FIRING LINE: Heat and energy anxiety 

FIRING LINE: Heat and energy anxiety 

By Robert B. Roque Jr. | May 28, 2026

Another summer, another wave of red and yellow alerts — and for many Filipinos, another season of dreading the electric bill.

The situation now mirrors the power anxiety of 2024. As temperatures soar this May anew, the Luzon grid has again been pushed to the brink by a dangerous mix of thinning reserves, forced outages at major power plants, and punishing peak demand during the hottest hours of the day.

By afternoon, usually between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and again from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., electricity use spikes sharply as households simultaneously crank up air-conditioners, electric fans, and cooling appliances just to make the heat bearable.

That is the heart of the supply-and-demand problem. Electricity cannot be stockpiled at scale. The moment demand overtakes available supply, the grid operator raises yellow or red alerts to prevent a catastrophic collapse of the entire system.

But consumers, like myself, understand this power crisis in experiential terms: rotating brownouts and the shock of opening the monthly bill. For even when Meralco announces a slight reduction in rates per kilowatt-hour, many households still end up paying far more.

This is especially true for homes heavily dependent on air conditioners to combat the extreme heat. With nonstop use, electricity consumption easily jumps by roughly 25 to 40 percent. A “lower rate,” therefore, does not necessarily mean a lower bill.

Technically, the explanation is sound. Still, we consumers are not wrong for feeling hot-headed about it either — especially with heat indices climbing to 42 degrees Celsius and higher.

And if Filipinos think relief is just around the corner once summer fades, weather forecasts suggest another Calvary with the heat and power supply comes in the second half of the year. PAGASA projects the developing El Niño to intensify into a potentially very strong or Super El Niño event later this year, with effects possibly lasting into early 2027.

This means the same brutal heat, stressing households and forcing the grid into alerts, may stay with us longer than expected.

Which is why it is perhaps even more infuriating that while Filipinos sweat through rotating brownouts, soaring power bills, and looming fuel shocks from the Middle East crisis, much of government and politics still seem trapped in their usual circus of noise, distractions, and endless politicking.

At a time when global oil markets are again on edge, when economists are warning about fuel-driven inflation and even food security risks, the country should already be in full serious-mode discussions about long-term energy security, strategic fuel reserves, power reliability, and agricultural resilience.

Instead, public attention is too often consumed by partisan spectacle, personality wars, and the kind of political dilly-dallying that makes governance look permanently stuck in campaign season.

So my best guess is, Filipinos would have to pack a lot of insulated patience against the heat, both the one felt on the skin and the one that gets under the skin.

*         *         *

SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thenationweek.com