THE Cebu Electricity Rights Advocates (Cera) warned that the province’s ongoing power shortage could worsen following recent earthquakes that disrupted supply lines and slowed recovery efforts.
More than 64,000 households have been affected by power outages, prompting calls for immediate intervention and local government support for essential resources such as generators and fuel. Hospitals and water districts have also been hampered by the outages, raising public health concerns.
“We should learn from the lessons left behind by the devastation of previous earthquakes,” said Cera convenor Nathaniel Chua. “A resilient energy plan must be materialized because we should expect the possibility of more natural disasters to occur.”
The Visayas grid issued a yellow alert following the 6.9-magnitude Cebu earthquake on Sept. 30, 2025, signaling critically low reserves. The Cebu Electric Cooperative rushed to restore power in at least two municipalities.
Cera urged the Department of Energy and local government units to fast-track local energy generation projects and reduce reliance on imported power from outside the island. “We need consumers to demand local power development to end dependence on sources from other regions,” Chua added.
Cebu’s power demand continues to exceed supply, with a 100-megawatt (MW) shortfall projected by 2027. Local generation capacity stands at 1,123 MW, still below peak consumption levels.
Currently, Cebu relies on imported power from the Visayas grid to fill the supply gap. However, Cera warned that the province remains vulnerable to brownouts if submarine cables are damaged by earthquakes or typhoons, which could trigger more frequent outages and a potential red alert status.
“The aftermath of the earthquake shows how fragile our power infrastructure remains,” Chua said.
“Unless we strengthen local generation, the next disaster could plunge Cebu into an even deeper energy crisis.” / KOC