Brace Yourselves: 16% Power Price Hike Possible by April Unless Gov't Steps In
Your electricity bill could jump by as much as 16 percent come April — and the government knows it. Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told Reuters on March 13 that without intervention, Filipino households are staring down a massive spike in power costs driven by skyrocketing LNG prices and shipping disruptions in the Middle East.
The culprit? The escalating U.S.-Israel war with Iran has slowed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a crawl, with Qatar — which supplies a fifth of global LNG — halting output. Spot LNG prices have more than doubled to their highest levels since 2022, and the Philippines, which relies heavily on imported fuel, is feeling the squeeze hard.
Garin's plan? Go back to coal — at least temporarily. 'The basic idea is to ramp down liquefied natural gas and ramp up coal and renewables,' she said. The DOE is also asking for emergency powers to regulate the power market, with price intervention measures possibly kicking in as early as next week. This would be a rare move for the Philippines, which has one of the few unregulated power markets in Asia.
The ERC has estimated the potential damage at P2 to P4 per kilowatt-hour if the global oil crisis persists into the dry season, when electricity demand traditionally peaks. The government is also in talks with Indonesia to ensure steady coal supplies and is coordinating with First Gas Power to redirect domestically extracted gas to plants currently running on expensive LNG.
For millions of Filipino families already reeling from record fuel prices and the peso hitting an all-time low of P59.735 against the dollar, a power rate hike would be devastating. Meralco, the country's biggest distribution utility, says it supports the DOE's initiatives and has sufficient coal contracts to help hold down generation charges. But whether the government can move fast enough to prevent the April spike remains the billion-peso question.
Source: Rappler / Reuters
