The Cebu City Government urged malls and large commercial establishments to join the Interruptible Load Program and use generator sets to ease strain on the Visayas power grid amid rotational brownouts.
Chief of staff Kenneth Siasar warned that continuing power supply issues could lead to a total blackout, while City Hall implemented internal energy-saving measures and advanced rooftop solar projects.
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines raised a one-hour red alert over the Visayas grid on September 7, alongside yellow alerts, as eight power plants remained unavailable.
THE Cebu City Government is urging malls and other large commercial and industrial establishments to participate in the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) and temporarily use their own generators to help ease the strain on the Visayas power grid amid continuing yellow and red alerts.
Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival has called on establishments capable of running on generator sets to reduce their reliance on electricity from the grid, particularly during peak hours and periods of tight supply.
Archival’s chief of staff, Kenneth Siasar, said the proposal was among the measures discussed by the mayor during meetings with power stakeholders as the city continues to experience rotational brownouts.
Power sharing
“The mayor is encouraging our malls and other establishments to reduce their drawn capacity by using their generators,” Siasar said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
He explained that the ILP is designed to lessen grid demand by having participating establishments temporarily shift to embedded power sources. The appeal comes as the Visayas power supply remains severely strained, forcing scheduled outages across Cebu City.
Under the current arrangement, power is prioritized for commercial and industrial establishments in the afternoon, when rotational brownouts affect residential areas from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Power is then redirected to households from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., while hospitals and gasoline stations receive continuous priority to safeguard essential public services.
Siasar noted that the staggered schedule prevents a widespread grid collapse.
“If we continue with the same power supply situation, a total blackout is possible. The damage would be worse than the rotational blackout we are implementing,” he said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
City conservation
Meanwhile, the City Government has implemented internal energy-saving measures across City Hall offices to lower municipal electricity consumption.
City Hall offices have been instructed to limit lighting and switch off unused appliances and electric fans. Air-conditioning units operate strictly on schedule — turned off around noon and prior to the end of the workday — while elevator usage in executive and legislative buildings is restricted to a single unit after 5 p.m.
The City Government also reiterated its May 28, 2026 memorandum directing all offices to designate energy efficiency coordinators to monitor compliance. Siasar likewise urged residents to conserve electricity at home by turning off unnecessary lights and minimizing refrigerator openings.
Solar initiatives
Beyond immediate conservation, the City Government is advancing solar power projects for City facilities. Rooftop solar panel installation is underway at City Hall, with plans to expand the initiative to other government buildings, including the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), as part of Archival’s campaign to curb utility expenditures.
CCMC has already instituted its own energy conservation protocols, reducing corridor lighting, turning off lobby lights during off-peak hours, powering down air conditioners at 4 p.m. and requiring staff to unplug computers at the end of shifts. These operational changes, alongside improved waste segregation and facility greening, earned CCMC a rating of 4 from the Department of Health (DOH), up from its previous score of 3.
The score reflects the Green Star Rating awarded to healthcare facilities under the DOH’s Green and Safe Health Facilities Program.
Asked if the City Government has coordinated directly with the Department of Energy on short-term interventions, Siasar said he was uncertain if Archival had met with department officials yet, but emphasized that expanding ILP participation remains the immediate priority to distribute limited power to critical facilities and residential consumers.
Grid alerts
The local appeal coincides with heightened grid instability. The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) raised a one-hour red alert over the Visayas grid on Monday, Sept. 7, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., alongside yellow alerts from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., as available capacity fell short of demand. Available supply stood at 2,530 megawatts against a projected peak demand of 2,508 megawatts.
According to NGCP, eight power plants in the Visayas are unavailable this month, led by Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) Unit 1 and Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3. These outages, combined with 23 plants offline since 2021 and 15 operating at derated capacity — including TVI Unit 2 due to a main steam defect — have removed 818.9 megawatts from the grid, exacerbated by limited imports from Mindanao. / CAV, PNA