NGCP Faces Investigation After Transmission Outages Cut Power To Millions
- May 18, 2026
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The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) have ordered the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to submit a full incident report and face a technical investigation following transmission line failures that triggered widespread power supply disruptions in Luzon and the Visayas from May 12 to 14.
The outages, which prompted repeated red and yellow alert declarations, led to rotating brownouts affecting hundreds of thousands of consumers and exposed vulnerabilities in the country’s transmission network and generation reserves.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the government was demanding “full technical disclosure, clear accountability and immediate corrective action” after the tripping of two major 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission corridors carrying about 12 percent of Luzon’s electricity supply.
Transmission Line Trippings
The DOE identified the May 13 tripping of the Tayabas-Ilijan and Ilijan-Dasmariñas 500-kV transmission lines as the main trigger behind the supply crisis.
The incident disconnected about 2,462.1 megawatts (MW) of natural gas-fired generation capacity from the Luzon grid, including the Ilijan power facility and several units of Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (EERI).
Compounding the situation, Masinloc Unit 3, which supplies 325 MW, also went on forced outage during the same period.
The DOE said the transmission disturbance prevented electricity transfers from Luzon to the Visayas at a time when the Visayas grid was already operating under critical supply conditions due to high demand and limited reserves.
NGCP data showed Visayas available capacity at 2,568 MW against peak demand of 2,413 MW, leaving only a thin operating margin.
The grid operator implemented manual load dropping or rotational power interruptions in parts of Luzon for about an hour, while red and yellow alerts remained in effect in portions of the Visayas, including Metro Cebu.
Widespread Power Interruptions
The NGCP’s red alert declaration on the Luzon grid affected more than 200,000 customers in parts of Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, and Rizal.
Meralco, meanwhile, said around 900,000 customers across Metro Manila and nearby provinces were affected by Thursday’s red alert before electricity service was fully restored later that night.
To help stabilize the grid, Meralco activated around 250 MW of deloading commitments under its Interruptible Load Program. However, the distribution utility warned that additional rotating outages could still occur if supply conditions worsened.
NGCP said the Luzon grid remained under red alert from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, with yellow alert raised during adjacent hours as available capacity fell to 12,075 MW against peak demand of 12,927 MW.
The situation deteriorated further after the tripping of GNPower Dinginin Unit 1, which removed another 668 MW from the grid.
Seeking Accountability
In response, Garin directed the Grid Reliability Task Force (GRTF) to conduct a technical assessment of the transmission disturbances and determine their root causes.
The GRTF is composed of the DOE, ERC, Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).
The DOE also ordered NGCP to submit detailed operational data, incident reports, and technical findings related to the outages and grid alerts.
Among the information required are the exact dates and duration of the alerts, affected areas, reserve and demand levels, facilities that experienced forced outages or deratings, corrective measures undertaken, restoration timelines, and coordination efforts with government agencies and power generators.
“The DOE is focused on ensuring stable power supply, protecting consumers, and enforcing accountability across the power sector,” Garin said.
“The public deserves a full and transparent accounting of the incidents that led to these grid alerts,” she added.
The DOE said its technical teams were independently verifying whether NGCP and concerned generation companies complied with dispatch instructions and restoration timelines during the alert period.
The ERC separately emphasized that under existing regulations, NGCP is required to submit an initial report within 60 minutes from the occurrence of any major system disturbance.
ERC Verifies Grid Operations
ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Francis Saturnino Juan personally visited the System Operations Command Center to assess grid conditions and validate operational information.
“Consumers deserve a clear and comprehensive account of the incidents behind the alert declarations,” Juan said.
“Visiting the System Operations Command Center enabled us to closely observe the situation and ensure that the commission bases its actions on verified information rather than assumptions,” he added.
NGCP said investigations into the incidents were already underway and assured the public that efforts were focused on maintaining grid stability while supply conditions normalize.
The grid operator also confirmed that the affected Tayabas-Ilijan and Dasmariñas-Ilijan transmission lines had already been restored, although several generating units had yet to fully synchronize with the grid.
As of Friday, NGCP reported that 17 power plants had remained on forced outage since the start of May, while several others continued to operate on reduced capacities, resulting in a total of 4,828 MW unavailable to the Luzon grid.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17Y8kFc9HV
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2229769/energy-chief-probes-outages-in-ph-grids
https://tribune.net.ph/2026/05/14/grid-fault-blamed-as-outages-persist
