Tilting the Power Balance thru Green Power

“Green Powering the Housing Cooperatives” organized by the Center for Power Issues and Initiatives (CPII) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Philippines Office put together urban poor leaders, homeowners association, socialized housing beneficiaries, and other stakeholders to bring into the discussion renewable energy for their new and upcoming housing projects.

Emphasizing the economic burden to urban poor communities of the high power cost from the main grid, Engr. Lagman said “renewable energy sourcing in your own households will not only cheapen power costs, but will also allow you to allocate more for your housing needs”.

The economics of renewable energy puts the issue of energy poverty as a democratic issue in the Philippines. Ms. Maitet Diokno, CPII’s Executive Director said, “poor communities are left behind when we talk of power not only in the political and economic sense, but also in the field of electricity”.

The conference explained the concept of “power shift” to the attendees, citing German model of power shift from coal and nuclear to renewable energy. Wilson Fortaleza of CPII also commented, “If a cold country like Germany can do 50% energy supply thru RE, specifically solar, there is no reason for a tropical country like Philippines to lag behind”.

“Securing housing for urban poor includes securing energy supply not only as consumers but even as producers”, he added.

Energy poverty affects 11 million people in the Philippines with 3.7 million living in urban areas. Majority of these urban poor and energy poor households also have high vulnerabilities to impacts of climate crisis.

CPII and FES has been working on Renewable Energy projects since 2015 as part of FES’ thrust on Climate and Energy Democracy.