The Road to Renewables: Conversations on Energy Transition gathered key energy actors from various sectors in a four-part series of dialogues  across the Philippines. With the aim of deepening local understanding of the country’s energy transition and fostering collaborative, community-driven action, the roadshows took place in Tacloban City (July 29 to August 1, 2025); Iloilo City (August 19 to 22); Cagayan de Oro City (September 23 to 26); and Tagbilaran City (October 14 to 16).

With the Philippines at a pivotal moment  in its energy transition, the country faces the dual challenge of urgently meeting growing energy demands while shifting away from fossil fuels. The Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2023-2050 sets ambitious national targets of increasing the renewable energy share in the power generation mix to 35% by 2030, 50% by 2040, and more than 50% by 2050. “To achieve these targets, we need a whole-of-nation, whole-of-government approach,” said Atty. Marissa P. Cerezo, Director of the Department of Energy (DOE) – Renewable Management Bureau.

Supporting the country’s strides in the energy transition, the Clean, Affordable, and Secure Energy (CASE) for Southeast Asia Project – Philippines organized a series of roadshows to engage with different local stakeholders and communities across the country and translate the energy agenda into local action. Engagements went beyond the host cities and included neighboring municipalities and cities within the province or region, creating a broader subnational dialogue on renewable energy.

Dedicated sessions for keysectors—local government units, civil society, academic institutions, distribution utilities, businesses, and the media—were done during each leg, tailoring each discussion to local priorities and challenges. Leaders from each sector, alongside energy experts shared their experience and insights on advancing the adoption of renewables, while participants co-created solutions through focused group discussions that strengthened local ownership of the energy transition.

In Iloilo, CASE Philippines Expert Organization Lead Roberto Emilio Hernandez emphasized that awareness must lead to collaboration and innovation to drive and accelerate the energy transition.

“The CASE program ensures that we just don’t increase your awareness, but [also] that every Filipino participates in the energy transition agenda of the Philippine government,” he said in his  welcoming remarks. “I hope [during] this four-day event, we can think [about] how we can speed up our transition, and … we can actually help promote the success story of Iloilo and the Iloilo province to other parts of the Philippines.”

The roadshows also served as a platform for advancing a data-driven energy transition and enabling evidence-based decision making. Studies conducted by CASE Philippines, such as the Long-Term Energy Scenarios (LTES) and the Power Procurement Study, were presented alongside the demonstration of innovative tools such as the SPECTRUM Solar Mapper and REACH Energy Transition Tracker.

“Technology alone cannot drive transformation. It takes champions, advocates, and leaders who recognize that energy resilience is community resilience,” said Director Michael Sinocruz of the DOE Energy Policy and Planning Bureau. “Every distributed solar installation approved, every microgrid project supported, and every energy efficiency program implemented becomes a building block toward a stronger, more resilient future.”

Through these roadshows, CASE Philippines continues to bridge national policies with local realities–fostering shared ownership of the country’s renewable energy transition and empowering communities to take the lead in championing a clean, affordable, and secure energy future.

CASE Philippines is jointly implemented by the Department of Energy as the political partner and the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) as the local expert organization. The Road to Renewables: Conversations on Energy Transition was conducted in collaboration with local partners: the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) Desk of the Provincial Government of Iloilo, the Consumers for Renewable Energy Action in Mindanao (CREAM) Project, the Bohol Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO), and the Bohol Association of Non-Government Organizations, Inc. (BANGON).

Learn more about some of the stories gathered during the roadshow through the press releases from Tacloban, Iloilo, and Cagayan de Oro.