The Cebu Electricity Rights Advocates (CERA) has called for the declaration of a state of energy emergency amid tightening power reserves in the Visayas grid.

CERA convenor Nathaniel Chua told DAILY TRIBUNE that the group is set to engage local officials in Cebu Province, as well as the tri-cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, to push for provincial board and city council resolutions.

“Cebu is at breaking point, as the province is now experiencing very thin power reserves due to insufficient electricity supply in the Visayas grid,” Chua said.

He added that while the national government has previously addressed energy concerns through executive action, Cebu’s situation requires a more targeted and localized intervention due to its industrial demands and infrastructure bottlenecks.

CERA is also proposing the creation of a Cebu Energy Task Force (CETF), envisioned as a high-level coordinating body to bridge national energy policy and local infrastructure realities.

Chua said the CETF would serve as the primary liaison among the Department of Energy, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), local distribution utilities, and provincial stakeholders, shifting focus from reactive response to proactive management.

Among its proposed functions are monitoring maintenance and upgrade schedules of aging power plants and transmission lines, coordinating with NGCP to align transmission capacity with Cebu’s industrial growth, and fast-tracking approval processes for new baseload power projects.

It would also aim to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks, prioritize energy delivery to critical facilities such as hospitals, water systems, and telecommunications hubs during emergencies, and develop a Cebu-specific energy master plan promoting distributed energy resources.