THE power industry’s regulatory body said it has ‘exhausted all possible legal ways’ to bring down electricity rates. Its only remaining options are to extend the no-disconnection policy and order staggered payments.
‘We have actually exhausted all possible options to provide relief to our consumers,’ said ERC Chairperson Francis Saturnino Juan on Thursday.
In a recent push for consumer relief, the ERC facilitated the exemption of allowable system loss charges from value-added tax (VAT).
Juan said the commission will announce next month if it will extend the suspension of electricity service disconnections for non-payment of electricity bills of residential customers. The ERC earlier ordered the extension of the disconnection moratorium for non-payment of electricity bills covering the period August to October 2026.
‘We will revisit the no-disconnection policy after it expires this October; moving forward, we can focus on residential customers, while larger clients-such as industrial and commercial accounts-will be expected to pay their bills on time. We will make an announcement as early as October so that everyone can prepare accordingly,’ he added.
Juan said the moratorium and its possible extension apply not only to the Visayas and Mindanao-where electricity spot market prices have shot up to their highest levels yet-but also in Luzon, since power generation charges remain significantly high there, necessitating staggered payment options.
‘For those requesting staggered payments-especially those who have already entered into arrangements with their suppliers for deferred or installment-based settlements-we will allow or approve such arrangements,’ said the ERC chief.
He also recognized the plight of smaller power distribution firms. Many electric cooperatives are facing financial difficulties-specifically cash flow issues-because customer payments are being delayed, yet they still have to make advance payments to suppliers and power generators, placing a strain on these utilities.
But the ERC can only do so much to help consumers lower their electric bills without being unfair also to the distribution and generation players.
Juan said the largest portion of the bill is the generation component, which fluctuates based on current demand and supply conditions.
Even bilateral contracts are facing adjustments due to rising fuel costs. ‘It’s really difficult to intervene because doing so would be tantamount to price control. This would negatively impact the market, as we are trying to promote competition yet finding ourselves intervening every time generation charges spike,’ Juan said.
On Thursday, the Visayas grid was placed on red alert again from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
A red alert status is issued when power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.
The yellow alert was also raised from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.
A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.
The number of yellow and red alerts for Visayas since the start of the year reached 1,111 and 44, respectively.
The grid’s available capacity as of press time reached 2,292 megawatts (MW) while peak demand stood at 2,495 MW.
There are 17 plants on forced outage this month-3 plants since August, 2 plants since June, 6 plants since May, 3 plants since 2025, 2 plants since 2024, 2 plants since 2023, and 1 plant since 2021, while 17 plants are running on derated capacities-which could have delivered a total of 949.9 MW to the grid.