The Department of Energy (DOE) has ordered an urgent restoration of several power plants in the Visayas and Mindanao following consecutive yellow alerts triggered by reduced capacity and forced outages.

As of August 5, 14 plants in the Visayas are on forced outage, accounting for 385.1 megawatts (MW) of unavailable capacity. All the while, five others are operating below capacity, which reduces supply by another 348.4 MW. In Mindanao, 11 power plants are offline (558.8 MW), with three others derated (41 MW).

DOE Secretary Sharon Garin emphasized that delays in bringing these plants back online are no longer acceptable. Undersecretary Mario Marasigan has been assigned to coordinate with affected generation companies and fast-track restoration efforts.

The Visayas grid was placed under yellow alert for the third time this month, with peak demand on August 5 reaching 2,475 MW, which is just under the available capacity of 2,528 MW. Mindanao was placed under yellow alert on August 1 due to a narrow margin between peak demand and available capacity.

To ease grid pressure, the DOE activated the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) and called on distribution utilities and businesses to participate. Private utilities such as MORE Power and Visayan Electric Company (VECO) have confirmed readiness to implement ILP protocols.

“The smallest energy-saving action counts,” Garin said, urging the public and businesses to practice electricity conservation during peak hours to help maintain system stability.

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