), is targeted to return to service by September 15, while PEDC Unit 3, with 150 MW, is expected to resume operations by October 3; CEDC Unit 1, which has an 82-MW capacity, returned to service on September 5.
In Mindanao, GNPk Unit 2 with 103 MW, TSI Unit 1 with 150 MW, and TSI Unit 2 with 150 MW are expected to return by September 20, September 19, and September 8, respectively.
The return of these generating units is expected to provide additional supply and help ease pressure on the grid.
MORE Power said the unavailability of sufficient electricity supply is affecting all distribution utilities connected to the Visayas Grid, including its operations in Iloilo City.
From May to September 2026, a total of 1,342.13 MW of load has been lost or deloaded due to insufficient supply, according to MORE Power.
“If there’s no supply, there’s nothing to distribute,” MORE Power said, explaining that distribution utilities can only deliver electricity that is available from the grid.
Thus, while distribution utilities are responsible for delivering electricity to consumers, the current interruptions are largely being triggered by constraints in generation supply upstream.
In simple terms, the problem starts when there is not enough electricity being generated to meet the total demand of consumers.
When several generating plants are unavailable, the supply becomes tighter, prompting the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to implement measures such as load shedding to protect the stability of the grid.
This means distribution utilities like MORE Power may have to reduce or temporarily interrupt electricity delivered to certain areas when instructed to do so or when supply conditions require it.
As a result, consumers experience rotational brownouts even though the distribution utility itself does not control the availability of power generation.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), a total of 253 MW in battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity is being deployed in 2026 across the Visayas to help address supply constraints and support grid stability.
This includes 63 MW in Cebu, 50 MW in Panay, 100 MW in Negros, and 40 MW in Leyte.
These battery systems are intended to provide additional flexibility to the grid by storing electricity and releasing it when additional supply is needed.
The situation highlights the importance of having sufficient and reliable generation capacity, particularly in Panay, where supply limitations can directly affect distribution utilities and their customers.
The expected return of offline generating units, together with additional energy storage capacity, is expected to help ease the generation deficit and reduce the vulnerability of the Visayas Grid to further power interruptions./PN
