Enhanced power headroom reporting (ePHR) for MTC devices. The ePHR techniques may include configuration and triggering of reporting when a corresponding change to a coverage enhancement (CE) level is likely to result. For example, ePHR may be based on parameters more directly related to PH change instead of PL changes. MTC devices may be configured with multiple thresholds for ePHR reporting that define ePHR regions associated with CE levels. In some examples, an ePHR triggered at the MAC level is used to trigger sending a request for uplink data resources. Legacy PH reporting may be disabled when ePHR is configured to reduce overhead.