PARE calls on NGCP to strengthen Grid

Photo from Canva

Group notes that damaged transmission lines caused province-wide blackouts following typhoons

November 14, 2025 – The Partners for Affordable and Reliable Energy (PARE) has called on the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to shape up and improve its transmission facilities after its fallen lines and towers were the cause of massive blackouts in areas affected by recent typhoons. 

"When Typhoon Uwan struck, NGCP reported that thirty-six transmission lines in Luzon and Visayas became unavailable, instantly taking entire provinces offline. While local electric cooperatives raced to explain and restore neighborhood-level connections, most brownouts were triggered not by the cooperatives but by damaged NGCP lines. Yet the burden and customer anger fell on the electric cooperatives, creating confusion and a misplaced sense of frustration," Nic Satur Jr., Chief Advocate Officer of PARE, said in a statement on November 13, 2025. 

NGCP is responsible for operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s critical transmission backbone. Yet progress has been slow, with repeated project delays and unfinished projects, often attributed to right-of-way issues, regulatory hurdles, or procurement problems.

"Numerous vital projects, such as new substations and extra-high-voltage transmission lines in Luzon, Cebu, the Visayas, and Mindanao, remain incomplete, exposing communities to heightened outage risks whenever a storm hits," Satur said.

In the Transmission Development Plan 2025 to 2050, NGCP promises to invest over P1 trillion over the next fifteen years.

"But recent disasters show that these projects urgently need fast-tracking and public accountability, not just long-term visions and paperwork," Satur said. 

PARE notes that amid project delays, NGCP has raised its transmission charges, which are passed on to consumers.

"This November, transmission rates saw a sharp increase of almost 8 percent, with average rates reaching P1 and P0.50 per kilowatt-hour, and ancillary services rates climbing by over 15 percent compared to the previous month," Satur said. 

However, Satur said that for consumers, the result is higher monthly bills, without assurance of grid reliability or faster power restoration in the next calamity.​

"PARE urges NGCP to honor every commitment. The corporation must urgently complete critical substations, backbone transmission lines, and modern grid management systems before the next typhoon, earthquake, or extreme weather disaster," Satur said.

He said NGCP is accountable to the public for every peso charged and every day of project delay. 

PARE called on the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy to strengthen its oversight to ensure that cost increases translate into genuinely improved service and disaster resilience, not just upward adjustments in monthly bills.​

"PARE has appealed for climate-proofing our sector for years. The Philippines is always at risk of typhoons and disasters, yet major power companies and regulatory agencies continue to invest reactively rather than proactively," Satur said.

He added that before the next super typhoon or major earthquake arrives, the sector must prioritize modernization, bury transmission lines in critical areas, and develop coordinated, disaster-proofing strategies.

"The time is now for NGCP to step up. Fast, transparent grid upgrades will save lives, reduce economic losses, and secure the affordable, reliable power every Filipino deserves," Satur said.

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Clean Energy Triumphs: World Reaches a Historic Climate Turning Point as Fossil Fuel Growth Halts in 2025 00

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

The world has reached a monumental milestone in the clean energy transition: for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, no growth in fossil fuel generation is expected for the full year of 2025. This historic turning point is driven entirely by the explosive growth of clean power, which grew fast enough to meet—and even exceed—the world's rising electricity demand in the first three quarters of the year.

According to a new analysis by energy think tank Ember, detailed in its Q3 Global Power Report, this milestone is set to occur even as global electricity demand is projected to see a substantial increase—the sixth largest absolute increase on record at 831 TWh. The link between rising demand and rising fossil generation is finally being severed.

Solar and Wind Exceed All New Demand

The dramatic shift is thanks to record-breaking growth in solar power, combined with a moderate increase in wind generation.

Solar generation rose by an unprecedented 498 TWh (+31%) in the first three quarters of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, the largest increase ever over a nine-month period. This massive surge means solar output in Q1-Q3 2025 has already surpassed its total output for all of 2024.

Wind generation added an additional 137 TWh (+7.6%).

The combined growth from solar and wind was 635 TWh, which successfully outpaced the global rise in electricity demand of 603 TWh (+2.7%) for the first three quarters of 2025.

Despite a fall in hydropower generation of -54 TWh and a minor increase in nuclear generation (+33 TWh) , the rapid deployment of clean power was enough to keep fossil generation flat, resulting in a minor fall of -17 TWh (-0.1%) in the first three quarters of 2025.

"Record solar power growth and stagnating fossil fuels in 2025 show how clean power has become the driving force in the power sector," stated Nicolas Fulghum, Senior Data Analyst at Ember. "Historically a growth segment, fossil power now appears to be entering a period of stagnation and managed decline".

The Global Balance Tips: China and India Lead the Decline

The global stagnation of fossil fuels was tipped into reality by significant declines in China and India, which managed to balance out smaller fossil increases in the EU and US.

Country Change in Fossil Generation (Q1-Q3 2025 vs. 2024) Key Driver of Change

China

-52 TWh (-1.1%) 

Structural decline; fast-growing renewables (including a 44% year-on-year solar growth) met all new demand.

India

-34 TWh (-3.3%) 

Temporary decline; record solar and wind growth combined with unusually mild weather conditions that substantially reduced demand for cooling.

China's contribution to clean power growth was massive, making up more than half of the Q1-Q3 solar growth at 280 TWh. The US and the EU followed with a growth of 71 TWh (+30%) and 52 TWh (+20%), respectively.

The Next Challenge: Sustained Decline

This moment marks a definitive structural shift where clean energy sources are proving they can meet and exceed the accelerating pace of global electricity demand.

For the first time outside of disruptive events like the Global Financial Crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic—years which saw low or no electricity demand growth—clean power has not only kept pace but surpassed demand growth. The share of solar and wind in the global electricity mix rose from 15.2% in Q1-Q3 2024 to 17.6% in Q1-Q3 2025, and all low-carbon sources combined achieved a 43.0% share.

The report concludes that the new challenge is to sustain this growth in 2026 and beyond, which is necessary not only to meet continued strong electricity demand but also to drive fossil generation down from its current levels. This unprecedented stagnation in 2025 is a powerful sign that the world is on the cusp of an accelerated energy transition.

The Land Trap: Global Climate Pledges Betray Forests for Unrealistic Land Schemes

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

Bélém, Brazil (12 November 2025)—A new global analysis released today at the COP30 climate summit issues a stark warning: the world is facing a "land gap" and a "forest gap" that threaten to undermine the entire fight against climate change. The study finds that national climate plans submitted for COP30 are overwhelmingly relying on massive, unachievable land-based carbon removal schemes—like vast tree planting—while dangerously neglecting the crucial, immediate work of protecting existing forests.

The report, "The Land Gap 2025," led by a global consortium of experts from the University of Melbourne, concludes that the true impediment to forest protection is not merely a lack of finance, but a deeply flawed global economic system that forces countries to choose economic survival over ecosystem preservation.

"Why are so many countries ignoring forest protection as a key pillar of climate targets?" asks Kate Dooley, the report’s lead author. "The answer is that they live in a world where heavy sovereign debt burdens and industry-friendly tax and trade policies force many of them to exploit forests to keep their economies from crashing".

The Land Gap: An Area Larger Than Australia 

The analysis exposes the two critical flaws in current national climate plans:

The "Land Gap": This is the chasm between governments’ reliance on land-based efforts to meet carbon mitigation goals and what is actually achievable. The assessment of COP30 pledges reveals a startling demand for land:

To achieve their targets under the Paris Agreement, countries would have to devote just over 1 billion hectares of land to carbon removal initiatives.

This required land mass is larger than the size of Australia.

This massive level of carbon removal would put lands critical to the survival of marginalized groups—including Indigenous peoples, local communities, and smallholder farmers—at risk.

Moreover, the promised emissions savings would take decades to materialize.

The "Forest Gap": While pledges for halting and reversing deforestation are "limited" in national plans, the report reveals a massive gap between global commitments made at COP28 to halt deforestation and degradation by 2030 and the likely outcome of current pledges. The report forecasts a dismal outcome:

The annual rate of global deforestation would still be 4 million hectares in 2030.

An additional 16 million hectares of forests would be degraded.

This creates a terrifying forest gap of 20 million hectares.

Debt, Tax, and Trade: The Triple Threat to Forests 

The experts argue that focusing solely on innovative financing, while important, fails to address the powerful underlying forces driving forest destruction. For instance, while the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) might generate $3 to $4 billion per year, the total need to achieve 2030 forest protection goals is an astronomical $117 to $299 billion per year.

The report identifies the rules and financial flows of the global economic system as the single biggest threat to forests. They conclude that meeting climate and forest commitments requires major reforms in three key areas:

1. Providing Debt Relief

Current approaches to resolving debt crises deepen dependence on short-term commodity revenue, pushing plantations, mines, and oil wells into previously intact ecosystems.

Countries in critical biodiversity centers like the Amazon, Congo basins, and Southeast Asia are being forced by austerity and debt payment schedules to rapidly expand exports—often by sacrificing their forests—to avoid credit downgrades.

The example of Cameroon is cited, where debt burdens and IMF austerity requirements have caused a dramatic rise in forest loss to increase hardwood, cotton, and cocoa production.

2. Pursuing Tax Reforms

Cross-border tax abuse and illicit financial flows deprive Global South countries of essential revenue needed for protection efforts.

International financial secrecy shields multinational corporations from accountability and facilitates environmental criminality, including illegal logging and land conversion.

The report singles out the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation as a historic opportunity to create a sustainable development tax system.

It also cites proposals advanced by Brazil to create a "wealth tax" that could generate an estimated $200 to $500 billion annually.

3. Revising Trade Rules

Current trade policies have fallen short by focusing primarily on limiting trade in illegal wood instead of addressing the expansion of industrial-scale agricultural production, which is the single largest driver of deforestation.

Trade rules reinforce the power of global commodity traders at the expense of local producers, undermining the authority of governments to police harmful practices.

Promising reforms involve shifting agriculture trade policies to prioritize sustainable food systems, smallholder farmers, and resilient ecosystems.

A Necessary Reckoning 

"There is an urgent need for leaders at COP30 to acknowledge that we will not make progress in the fight against climate change—especially when it comes to protecting forests—if we don't address the fundamental elements of our economic system that are impeding change," said Kate Horner, co-lead author of the report.

The study argues that aligning climate, biodiversity, and economic goals is possible through these reforms. Dr. Rebecca Ray of Boston University notes that reshaping these economic rules "could relieve pressure to exploit forests to meet short-term obligations, which could have an immediate impact on deforestation levels while freeing up large amounts of money to invest in forests".

The consequences of failure—the continued destruction of the world's remaining forests and a planet on a collision course with climate catastrophe—should be sufficient motivation to act.