The Philippines has the highest electricity cost in Southeast Asia after Singapore at USD 0.18/kwh. This is a huge burden on all Filipinos and is a major deterrent to foreign investment, other than peace and order, political stability and cost of doing business, including corruption.

Not only is electricity cost high, the supply is unstable as well, with aging coal-fired power plants and high fuel prices. We’re always having brownouts due to lack of power reserves, costing us even more due to lost opportunities. More far-flung areas are not even electrified at all.

Don’t even think about what the government is doing about this, because the answer is sadly, none. We continue to be dependent on imported coal and fuel for our power plants. We have to help ourselves again in this aspect.

For those who can afford it, this is the time to install solar energy systems at home. The costs are now much more affordable, even with batteries to store excess energy to use during the night. This I found out after experiencing rising power bills even after installing solar panels three years ago, whereupon I inquired about adding batteries to my grid-tied system.

On the average, the cost of a solar energy system will be recovered in three to four years’ time. Thereafter, you will be paying much less for electricity for the next 10-15 years at least.

The other good news is that banks are also willing to give out loans for solar energy systems, which makes it more affordable to acquire instead of shelling out a lump sum outright. Think of it this way. Instead of paying for high electricity bills, the amount you save with a solar energy system is good enough to pay for your monthly loan amortization. In effect, you will be paying monthly amortizations with savings on your energy bills. Once you have paid off your loan, you’ll be enjoying lower electricity bills, if not saving the entire amount, depending on the solar energy system capacity you acquire.

When you do, you’re not only helping yourselves save money. You’ll also be helping the country and the economy. When enough people install solar energy systems, the strain on our electricity grid will be much less, leading to more stable supply for the entire country. There will be less power blackout/brownouts, with less deleterious effects on the economy.

Can we really impact the power sector? With middle income families comprising 39.8 percent of the population, we can. Most have permanent homes that they can fit with solar energy systems, and their purchasing power can be used for more productive ways of reducing reliance on the energy grid. They can use their property as collateral to take out loans for solar energy.

More and more businesses are also cashing in on the energy savings from solar and wind power. The shopping malls are leading the way in this aspect, with hopefully more major businesses and industries also resorting to solar energy for savings in the long run.

The reduced dependence on coal-fired power plants will enable the plant operators to schedule maintenance operations which are often put off due to lack of electrical supply. That will reduce the frequent breakdowns of power plants due to lack of maintenance.

All in all, everyone stands to benefit from this approach to electricity costs. The reduced demand for coal to fire up power plants will save on foreign exchange. Since demand for line electricity will be reduced, the price should adjust accordingly, leading to lower costs for all. This is, if the law of demand and supply will be followed, which is not a given in this magic-realist country of ours.

With reduced electricity demand from the urban areas, the power companies will have to look for new markets, and they will have to power up more remote areas, giving our less connected countrymen a better life with electricity. When ordinary people have to pay less for electricity, the savings can be used to pay for food, education and healthcare.

Let us not hope for or rely on government interventions to reduce electricity costs. There is a tangled web of laws and regulations that govern the power industry sector, and all that matters to them is the revenue from taxes on oil imports and levies on power companies. It is not in the best interest of government to reduce power costs. But it is in the best interest of ordinary Filipinos and business owners, which they can do by installing solar energy systems.

We will not be independent of the energy grid for our power requirements for a long while, but we are in a position to alleviate our own woes by helping ourselves in this respect, while also alleviating our country’s energy problem.