DAVAO CITY – Mounting public outcry over soaring electricity bills has pushed members of the Davao City Council to call for urgent regulatory interventions, rate rollbacks, and structural reforms to protect local consumers from severe price shocks.

In a privilege speech during Monday's session, Councilor Pamela Librado-Morata, chairperson of the Committee on Civil, Political, and Human Rights, and Labor and Employment, raised concerns about the city's rising power rates.

According to Morata, residential electricity rates from distribution utility Davao Light and Power Co. jumped nearly 35 percent in seven months, from P9.71 per kilowatt hour in December 2025 to P13.09 per kWh in July 2026.

"This concern comes at a time when families are already coping with rising fuel prices, increasing transportation costs, and the higher prices of basic commodities," Morata said, highlighting that the city's current daily minimum wage stands at P525.

Morata cited extreme cases reported by constituents, including one household whose monthly bill quadrupled from P3,294.42 in June to P16,982.40 in July despite no significant change in appliance usage.

She noted conflicting explanations for higher rates. DLPC blamed power plant outages and generation costs, while the Department of Energy Mindanao Field Office reported a stable power supply and enough reserves in the region.

To address the crisis, Morata urged the City Council to push for several immediate measures:

• Conducting a public hearing with DLPC, the Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE, National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, and local stakeholder groups.

• Passing a resolution urging the ERC to immediately roll back residential electricity rates pending a full regulatory review.

• Requesting DLPC to implement flexible, staggered payment schemes, strictly observe ERC disconnection moratoria, and remove standard 48-hour disconnection notices for covered accounts.

• Calling on Congress to review, repeal, and replace the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to strengthen consumer protection and reduce pass-through costs.

Other city councilors moved to introduce structural and legislative fixes to safeguard residents from market volatility.

Councilor Ragde Niño Ibuyan, chairperson of the Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization, announced the filing of a resolution urging DLPC and Therma South Inc. to study the feasibility of an Emergency Power Supply Agreement.

Ibuyan said the measure aims to establish backup power mechanisms to buffer Davao City against nationwide plant outages and spot market price spikes.

Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, Ways and Means, proposed a four-point Middle Ground action plan:

1. A temporary rate pause: Suspending unusually high rate hikes for one billing cycle alongside a public review.

2. An independent billing review: Establishing a joint panel with representatives from DLPC, consumer groups, city officials, and the ERC to validate billing computations.

3. Flexible installment plans: Allowing penalty-free payment arrangements for severely affected consumers.

4. Maximizing localized bilateral supply: Increasing power allocations directly from sister company Therma South Inc. to minimize reliance on the volatile Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.

Discussions included representatives from the power sector, including Alona Borromeo of the TSI and Ed Fermin of Davao Light.

Councilors examined the complex breakdown of pass-through government, generation, transmission, system loss, and universal charges reflected in standard customer billings.

The council invited officials from the ERC and the DOE to attend its next regular session on Tuesday, Aug. 4, to explain the billing adjustments and address consumer grievances.

Davao Light attributed the increase in electricity rates to higher generation charges resulting from soaring WESM prices.

It added that several major power plants in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were offline because of scheduled maintenance, unexpected outages, and the June 8 magnitude-7.8 earthquake.

Davao Light President and Chief Operating Officer Engr. Enriczar T. Tia said the company deferred part of the higher generation charges to reduce the immediate impact on consumers.

Tia said Davao Light asked the ERC to allow the additional generation costs to be collected over five months instead of in a single billing cycle. He added that spreading the charges over five months would make the increase more manageable for consumers.