Grid alerts, high WESM prices signal need for power system flexibility
Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities PRESS RELEASE QUEZON CITY, 01 June 2026 –– The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) emphasized that recurring grid alerts and sustained high prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) point to a fundamental gap in the Philippine power system: the lack of flexible generation capacity. Throughout May 2026, grid alerts have been repeatedly raised across Luzon and the Visayas, with multiple instances of yellow and red alerts declared due to thin operating reserves. These alerts have, at times, necessitated rotational blackouts in multiple areas across the country to keep the [...]
ICSC: Luzon and Visayas grid alerts underscore the strong need for a more resilient, distributed power system
Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities REACTIVE QUEZON CITY, 17 April 2026 –– The yellow alerts raised over the Luzon and Visayas grids yesterday highlight a recurring vulnerability in the Philippines’ power system: the country’s energy sector remains baseload-centric and relies on large power plants, making the grid more exposed to disruptions that affect Filipino households and businesses across the country. The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) has constantly emphasized that relying heavily on only a few large power plants makes the energy system less flexible and unreliable. Even short-term outages or plants operating below normal capacity [...]
Panay needs more diverse power mix [Inquirer.net]
by Meg Adonis | Jan 12, 2024 | Published by Inquirer | READ THE STORY HERE MANILA, Philippines —A diverse and flexible power-generation portfolio is needed to prevent another island-wide blackout that crippled Panay for three days l ast week, a climate and energy think tank said on Thursday. Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) pointed out that diversifying energy sources could make power generation in Panay more resilient and less susceptible to system failures, especially as the Western Visayas island relied heavily on coal-fired power plants to meet growing demand. “Given the recent blackouts in [...]
ICSC: Panay blackouts signal urgent need to reevaluate the island’s energy system
QUEZON CITY, January 11, 2024 – Residents of Panay, the sixth largest island in the Philippines covering the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo, and parts of Guimaras experienced large-scale blackouts from January 2 to 5 caused by the tripping of major coal-fired power plants. Local governments and business groups from Panay and Guimaras islands have called for an investigation, demanding accountability from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), Department of Energy (DOE), and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to address the incident. At the Senate energy committee hearing on January 10, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas [...]
Red alert status affirms urgent need for flexible, distributed power generation
QUEZON CITY, June 22, 2022 – Manila-based climate and energy policy group Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) reiterated the urgent need for flexible and distributed power generation in the Philippine power system as the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) raised a red alert status over the Luzon grid on Saturday, affecting over one million households in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. “While the June 18 transmission line tripping pushed the power system into the red alert level, the power system was already showing abnormal operation even weeks before, as indicated by the skyrocketing Wholesale Electricity Spot [...]