Manila: Senator Bam Aquino has expressed his support for Negros Occidental Representative Javier Miguel 'Javi' Benitez's call for a congressional investigation into the persistent rotational brownouts and soaring power costs in the Visayas region. Aquino emphasized that the ongoing energy crisis is severely impacting students, small businesses, and the overall economic stability of the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
According to Philippines News Agency, Representative Javi Benitez has officially filed House Resolution 1430, which mandates the House of Representatives Committee on Energy to scrutinize the cost and delivery of power reserves, assess grid reliability, and evaluate the status of existing power, energy storage, and transmission projects in the Visayas. Benitez voiced a collective appeal from the Visayas, urging the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, and the power generators to be accountable for the current situation.
Aquino highlighted the multifaceted consequences of these power outages and high electricity prices, framing them as not only an energy issue but also as significant challenges to education and livelihoods. He questioned how the learning crisis could be addressed when students are unable to study effectively due to frequent brownouts. Aquino also pointed out the detrimental impact on small businesses, which suffer operational losses during prolonged power interruptions.
The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines reported a rise in average spot market prices during the July 26 to August 25 billing period, with rates climbing to PHP18.59 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the Visayas and PHP19.56 per kWh in Mindanao. This increase was attributed to tighter supply margins, generating-unit outages, transmission constraints, and a dependence on higher-cost generation.
Benitez's resolution aims to investigate the financial burden on Visayas consumers related to ancillary services, identify the service providers who received payments, quantify the reserve capacity procured, and verify if reserves were delivered during red alerts. Aquino emphasized the urgency of resolving generation and supply issues to ensure ongoing economic growth outside Luzon.
In response to the crisis, the Energy Regulatory Commission has mandated the regional implementation of a secondary price cap for the Visayas and Mindanao grids, effective retroactively to the August 2026 billing period, as part of its consumer protection and market oversight responsibilities. Aquino urged for swift solutions to alleviate the hardships faced by residents in the Visayas and Mindanao, stressing the necessity of addressing the electricity generation problems to foster regional development.
