Visayas grid slips to yellow alert as coal units stay offline

CEBU CITY, Nov. 4, 2026 — The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas grid on yellow alert on Wednesday, Nov. 4, as several large coal-fired units remained unavailable and reserves fell short of the level the grid needs to absorb a sudden plant trip.

A yellow alert means that while available supply still exceeds expected demand, the operating margin is not enough to cover the grid’s contingency requirement. It does not by itself mean brownouts will occur.

NGCP’s advisory reported by SunStar set the alert from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., with available capacity of 2,799 megawatts (MW) against a projected peak of 2,586 MW. NGCP’s outage list showed numerous plants on forced outage, five of them since November and others dating back months or years, while 19 plants ran on derated capacity, together taking about 695 MW off the grid. NGCP cited the unavailability of Therma Visayas Inc. Unit 2 and Palm Concepcion Power Corp. as contributing factors.

Radio network DZRH, citing a 1:30 p.m. grid update, reported a longer window of 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., available capacity of 2,655 MW against demand of 2,551 MW, and about 833 MW unavailable. It linked the alert partly to the tripping of Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) Unit 3. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported the 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. window.

The alert came on the same day the Energy Regulatory Commission disclosed show-cause orders against 13 generation companies whose units exceeded allowable unplanned-outage limits, amid recurring supply problems in the Visayas and Mindanao. The Inquirer said rotational brownouts have occurred in the Visayas during the recent run of tight supply and limited imports from Mindanao.

What it means for consumers

Yellow alerts signal elevated risk of interruptions during evening peak hours. Visayas households and businesses may be asked to conserve power during those hours. Persistently tight supply also tends to raise spot-market prices that later appear in generation charges.