DAVAO CITY—A lobby group is urging the government to go full blast in transitioning to renewable energy (RE), stressing “it is time to break our relationship with fossil fuel industries.”
“More sustainable resources are already within our reach, yet we fail to explore and diversify our energy sources. There are existing initiatives and proposals such as solar, wind, and geothermal power that can actually help decrease the electricity rates of end-users and hasten our transition to renewable-energy,” the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) said.
The group said it was joining with other advocates of RE “to call on our legislators to pass bills that expand opportunities to implement RE projects, such as improving the net metering program, establishing solar rooftop programs, and institutionalizing the Green Energy Auction Program.”
“It is time to modernize our grids to effectively install and distribute RE. But scaling up clean energy financing is crucial to make this possible,” it added.
The PLCPD said, “As an immediate response to the impact of electricity price hikes, government subsidies should be also provided to aid poor households who are gravely affected by rising electricity rates.”
It cited the instance last month when Meralco “implemented another electricity price hike amid worsening inflation. The increase applied was P0.6232 per kilowatt hour (kWh), an additional P125 in the monthly bill for an ordinary household consuming 200 kWh.”
This is consistent with the previous price hikes in 2022, like the one in November with the increase of P0.844 per kWh, equivalent to P17 for a household that consume 200 kWh, and in December, with P0.3297 per kWh or P66 (for 200 kWh). The increase was triggered by the increased charges of more expensive fuel used by Independent Power Producers (IPP) and the rise of Wholesale Electricity Spot Market prices due to tight supply conditions that caused preceding yellow alerts, particularly in the Luzon grid.
Similar to the red onion price hike also caused by excessive importation plus the persistence of illegal smuggling, electricity is definitely one of the top concerns of all Filipinos, the PLCPD said.
The group said for Filipino families that belong to poor households and only earn a minimum wage of P570 a day in Metro Manila, “This is an additional struggle to survive the daily expenses.” Even when prices of basic commodities, products, and services continue to increase, wages remain low. Worse, the minimum wage all over the country is still disproportionate and does not even reach 50 percent to 60 percent of the living wage.
Home-based workers suffer as they heavily rely on electricity as their capital to perform their jobs. Businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises too, are affected as they consume more electricity compared to an ordinary household.
“We call on the electric co-operatives, independent power producers, and big energy corporations to divert their resources to renewable energy, and more importantly, empower end-users to avert the power crisis through increased participation in the energy transition,” the group said