In one small town, a coal plant may hold the key to Philippines’ dirty energy exit

['Carmela S. Fonbuena', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] PCIJ.org 2025-09-02 00:00:00

Photo by Bobby Lagsa for PCIJFirst coal-fired power plant in Mindanao“STEAG Mindanao Coal” now towers over the small town. It offers incentives for coal plant owners to phase out their facilities and replace their capacity with renewable energy. But his group is open to the mechanism if it means a coal plant will be retired. “Retiring the STEAG plant would mean that the other coal plants in the country also have their limits. Two decades after they went to the streets to oppose the coal plant, activists are again geared to oppose these scenarios.