Luzon, Visayas electricity grids placed under ‘yellow’ alert

Updated on April 16, 2026 at 6:59 p.m.

MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has placed the Luzon and Visayas grids under yellow alert on Thursday, its second issuance for the year, as some power plants tripped.

In an advisory Thursday, the NGCP said the grid would be under the alert status from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

This is the first yellow alert issued for the Luzon grid in 2026. The first one was recorded in the Visayas last January.

As the Visayas relies heavily on power imports from two other main islands, the situation in Luzon resulted in the Visayas grid facing yellow alert from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

READ: NGCP places Visayas grid under ‘yellow alert’

In a yellow alert, the power supply can still meet demand, but it will serve as a warning that when a plant breaks down one way or another, it will result in brownouts.

It said the Luzon grid’s available capacity was 12,223 megawatts (MW), while demand was at 11,966 MW.

Restoration order

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin ordered the consortium of power giants San Miguel Global Power, Aboitiz Power and Meralco PowerGen to immediately restore the operations of Ilijan Blocks A and B and Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (EERI) Units 1, 2, and 3.

READ: NGCP: Middle East war won’t affect electricity grid charges

Aside from EERI and Ilijan facilities, the NGCP also noted the unavailability of some hydro assets.

“The DOE assured the public that it remains under heightened monitoring and is implementing all necessary measures to protect power system reliability and minimize further disruption, particularly as system conditions continue to evolve,” it said in a statement.

According to the grid operator, 35 power plants are on forced outage, while 14 are operating on derated capacities, making over 5,000 MW unavailable to the transmission network. /dda