How much notice must they give before a scheduled power interruption?
Last updated: 2026-09-09 · Educational content; not legal advice.
Short answer
Two days. Article 15 of the ERC's Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers provides that "at least two (2) days before a scheduled power interruption, a distribution utility must announce the same to its customers through print, or other mass or interactive media." In remote areas where such media are inaccessible, the utility must instead set up a bulletin board where the announcements are posted somewhere customers can easily see — the Magna Carta suggests along roadsides or in front of the City or Municipal Hall or the public market. Read the word scheduled carefully, because it is doing the work: this rule governs interruptions the utility planned, such as maintenance or line works. It does not set a notice period for an unplanned outage after a typhoon, an accident or an equipment failure, and the Magna Carta does not provide a rebate or refund for either kind. If your utility cut power for planned works without the two days' notice, that is a departure from Article 15 you can raise with its Consumer Welfare Desk, and Article 13 obliges it to report back on your complaint within fifteen days where its Compliance Plan sets no other period. LabanPH will write that letter for you, free and without an account, at labanph.org/complaints/build.
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Frequently asked
Do I get a refund or rebate for the hours we had no power?
Not under the Magna Carta. It requires notice of scheduled interruptions and prompt investigation of complaints, but it does not create a rebate for lost supply, and we will not tell you it does. What it gives you is a documented failure to notify, which is what a complaint to the Consumer Welfare Desk and then the ERC is built on. If a specific utility or local ordinance offers a rebate scheme, that is separate from the Magna Carta — ask the utility what scheme it operates.
What about a sudden brownout with no warning at all?
Article 15's two days apply to a scheduled interruption. An unplanned outage — a typhoon, a fallen line, an equipment failure — is not something the utility could have announced two days ahead, and the Magna Carta sets no notice period for it. What still applies is Article 13: you may complain, the utility must record and promptly investigate it, and it must report the action taken within fifteen days where its Compliance Plan sets no other period.
Where is the utility supposed to post these announcements?
Article 15 requires every distribution utility office to maintain a Consumer Bulletin Board for major announcements, and to run a customer hotline and an SMS facility for its customers. For scheduled interruptions specifically, the announcement goes out through print or other mass or interactive media, and in remote areas onto a bulletin board placed where customers will actually see it — the Magna Carta names roadsides, the City or Municipal Hall entrance, or the public market.
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