"Reliable Electricity Necessary During Voting Period"

With just 17 days left until the May 2025 local and national elections, the Department of Energy (DOE) is vigilantly watching over the nation's power supply to maintain uninterrupted service throughout the election period.

At a press conference organized by AboitizPower in Taguig City on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, DOE Supervising Science Research Specialist Mark Christian Marollano shared that the agency is dedicated to overseeing the energy sector's operations during the election period.

He highlighted that the most crucial period for power stability would be during the canvassing and transmission of election results. However, he clarified that electricity demand may drop on election day, May 12, due to the public holiday.

According to Marollano, simulations performed by the DOE suggest a possible yellow alert in May due to anticipated high temperatures, supply-side constraints, and the increased demand associated with the elections. A yellow alert status signals that the power supply is under strain, and the system is nearing its limits, but outages haven't occurred yet. It serves as a warning before more severe actions such as rotating blackouts or load shedding might take place.

Marollano clarified that the availability of power supply is affected by ongoing construction and development delays at power plants in Batangas and Leyte. The two principal power plants, which usually provide a combined 2,500 megawatts, are presently limited to around 1,200 megawatts.

However, he assured that the Energy Task Force for Elections is closely monitoring developments and preparations to guarantee a stable power supply during the upcoming election.

"All sectors-generation, transmission, distribution-are on board and are closely monitoring all activities to ensure there will be no problems this coming election," said Marollano in a mix of English and Tagalog.

Recent coordination efforts included a meeting on Thursday, April 10.

As part of contingency planning, scheduled maintenance or repairs for power plants and transmission infrastructure will be temporarily suspended seven days before, during, and after the election window.

In addition, the DOE is collaborating with distribution utilities to check critical infrastructure to be utilized by the Commission on Elections, particularly polling centers all throughout the country. As of April 22, Visayan Electric had inspected 86 percent of the total number of voting centers within its franchise area. The utility firm also carried out trimming in 41 voting centers identified as needing line clearing.

Under the current DOE policy context, the department has emphasized maximizing oil, gas, coal, and nuclear production under a "Drill, baby, drill" framework and expanding fossil fuel infrastructure over climate-focused policies. However, none of this information specifies election-specific load management or distributed generation plans from the DOE. For real-time election preparations, closer monitoring of DOE press releases or FERC bulletins closer to May 2025 would be advisable.

Despite the upcoming local and national elections in Cebu and other regions on May 12, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) anticipates a possible yellow alert due to high temperatures, supply-side constraints, and increased demand, signaling a strained power supply system.
Mark Christian Marollano, a Supervising Science Research Specialist at the DOE, shared in a press conference that the canvassing and transmission of election results will be the most crucial period for power stability, as electricity demand may drop on election day due to the public holiday.
The DOE's simulations also suggest that ongoing construction and development delays at power plants in Batangas and Leyte will affect the availability of power supply, as the two principal power plants, usually providing a combined 2,500 megawatts, are currently limited to around 1,200 megawatts.
The Energy Task Force for Elections, led by the DOE, is closely monitoring the developments and preparations to guarantee a stable power supply during the upcoming May 2025 elections, with all sectors, including generation, transmission, and distribution, on board and closely monitoring activities.
In addition to monitoring the power supply, the DOE is collaborating with distribution utilities, such as Visayan Electric, to check critical infrastructure for polling centers throughout the country, with Visayan Electric having inspected 86 percent of the total voting centers within its franchise area as of April 22.