It didn’t take long

After the Department of Energy and the power sector started expressing safety concerns over guerrilla solar installers and the need for regulation, it didn’t take long for at least one local government to require technical paperwork and applications and permit for solar power structures.

According to my source, he recently held a meeting with a solar installation company for a 24-panel, 11.88 KW set up. In the course of the meeting, he was informed that Pasig City or their engineering and permits office now requires the paperwork prior to installation.

The prospective client went home shocked at finding out that aside from the solar panels and inverter he wanted installed, the company now includes an added cost. The added cost is P20,000 “only.”

Yes, the company charges P20,000 for legwork to do all the paper processing. The company charges P720,000 for a 24-panel set up with no batteries, grid tied or connected to Meralco. Puede installments for 18 months.

Let’s do the math, P720,000 divided by 18 months is P40,000 a month. The amount being charged for “leg work” is P20,000, which is one half of a monthly installment and equivalent to the one-month salary of an average office worker.

P20,000 is almost three percent of the system cost that is imbedded if not charged up front to the client. In other words, it already cost you P20,000 before you even see the equipment or get a sampling of what the cheaper electricity costs.

How many man hours actually goes into reviewing the technical and structural details that it costs P20,000 in “paperwork?” There are long established guides and standards worldwide and if city hall really wants to help, they should provide the schematics and standards.

While everyone agrees on the need for safety standards, etc., the concern or resistance of homeowners and solar advocates is due to the high potential for red tape or required documents, which eventually cause additional expense, delays, impatience and, of course, corruption or fixers.

I find it hard to believe that Pasig City charges P20,000 for engineering inspection and permits. What could be happening is that the installer found a way to have its cake and eat too, meaning they apply for a permit to start a project and get paid for getting the permit.

Before the dam breaks, it would be prudent for the DILG, governors and mayors to hold town hall meetings, consultations primarily with their residents, homeowners associations and installers to arrive at or put together a system where the end user does not become the money-making carabao for installers, LGUs, as well as opportunistic parasites called fixers who end up making more money than city hall.

Local officials should also consider the fact that money saved from the cost of electricity is not the end game. Consumers will be consumers but now they have savings to improve their quality of life and money to plow back into the local economy. It’s a win-win situation.

*      *      *

Perhaps it is time for DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla to evaluate his priorities and strategies as DILG secretary. While Secretary Remulla gets his face on the front page every now and then, “playing cop” does not score with the majority of LGUs.

In order to be consistent, one must have a system and not just a style or strategy. Consider the fact that many provinces, cities or towns are operating at will but not with enough expertise or experience.

The DILG has enough resources and influence in government to provide a service where the DILG acts as consultant or adviser to the development plans of LGUs, whether it is in infrastructure, policy (such as solar regulation) or operational competency.

Many towns want to be cities, many cities want to be highly urbanized or similar to Ortigas, Makati or BGC but do not realize the social and inflationary impact such goals have on their constituents.

In one of our columns, prominent landscape architect and urban planner Paulo Alcazaren agreed that many LGUs around the country have been quite busy building new city halls and various other buildings but lacking foresight, logic or planning.

One of the key points architect Alcazaren shared was accessibility, where city hall business centers are far from the center of town and lacking established public transportation.

I have seen a similar shortcoming in our beloved city of Lipa, where officials entered into a “shared space” or location with an established developer. The old city hall is being cleared out and the new city hall has opened for business in the outer limits of Lipa City.

The problem with the brilliant solution is that the traffic that used to be at the old site has also migrated with the new city hall and has caused a nightmare even for drivers using the Lipa-Balete off ramp from the Star Tollway.

There are now traffic jams on the on and off ramps because of the volume of traffic created by Lipeños transacting business daily at the new city hall.

To be fair, the decision to relocate already faced such a challenge because the road was and is only a two-lane road where store owners and vehicle owners already occupy or block the road.

As the saying goes: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Can Secretary Jonvic Remulla please bring out the fire extinguisher?

*      *      *

E-mail: [email protected]