Cebu power crisis hits remote workers, businesses
CEBU CITY—Metro Cebu’s prolonged power crisis is forcing remote workers and businesses to spend more to keep operations running amid recurring brownouts and successive yellow and red alerts in the Visayas grid.
For April Denise Catarina, 28, a video editor from Mandaue City, working from home helps her avoid commuting and rising fuel costs. But frequent power interruptions have forced her to pay about P200 for a day pass at a coworking space to access electricity, air conditioning and reliable internet.
Christyl Abellaneda, 29, a home-based creative content producer in Cebu City, has also invested in a small solar power system and backup equipment. But prolonged outages have made it difficult to work, with her laptop overheating in the heat.
“It’s not conducive to work in a hot and humid environment. Worse, my laptop overheats. Not even an electric fan can help it,” she said.
Cebu’s information technology-business process management sector had an estimated 160,000 to 200,000 workers in 2025, with a growing number working remotely.
The power crisis, which began in May, has been blamed on a shortage of baseload capacity, including prolonged outages at major coal-fired plants in Cebu and reduced power imports from Mindanao.
Higher costs
The crisis is also pushing up electricity costs. Visayan Electric Co. said higher transmission and Wholesale Electricity Spot Market costs contributed to increased charges, although it limited its August rate increase to P0.06 per kilowatt-hour.
For businesses, however, the impact goes beyond higher bills.
Barbara Gothong-Tan, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said sudden outages risk damaging equipment and disrupting industrial operations.
“We know that the problem is much, much deeper … There has to be synergy between NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines), ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) and DOE (Department of Energy),” she said.
Businesses are turning to solar power and other backup systems while the government works to address the supply problem.
For Abellaneda, the frequent brownouts have also pushed her household’s electricity bill to double or even triple.
“It’s a very challenging and difficult time, and everything’s expensive,” she said.
