THE power grids in Visayas and Mindanao were placed on yellow and red alerts on Wednesday due to lack of power supply.
The red alert takes effect from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Visayas and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Mindanao. 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, which is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement, took effect from 1pm to 2 p.m. and from 10 p.m. to 11p.m. in Visayas. For Mindanao, the yellow alert was issued from 12 noon to 1 p.m., 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Visayas’ available capacity was at 2,139MW as against a peak demand of 2,555MW.
There are currently 8 plants on forced outage: 6 have been out since August 2026, 1 since July, 2 since June, 7 since May, 3 since 2025, 2 since 2024, 2 since 2023, and 1 since 2021. In addition, 14 plants are operating at reduced (derated) capacities. In total, 840.1 MW of generating capacity is unavailable to the grid.
The Mindanao grid’s available capacity stood at 2,526MW while peak demand reached 2,545MW.
Seven power plants are on forced outage, 13 plants since August, 4 plants since July, 1 plant since June, 2 plants since January, 1 plant since 2025, and 1 plant since 2024, while 7 plants are running on derated capacities, for a total of 855.1MW unavailable to the grid.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said it is actively coordinating with the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, NGCP, Energy Regulatory Commission, generation companies, and industry stakeholders to expedite the safe restoration of affected facilities and implement all available measures to stabilize the grid and protect consumers.