In April 2026, the system‑wide average supply increased to 20,819 MW, a 4.6% incline from March 2026. Coincidentally, the average demand increased to 14,404 MW, or 7.6% higher than the previous month. These supply-demand levels resulted in a tighter system supply margin of 4,427 MW, compared to 4,654 MW in March.
With the decrease in the system-wide supply margin, regional supply–demand conditions showed mixed outcomes. Supply margins in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao declined by 173 MW, 52 MW, and 1 MW, respectively, due to higher outage levels and variations in HVDC flows. These conditions lead to an increase in the system-wide average market price to 5.63 PHP/kWh, from 4.31 PHP/kWh last March – a 30.6% increase for April 2026.
In response to the declaration of a State of National Energy Emergency and the implementation of fuel conservation and prioritization measures in the power sector to mitigate rising global fuel prices and supply disruptions, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) declared a Market Suspension effective 0005H on 26 March 2026. During this period, the Modified Administered Prices (ModAP) were applied, with coal price set at 6.00 PHP/kWh and all negative AP set at 0 PHP/kWh.
With the application of the Modified Administered Prices (ModAP), the resulting generation average prices in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao resulted to 5.13 PHP/kWh, 5.32 PHP/kWh, and 5.50 PHP/kWh, respectively, while the load price is uniform across all regions at a level of 5.63 PHP/kWh. “The application of Modified Administered Prices helped temper the potential impact of rising fuel costs to the electricity market prices, mitigating price volatility in the WESM,” Engr. Isidro E. Cacho Jr., VP for Trading Operations, underscored.
Despite experiencing several generating units’ outages through the month amidst increasing demand across all grids, average supply was sufficient. In Luzon, forced outages across various technologies, mostly from Coal and Natural Gas, reached 21,404.3 MW, while planned outages across various technologies totaled 364.4 MW. In the Visayas, forced outages from various technologies, mostly from Solar and Geothermal, reached 5,610.45 MW, with 169 MW of planned outages from coal. In Mindanao, outages totaled 3,556.05 MW for forced outages, and 166.1 MW for planned outages from Run-of-River, Coal, Hydro, and Battery technologies.
Moreover, in terms of system-wide generation mix, renewable energy (RE) accounted for 23% of total generation. Coal-fired and Natural Gas generation slightly increased its share from 57.2% to 58.4%, and 16% to 17%, respectively. Oil-based generation slightly decreased from 0.5% to 0.2% and was utilized during peak periods in response to unforeseen outages. Furthermore, Geothermal also observed an increase from 7.6% to 8.2%, and Solar generation from 6.5 to 7.1%. On the other hand, Hydropower and Wind generation decreased from 8.1% to 6%, and 1.6% to 0.4%, respectively. The share of Biomass remained constant at 1%. Energy Storage Systems had a slight increase in shares, PSH from 0.9% to 1%, and Battery units from 0.1% to 0.2%. The retail market share reached approximately 23% (2.33 TWh) of total customer transactions for April 2026.
Overall, the Effective Energy Spot Settlement Price (ESSP) rose from 4.78 to 5.32 PHP/kWh, marking an 11.3% increase. Furthermore, the energy spot market volume increased in April 2026, accounting for 16.3% of total traded quantity from 12.8% in March 2026. Correspondingly, the total trading amount increased from 13.56 billion PHP to 19.49 billion PHP due to relatively higher prices.
In the reserve market, zonal prices increased except for Mindanao’s Regulation Down and Regulation Up Reserves. System‑wide reserve market transactions increased from 5.79 billion PHP in March to 6.9 billion PHP in April 2026, with Reserve Effective Spot Settlement Price at 6.54 PHP/kWh, a 3.82% drop from last month.
On 30 April 2026, the ERC declared the resumption of market operations, authorizing the restoration of normal Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) clearing and settlement across the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids effective 01 May 2026 at interval 0005H.
