A month under strain: Cebu business groups alarmed, push for urgent power fixes

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu, and the entire Visayas area for that matter, direly needs new base load power supplies, among other solutions, as business leaders here expressed alarm over unstable power supply.

The Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Talisay Chamber of Commerce and Industry both issued statements expressing serious concern over the power supply constraints affecting the region.

The groups, in turn, called on government agencies and industry stakeholders to accelerate solutions.

READ MORE: DOE backs ‘energy emergency’ declaration in Cebu amid strained Visayas grid

Manufacturing most vulnerable

For the Mandaue Chamber, the stakes are particularly high.

Mandaue City, one of the country’s most concentrated industrial and manufacturing corridors, is especially exposed to the risks posed by an unstable grid.

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Frequent power interruptions, the chamber said, endanger the safe operation of factory equipment and production facilities, reduce output, and raise operating costs — pressures that ultimately get passed on to consumers.

“Frequent power supply disruptions not only threaten the safe operation of factory equipment and production facilities but also reduce productivity, increase operating costs, and undermine business competitiveness,” the Mandaue Chamber said.

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The chamber warned that if the power supply issues persist, the consequences could extend well beyond factory floors — potentially pushing up prices of goods and services, disrupting supply chains, and discouraging the investments that sustain employment and drive regional economic growth.

National implications

The Talisay Chamber echoed the alarm, framing the issue as one with national implications.

Cebu, it noted, is the largest economy outside Metro Manila and one of the country’s primary growth engines — a status that, the chamber argued, should make energy security a national policy priority.

While businesses can adapt, Carl Cabusas, president of Talisay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said adaptation comes at a cost.

Companies are already factoring in additional capital expenditures for backup generators, solar power systems, and battery storage just to safeguard operations from power interruptions

These expenses effectively chip away at competitiveness and could influence future investment decisions, Cabusas pointed out.

“If left unresolved, power constraints could slow Cebu’s economic momentum at a time when we should be attracting more investments, creating more jobs, and supporting MSMEs that are already dealing with inflationary pressures and rising operating costs,” he said.

Closer coordination

Meanwhile, the Mandaue Chamber also pressed for closer coordination among the Department of Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines on the timely execution of the Transmission Development Plan.

It also called for streamlined permitting and licensing processes for new power generation projects, and greater investment in diversified and reliable energy sources to build up the Visayas grid’s capacity and reserves.

The Talisay Chamber, meanwhile, stressed that the core problem is already well understood: demand is outpacing supply, and the window for action is narrowing.

“The sooner we address the problem decisively, the better it will be for Cebu, the Visayas, and the national economy,” Cabusas said.

The Visayas grid has been facing successive yellow alerts — where the operating margins have thinned and can no longer meet demand — for seven consecutive weeks.

An advocacy group here has also pushed for the local government to declare an ‘energy emergency’ due to the region’s fragile power situation.

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