Makati City: As data centers continue to grow in the Philippines, a renewable energy player emphasized the need for a coordinated approach to meet the sector's power demand while preventing a spike in electricity costs for household consumers. During the Executive Roundtable Summit 2025 of the Data Center Association of the Philippines (DCAP) in Makati City on April 29, First Gen Energy Solutions, Inc. president and chief operating officer Carlos Lorenzo Vega said a comprehensive plan on power and data centers should be coordinated by the government. According to Philippines News Agency, Vega stressed the necessity of a specific plan to serve data centers, as their power requirements differ significantly from other sectors. "Our grid grows by 500 megawatts every year, and they are talking about 1 gigawatt growth, so it's like double that the usual overall growth," Vega stated on the sidelines of the event. DCAP has set a target of 1GW information technology load capacity for the Philippines by 2029, aiming to establish the country as an emerging data center hub in the region. DCAP chairperson and co-founder Steven Davis noted that achieving this capacity would require an investment of USD18 billion. The call for a government-led plan is crucial as the country seeks to attract international investors in the data center industry, particularly those needing large-scale and uninterrupted power. In the same event, Global AI Council Philippines co-founder Antonilo Mauricio expressed concerns about data centers competing with households and other consumers for power resources, potentially leading to higher electricity prices. Mauricio emphasized that supporting data center growth must take into account the broader energy system, as advancing AI development remains challenging with many areas in the country still lacking electricity.