DOE Presses NGCP For Full Transparency After Widespread Outages
- May 18, 2026
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On May 13, 2026, sudden brownouts swept across parts of Luzon, disrupting daily life with little to no warning. Nearly two million customers of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) were affected by power interruptions that lasted around two to three hours, stretching from the afternoon into the evening as the Luzon grid was placed under red alert.
Meralco reported that it was directed by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to implement manual load dropping (MLD) in response to the emergency condition. The directive followed NGCP’s declaration of a red alert status over the Luzon grid, citing critically thin operating reserves.
According to NGCP, the alert was triggered after a total of 3,942.8 megawatts (MW) became unavailable due to forced outages across multiple power plants, sharply reducing available capacity and pushing the system into tight supply conditions.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) highlighted that the grid emergency stemmed from a series of transmission line trips at around 6:00 a.m., with the Ilijan–Dasmariñas line going offline, followed by the Ilijan–Tayabas line, effectively isolating the Ilijan Gas-to-Power Complex from the Luzon grid and prompting a Red Alert in Luzon and a Yellow Alert in the Visayas. The agency described it as “a cascading impact that underscores the severity of the transmission failures involved.”
(Also read: Grid Failures Spark Emergency Power Interruptions Across Luzon And Visayas)
Seeking Accountability
Public frustration among affected consumers was largely directed at Meralco, as the most familiar name reflected in their electricity bills.
However, the DOE issued a statement shifting attention to perceived shortcomings in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). It called for full disclosure on the back-to-back tripping of the 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines at the Ilijan power complex in Batangas, which cut off a major generation facility from the Luzon grid and caused grid emergency alerts in both Luzon and the Visayas.
“These transmission failures had real consequences on grid stability and placed millions of consumers at risk,” asserted DOE Secretary Sharon Garin. “The public deserves full and immediate transparency from NGCP. The DOE will ensure that all operational, reportorial, and regulatory obligations are strictly enforced in protection of consumers.
A key regulatory concern is NGCP’s failure to promptly declare and report the Ilijan–Dasmariñas line trip to the appropriate authorities at the time of the incident, despite its significance and its immediate strain on the grid. In a statement issued on May 14, the DOE stated, “NGCP has not submitted the required incident report identifying the root cause or causes of the 13 May 2026 tripping events, in violation of its obligations under the Philippine Grid Code.”
NGCP is required to disclose key operational details for each alert, including the date, time, duration, and affected areas; the causes of the Ilijan line trips and ensuing supply shortfalls; and the generating units, transmission lines, and facilities that went offline, were derated, or saw reduced availability. It must also report reserve and demand levels at the time, the load management measures implemented, the restoration timeline, and coordination with the DOE, Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), and generation companies.
The DOE further noted that under ERC Resolution No. 13, Series of 2010, NGCP is required to submit an initial report within 60 minutes of any system disruption.
“I will refer this to ERC…and I think they’ve started it, to reprimand them,” stated Garin during a radio interview on May 15. “Kung anuman ang consequence niyan because meron na silang obvious violation just without reporting.” (Whatever the consequence of that may be, since there is already an obvious violation, just without reporting.)
NGCP Provides Initial Explanation
The NGCP seemed to highlight generation-side constraints and tight reserve margins, reporting that in Luzon, 17 power plants have been on forced outage since May, with one unit offline since April, three since March, three since January, and one since February.
Meanwhile, in the Visayas, 15 plants have been on forced outage since May, while one has been out since March. The grid operator also noted that available capacity in the Visayas stands at around 2,379 MW, while peak demand is projected to reach 2,574 MW, indicating a potential supply shortfall during peak periods.
In the same May 15 radio interview, NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza acknowledged a transmission tripping incident on May 13, noting that it was restored within 12 hours. She added that full power restoration would depend on when the plants return online.
But Garin said it was precisely because the NGCP line tripped that the power plants were disconnected from the grid. “Nawala ang ibang planta dahil na-cut off ng grid…ang epekto niyan is up to Visayas kasi ang Visayas, dependent din sa Luzon power…so ngayon, di na maka-export si Luzon sa Visayas,” she said. (“Some plants went offline because they were cut off from the grid…the impact reaches as far as the Visayas since the Visayas also depends on Luzon power…so now, Luzon can no longer export to the Visayas.”) “Ang mga planta na nag-down, it will take them hours, some even days, to go back online. Kapag binigla natin, baka buong grid ang bumagsak.” (“The plants that went down will take hours, and some even days, to come back online. If we rush it, the entire grid might collapse.”)
Meanwhile, DOE Undersecretary Mario Marasigan stressed that despite the tripping incident, the NGCP did not provide timely updates, leaving the DOE unable to properly forecast when power would be restored.
“May problema for the last 2 days, they should have provided early report and in fact, we have written them to provide the DOE the full account of what have transpired that triggered the yellow and red alerts,” he emphasized.
The NGCP also pointed to rising demand as a contributing factor, noting that scheduled power interruptions could still be lifted if actual demand falls below forecast levels. It urged consumers to help ease pressure on the grid through continued energy conservation.
However, a Philstar opinion article asserted that reducing electricity consumption “is easier said than done,” citing Cebu’s heat index reaching 42°C, classified under the danger level by the state weather bureau.
“That belongs in the danger category, and the state weather bureau said that people out in the open may be in danger of heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and even heat stroke,” stated the article, stressing that in such conditions, higher electricity consumption is both necessary and unavoidable.
By May 16, NGCP reported that grid conditions had normalized, attributing the improvement to lower weekend demand and the return of several major generating units. These included Unit 1 of GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., which added 668 MW, and Units 2 and 3 of Excellent Energy Resources Inc., which restored 422 MW and 420 MW, respectively, bringing a total of 1,510 MW back into the system.
The transmission operator added that it is targeting the completion of seven major infrastructure projects in 2026, with a combined estimated value of about ₱18.5 billion.
It can be recalled that in December 2024, the ERC imposed a ₱15.8 million fine on NGCP over unjustified delays in 34 transmission projects. National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) officials reported that NGCP had completed only 29% of its 258 targeted projects, with some delays stretching beyond nine years.
Among the most cited cases was the Panay–Negros–Cebu interconnection, initially scheduled for completion in December 2020 but only energized in April 2024. Lawmakers have argued that such delays contributed to the major Panay Island blackout in early January 2024, saying the outage could have been avoided had the backbone transmission project been completed on time.
(Also read: Brownouts and Broken Economies: The Crisis Facing Philippine Island Tourism)
Calls for Reforms
Luzon, which accounts for nearly half of the Philippines’ 116 million population and most of its economic output, has been hit by outages during the year’s peak heat period when demand for cooling is at its highest. The disruptions also came amid a temporary four-day work week in government offices following heightened global tensions from the Iran–US–Israel conflict.
The commercial sector has also pushed for long-term infrastructure reforms in the wake of the economic disruptions caused by the outages. Ahead of the grid collapse, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Perry Ferrer called on both government and industry players to take decisive action to strengthen the country’s energy system.
“What we need now is the will — the political will, the institutional will, the collective national will — to act with the decisiveness that this moment demands,” declared Ferrer.
According to the Philstar opinion article, there is no single or straightforward solution to the recurring power challenges. “But what’s sure is that the solutions will have to address three things: our lack of power plants, the way we use electricity, and even things we can do to help address climate concerns,” it stated. “And that’s because the summer getting this hot and forcing people to use more electricity isn’t normal, but the product of a climate that’s changing for the worse.”
But for now, the DOE is focused on determining accountability for the incident.
“The public deserves a complete accounting of incidents of this magnitude,” said Garin. “We will ensure that all operational, technical, and compliance dimensions are fully examined and that appropriate actions are taken where warranted,” she added.
Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18g23SVxKC
https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2026/05/16/2528356/editorial-red-alert
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1242494
https://mb.com.ph/2024/1/9/ngcp-project-delays-caused-massive-panay-blackout-solon-says
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/566777/ngcp-to-formally-switch-on-visayas-power-interlink
