Electricity subsidies remain necessary to help vulnerable households and remote communities access power, but the Philippine government needs to improve targeting mechanisms to reduce leakages and ensure long-term sustainability, according to experts at a recent webinar organized by state-run...
Are you afraid of the dark? Well, that depends on whether we are talking about horror movies or the national power supply! Just when Filipino consumers thought they could finally survive the summer’s rotational blackouts, the international energy market strolled in like a sequel villain,...
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) annual summer ritual is familiar: it promises that the electricity supply will be “enough and stable,” but the power grid clearly is not getting the memo. After decades of forecasting, energy officials still miss the mark so consistently that it almost feels...
During intense deliberations that preceded the 2005 enactment of the Expanded Value Added Tax (E-VAT) Law, which also covered oil and electricity, lawmakers defended the measure as a treasury-tightening mechanism; an unpopular but calculated imposition designed to raise massive revenues so it could...
While insisting that the coal moratorium stays, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin indicated that the Department of Energy (DOE) is giving the country’s aging coal plants a not-so-gentle performance review—especially those that keep “calling in sick” through repeated forced outages that strain...
The Philippines rolled out one of the most extensive policy responses in Asia-Pacific to cushion the impact of global oil price and supply shocks, even as the country recorded among the steepest increases in fuel prices in the region, according to the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB). An...
The Department of Energy (DOE) expects a stable power supply through May even as the Luzon grid recently teetered on the edge of a shortage, provided the nation’s aging thermal power plants remain operational during the peak of the dry season. Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said on Monday,...
With Filipino consumers already reeling from punishing summer power bills, it’s time to confront an uncomfortable truth: the ₱0.0371/kWh GEA-All charge surreptitiously embedded in electricity rates is not anchored on solid statutory footing under Republic Act 9136 (EPIRA) or the Renewable...
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s largest business group, is backing the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposal to lift the moratorium on new coal-fired power plants, describing the move as a pragmatic necessity to safeguard energy security and industrial...
With Iran announcing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a possible war deal finally taking shape, the Philippine government’s so-called “energy emergency response” now appears to be a dithering strategy. It looks more like the state sprinted into a trap door—akin to buying a fire...
The Department of Energy (DOE) ordered an immediate ramp-up in electricity generation at several major facilities on Friday, April 17, tapping natural gas, oil, and coal-fired plants to stabilize the power grid following a series of unplanned outages in Batangas. The directive followed the tripping...
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s economic team said Filipino consumers are unlikely to see meaningful relief from the suspension of excise taxes on gasoline and diesel, as any reduction in pump prices would be minimal and likely offset by prevailing market forces. This was the Cabinet-level...
