DOE: Visayas, Mindanao face threat of power supply shortage this summer

The Department of Energy (DOE) has assured that that power supply for Luzon during the summer season would be adequate, but this may not be the case for Visayas and Mindanao due to the impact of recent weather disturbances in the country.

According to DOE Secretary Sharon Garin, the government is monitoring the situation, particularly in Visayas and Mindanao, due to weather conditions such as the La Niña and the typhoons that have hit the power supply.

"For Luzon, there should be enough power supply. It's more in the Visayas area. Visayas, because of the problem in Visayas, then Mindanao will be affected because they export power to Visayas," she said in a  briefing.

"But we do have programs in place also to make sure that there won't be any blackouts in Visayas," she added, noting that reserves are being added to bunkers, along with rooftop solar and energy conservation programs.

An estimated 3.4 million households or 17 million individuals in the country were reported to have been without power in November, following the onslaught of tropical cyclone Uwan.

Garin said the problems also stem from the failure of projects to come in, particularly those under the Green Energy Auction Program, forcing the country to catch up with the demand. Figures on the projected supply and demand conditions are expected to be released by the end of the month.

"The whole DOE is working on it, assessing what we will do come summer 2026, or won't be a problem because we are addressing it, but it wouldn't have been a problem if the contracts came in," she said.

She also said the agency is working with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to ensure that planned outages do not coincide with the times that supply problems are expected in the Visayas region.

"We're actually overhauling our energy outlook, putting in more assumptions and recalculating everything, kasi nga may mga assumptions na hindi pa siguro dapat nakapasok du'n sa (because there were some assumptions that probably shouldn't have been included in the) energy outlook, but we'll be ready within a month," she said. — VDV, GMA Integrated News