By Joann Villanueva
MANILA – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) canceled the provisional authority to operate (PAO) of Siquijor Power Corporation (Sipcor), the authorized power generation firm in the province, effective 3 p.m. Friday.
ERC Secretary Sharon Garin said the revocation of Sipcor’s PAOs was due to numerous operational and regulatory compliance requirements violations.
“Following the worsening power supply situation in Siquijor province and the severe impact this has had on lives and livelihood across the island, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., during his inspection of Sipcor’s facilities on June 11, directed the Department of Energy and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to implement both short and long-term solutions to address the power crisis in Siquijor,” she said at a press conference.
Garin said power generation firm TotalPower Inc. signed last week an Emergency Power Supply Agreement with distribution utility Province of Siquijor Electric Cooperative Inc. to supply 15.3 megawatts from three generation facilities in the island.
NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda, who attended the briefing via videoconference, said synchronization is currently being conducted in the province.
“Switching is ongoing now. Synchronization and dispatch of total power is now being integrated as we speak,” he said.
Sipcor’s violations have resulted in a power crisis and the declaration by the provincial government of a state of calamity in June.
The declaration was made after 33,785 customer-households experienced a total of 568 power interruptions, averaging over 31 outages per month and by an average of 11 hours per day from January 2024 to June 2025, Garin said.
Other results of the technical assessment made by experts from the University of the Philippines, tapped by the government to check the viability of Sipcor’s operations, found that the power plants are non-compliant with the ERC’s reliability standards, with dependable capacity of only 6,464 kilowatts (kW), way lower than the island’s peak demand of 8,800 kW.
It was also learned that postponements of scheduled maintenance activities resulted in engine breakdowns, with one unit declared as “wrecked.”
Since power generation companies in off-grid areas are given a subsidy through the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification, Garin said they are coordinating with the National Power Corporation “to review their system on how to determine the payments and what is the system of audit.”
“They are studying this because we don’t want a repeat of this and also to monitor compliance because they receive subsidies,” she added. (PNA)
