The 2025 policy record, in one page

2025 was a quiet year in prices and a busy one in policy. Inflation stayed below the target band for most of it and the central bank cut five times, to 4.50% in December. Growth slowed to 4.4% for the year, the weakest in five years, as public investment fell. In energy, the third auction round was awarded, the fourth was prepared, and the biodiesel mandate stepped up. The oil shock of the following March was not on anybody's list.

Compiled in September 2026 from the releases of the time, with the revisions the agencies have published since. Nothing here is a forecast.

The record

Money. Policy rate cut in April, June, August, October and December, 125 basis points in all, to 4.50%.

Auctions. Third round awarded on 10 June: 6,677 MW, of which 6,350 MW pumped storage, for delivery to 2035. Fourth round, pairing solar and wind with storage, prepared for bidding.

Fuels. Biodiesel blend raised to 4% from 1 October, with 5% due in October 2026. Thermal coal averaged about 108 dollars a tonne for the year, its cheapest since 2021.

Spot market. The lowest annual average prices in years, with Luzon around 4 pesos a kilowatt-hour for much of the second half.

What it settled

That the grid's firm capacity for the 2030s will be pumped storage, and that the remaining decade will be covered by batteries bought in the auction rounds. That the government will keep pushing the renewable share through the portfolio standard and the auctions rather than through a carbon price. And that cheap money and cheap fuel can coincide for a year without moving the investment decisions the plan depends on: gross capital formation fell through the year.

What it left open

The dry season, every year until the reservoirs are built. The evening price of renewable power, which the fourth round will set. And the fuel bill of every plant that raises steam on imported fuel, which 2025 made look small and 2026 did not.

The use of a quiet year

The sites that used 2025 to run the numbers on their residue had their options priced when the comparison reversed. The quarterly editions of this series carry the figures; this page is the list of what the year decided.

If your site runs a fuel-fired boiler or produces an organic residue, an energy and waste audit puts your own numbers against this. Tell us about your site and an engineer replies with the data we need. The figures behind each quarter are in the quarterly market brief.