Meralco Math: 62% Coal + 1% Oil = 100% of Your Suffering

How Imported Coal Became the Most Expensive Electricity in Southeast Asia

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 17, 2026

MGA ka-kweba, picture this: You flip the switch in your cramped Metro Manila apartment. The bulb glows. That glow comes mostly from coal—62.5 percent of our 2024 generation, 79 million-plus MWh according to the Department of Energy. Oil? A pathetic 1.1 percent.

Yet here we are, March 2026, Meralco slapping us with another P0.6427/kWh hike, pushing the average household to P13.8161/kWh—P129 more for the typical 200 kWh family that already eats lugaw to survive. And Sharon Garin warns it could climb another 16 percent when the Hormuz tanker mess fully hits.

Coal everywhere, prices nowhere down. Welcome to the Philippine energy “miracle”—where the most abundant fuel in our mix somehow makes electricity the second-most expensive in Southeast Asia.

This isn’t bad luck. This is engineered robbery. And today, I, Louis “Barok” Biraogo, name every thief, shred every alibi, and hand you the machete to fight back.

I. The Root Rot: Imported Coal + Pass-Through Slavery = Perpetual Pain

Let’s kill the official fairy tale first. DOE and Meralco swear the hike is just “pass-through” from global prices. Fine. But why are we so naked to the world?

Because 80 percent of our coal is imported. Malampaya gas is dying. We buy LNG like addicts chasing the next fix. Even that 1 percent oil plants? Their fuel prices ripple through WESM bidding and PSA indexing.

Result? Generation charge—55 percent of your bill—becomes a direct pipeline from Dubai to your wallet. EPIRA 2001 promised competition. It delivered a toll booth.

Every peso of fuel spike goes straight to you. No hedging mandates. No strategic reserves. Just “market forces,” which in practice means San Miguel Global Power and Aboitiz squeezing margins while you tighten your belt.

***🏆 “62% Coal, 0% Shame: How the Oligarchs Engineered the Most Expensive Electricity in Southeast Asia”***

II. Evisceration Hour: The Four Horsemen of the Rate-pocalypse (Descending Viciousness)

1. The Energy Oligarchy – MVP, Ramon Ang, Aboitiz & the Rest of the Cartel
Meralco (Manny V. Pangilinan’s baby, now deep in LNG with San Miguel). San Miguel (Ramon Ang’s empire gobbling coal and gas plants). Aboitiz (quietly owning half the Visayas).

These aren’t “investors.” They are feudal lords who privatized the kingdom after the 1990s crisis and then built a moat of Power Supply Agreements that lock us into decade-long expensive contracts even when spot prices crash.

They scream “we saved you from blackouts!” Yes, after they helped create the crisis by underinvesting in the first place. Now they block genuine competition, cherry-pick the best sites, and when fuel spikes, they cry poverty to the ERC while their profits stay obscenely fat. Regulatory capture? This is ownership capture.

2. ERC – The Captured Lapdog, Not the Watchdog
Energy Regulatory Commission: the agency that exists to rubber-stamp. January 2026 alone—P31 billion in “cost recovery” approved for generators, much of it landing on Meralco customers starting this very month.

Retroactive Malampaya adjustments, denied claims turned into future hikes, PSA approvals with zero real competitive selection process. They hold “hearings.” Consumers testify. Then the decision always favors the corporations. Sharon Garin’s DOE warns of 16 percent pain; ERC shrugs and lets the pass-through flow. This isn’t regulation. This is facilitation.

3. Electricity Treated as Cash Cow, Not Public Good
VAT, universal charge, missionary electrification, environmental fees, lifeline “subsidies” that barely scratch the surface—electricity isn’t a utility here. It’s a tax farm. Neighbors subsidize 36-66 percent of costs. We? We tax the poor to fund the grid that mostly serves the rich. Result: P13.82/kWh while Malaysia floats at one-third that price.

4. WESM – The Casino Where the House Always Wins (Allegedly)
Wholesale Electricity Spot Market: the place where, during “maintenance season,” generators mysteriously schedule outages together and prices explode. Congressional hearings have heard the whispers for years—gaming, collusion, must-run plants dictating terms. ERC investigates… slowly. Nothing changes. The spot price becomes the anchor that pulls every PSA upward. Brilliant system—if you own the generators.

III. The Shameful Neighbors: How Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia & Thailand Humiliate Us

Vietnam: ~$0.08-0.10/kWh average. State-owned EVN builds like crazy, FiTs for solar/wind exploded capacity, heavy subsidies. They actually lowered effective prices while growing.
Indonesia: ~$0.09-0.14. World’s biggest coal exporter—yet they cap domestic coal at $70/ton for power plants. PLN subsidizes. Consumers shielded.
Malaysia: ~$0.05-0.13 tiered. Government eats the cost. NEM solar programs. Cheap, stable, reliable.
Thailand: ~$0.094. Gas-linked but with smart TOU tariffs and subsidies.

Us? $0.22-0.24. Archipelago excuse? Bullshit. Indonesia and the Philippines are both archipelagos. The difference? Political will to protect citizens versus political will to protect conglomerates. Lesson: When the state decides electricity is a right, not a profit center, prices fall. When it hands the keys to oligarchs, Filipinos bleed.

IV. The “Solutions” on Offer – And Why Most Are Snake Oil (With the Few That Aren’t)

Renewables: Yes. The only real exit ramp. 794 MW added in 2024—record, but still peanuts. DOE dreams 35 percent by 2030, 50 percent by 2050. Feasible? Only if we force grid modernization and storage now. Offshore wind, floating solar, geothermal expansion—our 3rd-largest geothermal resource is criminally underused.
Domestic gas: Accelerate Malampaya extensions and new Recto Bank exploration. Cheaper than LNG imports. But China shadow and investor risk make it medium-term at best.
Nuclear: Finally on the table—SMR studies with US help, Bataan revival talk, 1,200 MW target by 2032. Safeguards needed, yes. But baseload without fuel imports? The oligarchs hate it because they can’t control the fuel. We must demand it anyway—with independent regulator and no MVP monopoly.
Grid modernization + storage: Non-negotiable. Fragmented Luzon-Visayas-Mindanao grids + archaic transmission = inefficiency tax. BESS integration mandatory for RE.
Subsidies: Targeted for lifeline users only. Blanket subsidies bankrupt the budget—see EVN losses. Better: direct cash transfers to poor households funded by windfall taxes on oligarch profits during spikes.

V. The Full Body Count of This Scandal

Economic: Inflation spike (every product carries electricity DNA), factories fleeing to Vietnam, lost FDI, GDP drag. Competitiveness murdered.
Social: Energy poverty—millions choosing between lights and food, illegal connections, brownouts in provinces where diesel spikes kill small businesses. Two million still off-grid pay the highest prices of all.
Political: Trust in Marcos admin, ERC, Congress evaporates. Next election will be fought on “power rates.”
Environmental: Coal lock-in = rising emissions while we boast “low per capita.” Delayed RE = more typhoon vulnerability, not less.

VI. The War Cry – What Must Happen Yesterday

We demand:

Massive RE Blitz: 50 percent by 2030 (double the DOE target), 75 percent by 2040. Mandatory annual auctions, feed-in premiums, zero red tape for rooftop solar. GSIS loans? Make them universal and zero-interest for low-income.
Domestic Gas Sprint: Declare Recto Bank national priority. Joint ventures with transparent bidding, not sweetheart deals.
Grid Revolution: Nationalize NGCP if it keeps failing. Force full smart-grid rollout + 5 GW storage by 2032.
Nuclear Reality: Pass the safeguards bill this year. Start Bataan SMR construction 2027. No single conglomerate monopoly.
Public Service Mandate: Amend EPIRA. Cap generation margins. Ban automatic pass-through above certain thresholds. Treat electricity like water in Singapore—efficient, regulated, affordable.

VII. Your Marching Orders – No Platitudes, Only Knives

To Government (Marcos & Garin): Fire the ERC commissioners who approved the P31 billion giveaway. Appoint consumer advocates. Impose immediate windfall tax on generators during global spikes. Sign the ASEAN power grid deal this quarter.
To Congress: Pass the Renewable Energy Acceleration Act with teeth—penalties for delays. Investigate WESM gaming with subpoena power that actually bites. Nationalize failing assets if oligarchs won’t play fair.
To Civil Society & Media: Form the “Power for the People Coalition.” Daily protests at Meralco HQ and ERC. Boycott non-RE suppliers where possible. Flood congressional emails with rate complaints.
To You, the Suffering Consumer:

Install solar rooftop—even a 300W kit pays for itself in 3-4 years at these rates.
Cut usage 20 percent—unplug, LED, efficient appliances. Starve the beast.
Join neighborhood solar cooperatives.
Vote only for candidates who name Meralco, San Miguel, and Aboitiz in their platforms.
Share this exposé. Make the oligarchs feel the heat of public fury.

This is not a temporary spike. This is systemic cancer. The coal that powers us is imported; the suffering is homegrown. The oligarchs built this prison. The regulators guard the gates. The politicians collect the rent.

But we—the people paying P13.82 for coal-fired light—are the ones who can burn it down and build something sane.

The next hike is coming. Will you keep paying? Or will you finally rise?

Padayon, mga igsuon.
The lights may be expensive, but the fire in our bellies is free.

— Barok
Kweba ni Barok – Still Unbought, Still Unbroken.