There’s a silver lining in your electric bill.
The World Bank special envoy for climate change believes power rates in the Philippines, among the highest in Asia, may actually be a good thing for the environment, as it eases the transition to renewable energy sources.
“On the slightly brighter side, the fact that power rates are so high makes it much easier to bring in renewable energy because at the prices here, renewable energy is actually very competitive,” said Andrew Steer.
With lower electricity rates, bringing in alternative sources of energy, such as solar, wind or hydrothermal energy, would be more expensive, he said on Wednesday at a briefing in Pasig City.
“So to some extent, the amount of subsidy that would be required right now is slightly less in a country like the Philippines,” Steer said.
Although he acknowledged that the Philippines has not been a high emitter of greenhouse gases. “Nonetheless, it’s very smart to use energy efficient technology because it helps your economy grow,” he said, noting that the Philippines had a very “modest level of emission, at about 1.8 tonnes per person.”
(Industrial countries emit on average 13 tonnes of greenhouse gases per person. United States has 20 and China about 5 and a half tonnes per person.)
“Using renewable energy saves money. It has a high rate of return. And it can be financed, if you’re clever, using international funding for climate change. So it’s a sort of win-win-win option,” Steer said.
Bert Hoffman, the WB’s country director for the Philippines, said power prices have been quite high in the Philippines for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are historical, according to Hoffman. He cited the power crisis in the 1990s and the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).
“There are some inefficiencies that can and need to be worked out. Under the Epira law, basically it’s increasing the competition among power providers. That’s the mechanism to try to reduce power prices as much as possible. And I think that’s working,” he said.
But “there’s not just full competition because the privatization of some of the assets has not fully completed. So it would be really good if the government were to move on that,” Hoffman said.
Steer said there has been an increasing shift in focus from climate change mitigation to adaptation.
The Philippines, he said, has joined the ranks of the world’s most vulnerable despite emitting only modest levels of greenhouse gases. Most at risk are low-lying coastal communities, according to Steer.
Should a storm surge occur, where high winds would push the ocean’s surface, serious flooding could happen and Filipinos must prepare for such a probability, Steer said.
The World Bank has made available $250 million to the Philippines set to be divvied up to support various projects, particularly in the adoption of green technology.
Steer met with representatives of the private sector and government secretaries to discuss how they were going to flesh the agreements made in Cancun last year in preparation for the “challenging year” ahead.
