Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) customers will receive a reprieve on their electricity bills starting next month after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered the utility to accelerate the multibillion-peso refund to insulate households from global energy volatility. In a statement on...
United Sugar Producers’ Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) has called on the government to implement intervention measures such as cloud seeding to counter the impact of dry conditions on sugar production. UNIFED president Manuel Lamata said Negros Occidental province, which accounts for more...
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) prohibited power distributors from passing on penalties and interest charges stemming from late local tax payments to consumers, tightening oversight of how utilities recover levies. In a move intended to insulate monthly electricity bills from “unjust...
When Atty. Francis Saturnino “Nino” Juan took the helm of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in August 2025, he inherited an agency choked by years of delays. Its credibility was so bruised that power sector stakeholders approached progress not with hope, but with hardened, deliberately...
Makati City Mayor Nancy Binay on Tuesday, March 24, announced that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has recognized the city as the first local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines to champion 100 percent renewable energy utilization under the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) and...
In the Philippine energy sector, ‘greed integration’ isn’t subtle anymore. It has been stamped in black and white with the jaw-dropping ₱11/kWh offshore wind price recently approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). This rate applies to the targeted 3,300-megawatt capacity auction...
The cost of electric power in the Philippines remains among the highest in Asia. This is driven by a combination of high imported fuel costs, ongoing grid work-in-progress, significant system losses (five percent in Singapore versus 10 percent in the Philippines), and an oligopolistic market...
As the competitiveness of the Philippines’ sugar industry slowly deteriorate, Senator Risa Hontiveros has called on the Senate to review the country’s existing laws, particularly the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) charter and the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) of 2015. Hontiveros...
Low-income households are set to receive a full discount on their monthly electricity bills under a new uniform subsidy structure aimed at streamlining relief for the country’s most vulnerable consumers. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced on Friday, Jan. 30, that qualified...
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has authorized the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to proceed with the ₱11.4 billion interconnection project designed to stabilize power supply on Siargao Island. In a formal notice, the industry regulator greenlit the Claver-Siargao...
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri on Tuesday, January 13 called on the government to intervene to address a brewing sugar crisis as mill gate prices slide below production costs. Zubiri said farmers are having a hard time recovering with the rising prices of farm inputs, thus,...
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is moving to overhaul the nation’s power landscape in 2026, pledging to clear a long-standing case backlog and finalize pricing for emerging technologies like offshore wind to lower costs for households. In a statement, ERC Chairperson Francis Saturnino Juan...
