THIRTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD Rosemarie Wines, supervisor at Eagle Beach Resort, chuckled loudly when asked whether they are satisfied with the current power supplier of Mabini, Davao de Oro.
She immediately composed herself and said, “No, of course not. The owner told us that the commercial electricity rate is very expensive. For example, for the month of December 2025 alone, they paid P300,000 plus or almost P400,000, I think.”
Eagle Beach Resort is only one of several beach resorts that dot Mabini town’s white coast in Barangay Pindasan, some two hours from Davao City. It’s also one of the biggest. Still, she said, it doesn’t explain why in January 2026, the resort’s monthly bill was also around P300,000.
“We don’t understand it, considering that we were only fully booked on Jan. 1 and 2. For the rest of the month, business was so slow.”
She said that Northern Davao Electric Cooperative also implements long power blackouts during weekends, a time when families typically reserve cottages and rooms in their resort. As a result, they are forced to crank their generator, which also increases their operational costs.
Eagle Resort has 33 rooms for guests staying overnight. In January, she said they only averaged two or three bookings during weekdays. For weekends, however, around 70% of their rooms are occupied.
“So, this coming weekend, they told us there would be a 12-hour brownout,” she said. “It means our generator sets would be running during that entire time. Imagine the volume of diesel that we would burn up.”
She also complained about the fluctuating power, which already damaged several appliances. “We spent a lot of money to repair our ACs. In one month, I can say that we always called in a technician for repair. Last December, for instance, we had 10 ACs that no longer blow cold air.”
“Our most expensive repair was more than P7,000 for our inverter air-con that developed a leak,” she added.
For now, however, she sees no solution in sight. Wines doesn’t expect their power supplier to suddenly improve their services or reduce their rates. As such, she hopes that another utility company will take over and end their torment.
Barely surviving
Gacasan Beach Resort in Barangay San Antonio, Mabini, opened in 2018, but has been treading water, particularly in recent years.
Supervisor Meanie C. Manat, 29, said they are barely surviving since their monthly bills average P9,000 to P10,000. But in recent months, they had electricity bills reaching P15,000-P17,000.
The highest was in December 2025, when they were billed P33,000 for electricity. She said they only had four exclusive bookings for that month. While they earned P80,000 for the bookings at P20,000 each for 24 hours, the electricity bill ate most of the income.
She said they could have put up with it if the cooperative provided excellent service. But their poor service doesn’t justify the high electricity rate. She cited the unannounced and sudden power interruption.
“It’s stressful, especially when they cut off the light at night, and we have guests. We have to scurry to contact anyone from Nordeco about what happened and when it will return. There are days when it’s still warm even if the guests open the windows. So, they pester us about the AC.
“I couldn’t count the number of times guests have canceled because of the brownout. Each room is P2,000, so it really affects our income,” she said. “Unlike when Nordeco informs us, so our guests won’t likely cancel their booking because they already know the situation.
In a week, we have brownouts 2-3 times. Although the resort is lucky enough so far because no AC was damaged, she said they had to call a technician because some of the appliances were grounded due to the fluctuating electricity.
At the time of the interview, they had just one of their ACs fixed. “We spent P1,000, and it might seem affordable, but these types of expenses accrue over time.”
Manat also said that Nordeco is quick to cut the connection even if they already promised to pay.
“We had a notice of disconnection for 48 hours, I think. However, we simply forgot about it. Their technician arrived, and we requested additional time, as we were on the way to their office to pay. But they still went on to cut off our connection even if we had guests at that time,” she said.
She bemusedly recounted going to the Nordeco’s office to tell the cashier that people would be better off transferring to Davao Light and Power Co. Talks about the power utility firm replacing the electric cooperative have spread like wildfire around the town.
“I hope Davao Light will come in. My family is from Panabo, so we can really compare their services,” she said. “This situation with Norderco is really not sustainable, especially for small resorts like us.”
Refuge turns into stress
Nenita Torremonia, 65, owner of New Sentro Beach Resort, a few minutes’ drive from Gacasan Beach Resort, said their business has already been negatively impacted by the persistent power outages.
She shared that they have several businesses in Tagum City and could really compare Davao Light’s services to their experience in Mabini, Davao de Oro.
Davao Light started serving Tagum City by July 2025, inaugurating a 22 MVA substation in Barangay Magugpo East.
“We really want Davao Light to come here. We are tired of Nordeco and its antics,” she said. For instance, they will have long brownouts on weekends that last for 12 hours. But weekends are family time, and that’s when our guests usually come in to stay and swim.”
She said they were forced to invest in a diesel generator to make their guests happy and power voltage regulators for each room to protect their appliances from electrical damage.
The resort was supposed to be a haven for the retired couple, but it has become a source of stress due to lingering outages, complaining guests, or damaged appliances. For instance, their average monthly bill goes upwards of P30,000. “And that’s the minimum,” she said.
For now, she said they would have to hold on, hoping that the new utility company would take over and solve all their power woes.
