Slash high electricity cost

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.

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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.