THE government could save P1.2 billion a year from electricity use by tapping abundant solar power, outgoing Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said Monday.
He raises that possibility in a bill requiring government agencies to spearhead the use of renewable energy by installing solar panels in public buildings.
Recto has filed Senate Bill 268, the “Solar Energy in National Government Offices Act,” which mandates the Department of Public Works and Highways together and the Department of Energy “to build and retrofit” government buildings and offices with a system harnessing solar energy.
“For a sun-drenched country like the Philippines, solar energy is the most abundant and fast-to-install power source,” Recto said. “Clean and cheap.”
Last year, government offices were projected to have spent P12.9 billion on electricity, or a monthly bill of more than P1 billion.
Based on Recto’s proposal, the solar energy systems to be established will initially supply at least 10 percent of the power requirements of government agencies.
To finance the solar power program, Recto said, the government may tap idle funds like the P182.29 billion in royalties from the Malampaya gas being pumped in Palawan.
Recto said building up solar power to account for 10 percent of the energy used by government offices would result in annual savings of P1.2 billion, “an amount the Duterte administration can re-channel to social services such as schools and hospitals.”
“To cut red tape and corruption, the administration is letting the sunshine into government offices. It can also tap sunlight to cut utility costs in these offices,” Recto said.