THIS IS in light (pun intended) of the spate of Red Alerts, Yellow Alerts, and Manual Load Droppings that have plagued Panay, Iloilo City, and Iloilo Province since May, continued through June, and are still occurring this July.
We are, of course, talking about the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)-induced power interruptions ranging from one to two hours. The funny thing is that these outages have become so normalized that they now seem to be part of our daily lives.
A day almost feels incomplete without an announcement of a Red Alert or Yellow Alert, followed by Manual Load Dropping.
So, who should consumers blame for these inconveniences?
Certainly not Iloilo City’s sole power distribution utility, MORE Electric and Power Corporation, better known as MORE Power. These incidents are beyond its control and are certainly not profitable for the company, considering it cannot bill customers for electricity that was never consumed.
A case in point: MORE Power recently saved the city from what could have been a major power disaster — one that might have literally plunged Iloilo City into darkness.
Just last June, the Visayas grid experienced several widespread power interruptions. The Institute of Contemporary Economics (ICE) described these incidents as “not ordinary local outages” but major grid security events caused by thin reserve margins, large forced outages at power plants, and transmission constraints.
Of course, MORE Power could not prevent generation shortages affecting the national grid. However, its automated distribution network enabled operators to carry out feeder selection, load rotation, and service restoration more efficiently, helping ensure uninterrupted power to hospitals, schools, and other critical facilities.
According to ICE, MORE Power’s P2.65-billion modernization program played a crucial role in cushioning Iloilo City from the worst effects of the power crisis that rattled the Visayas over the past two months. The utility’s infrastructure upgrades enabled the city’s distribution system to better withstand a series of grid-stress events between May and June 2026.
With a P2.65-billion investment, it is quite obvious that MORE Power is committed to keeping the lights on. But what about the other party — the one responsible for managing the grid and transmitting electricity from power generators to distribution utilities?
Let’s take a closer look at last week’s power fiasco.
Last week, Iloilo City experienced more than the usual power outage. It began with an unscheduled interruption attributed to the NGCP), affecting several substations in Iloilo City and Iloilo Province. The situation later escalated into a Visayas Grid Red Alert after available generating capacity fell below projected peak demand.
As the day progressed, the situation deteriorated into a full reliability-chain event. NGCP’s subsequent advisory cited the tripping of the Iloilo–Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) 138-kilovolt Line 3, the resulting isolation of PEDC Unit 3, and the emergency shutdown of Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) due to a possible boiler tube leak as the factors that triggered the Red Alert declaration.
Power interruptions first affected areas served by MORE Power substations. These were later followed by Manual Load Dropping (MLD), which affected selected MORE Power feeders during the Red Alert period.
By early evening, MORE Power announced the complete restoration of all feeders affected by NGCP’s Manual Load Dropping within its franchise area. The company also said that power supply had normalized while it continued coordinating with NGCP and monitoring the situation.
Restoring power in just over an hour is a positive operational indicator. It shows that the incident was manageable and that MORE Power had a well-prepared restoration plan.
This also demonstrates that MORE Power’s implementation of Manual Load Dropping was not arbitrary. It followed a defensible operating strategy: avoiding the immediate re-curtailment of areas that had already been affected by the earlier outage, selecting feeders capable of meeting the required load reduction, and restoring affected feeders within — or even ahead of — the announced two-to-three-hour window.
What happened exposed the vulnerability of the Visayas grid, highlighting just how fragile the system remains and underscoring the shortcomings in grid management.
Meanwhile, MORE Power’s response and implementation of emergency measures appeared to be systematic, time-bound, and logically executed.
Indeed, well played./PN
