The National Electrification Administration (NEA) closed 2025 by highlighting its year marked with last-mile electrification projects, power system reforms, and emergency response efforts aimed at improving electricity access and reliability in rural and island communities.

In its year-end reflection, the state-run agency cited initiatives ranging from energizing off-grid public schools through solar power systems to intervening in troubled electric cooperatives as well as addressing chronic supply constraints in island provinces, despite operational challenges and natural disasters.

NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda emphasized the agency’s push for better service delivery, saying, “We need to make our services improved and reliable. That’s all that really matters… And that is one thing I want to inculcate to each and everyone… Let’s shift the paradigm already. We cannot keep doing what is good enough.”

Among the agency’s flagship efforts in 2025 was its work on electrifying geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, including last-mile public schools powered by solar energy systems developed by the University of the Philippines, in coordination with the Department of Education and local electric cooperatives.

NEA also pointed to reforms in power distribution and governance, including the creation of Task Force Metro Zamboanga to address operational issues at Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative, Inc., as well as measures to improve collections and curb electricity pilferage.

In island provinces, the agency cited coordinated efforts with national government partners to resolve long-standing power supply issues in Basilan and to modernize power distribution systems in Palawan, building on similar initiatives previously undertaken in Mindoro.

Crisis response was another major focus, with NEA highlighting its role in fast-tracking power solutions in Siquijor following prolonged outages, as well as deploying Task Force Kapatid lineworkers to assist electric cooperatives affected by strong typhoons in the latter half of the year.

As it reviewed its 2025 performance, NEA framed the year as a period of consolidation—drawing lessons from reforms, infrastructure upgrades, and emergency interventions as it continues to pursue reliable electricity access for rural communities.

How much should year-end assessments like NEA’s shape public expectations for power reliability and rural electrification going into the next year?

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