A ‘hybrid’ Meralco

There is a reason why big corporations hire veteran professionals to take care of their communication and PR. First, they have the formal training, the “combat” experience, they know how to handle sensitive issues as well as difficult personalities.

Unfortunately, they are also “The Cleaners” who are called in to fix a bloody mess that someone caused by word, action or sentiment.

A good example would be Meralco, which has had a long list of illustrious gatekeepers for public relations. Even during their most difficult times of price increases and disrupted power supply, I don’t think Meralco has ever been targeted, criticized or “hated” like other institutions.

Unfortunately, not even the best of the best can ensure that nothing goes wrong or when some individual behaves like an “outlier” or a “lightning rod.”

That recently happened when a Meralco executive casually suggested at a Senate hearing that “guerrilla” solar power installations, as well as installers, and inverters should be subject to regulation in the interest of grid and public safety.

Within hours, netizens were sharing the clip online while pro-solar people started sharpening knives and sharpening tongues. I never imagined such a pushback against Meralco all because of one suggestion.

It was, in my view, a case of speaking out of line and a bad choice of words. Out of line because the session was about revisions to the EPIRA law and not solar power regulations.

In a country where government regulation translates to red tape, delays and corruption, pushing for regulation of your indirect “competitor” is like an act of war.

Verbally expressing your negative sentiments towards “guerrilla” installations and installers was a poor choice of words because “guerrilla” is a term associated with war or combat. Is there an ongoing war between traditional versus renewable energy sources?  

Instead of expressing Meralco’s position or view verbally, the executive could have diplomatically replied to Senator Win Gatchalian that Meralco would be glad to submit their formal recommendations in writing.

On the other hand, by being transparent, the executive did alert us to the possibility of contrarian sentiments towards solar at Meralco. He also caused a rush in solar power installations overnight!

Fortunately, fellow columnist and veteran Meralco PR executive Joe Zaldarriaga quickly stepped in to cool down the situation. It always helps to have a pleasing personality to calm people down, but judging from the statement that Joe issued, the issue is far from over.

There has been too much history of power failures, power shortages and perpetual revisions on how to cope with the supply shortages and expensive electricity.

Only a few presidents ago, many companies, malls and factories were advised to have back-up power generators to avoid yellow or orange alerts because the supply of electricity was thin. The private sector complied. 

A few years later, so many companies put up power plants, but they were never enough, electricity remained expensive while the government continued being a tax collecting free loader, unlike other countries that subsidize the price of electricity.

Meanwhile, global energy insecurity and expense became the catalyst for big business and big consumers to incorporate solar in their menu of choices. The inconvenient truth is that if you are a factory, mall or school spending millions of pesos on electricity, desperation will force you to try any technology. Solar equipment did not fall out of the sky suddenly. It crawled into our lives like science projects that amazed and impressed ordinary people. 

Little by little, people discovered solar power for water heaters, security street lamps, solar powered fans and lights during blackouts and to power personal electronics. Their biggest discovery was that they could save as much as 50 percent or more on their electricity bill.  

Meanwhile, energy experts and executives were too slow to integrate the technology into their business model and many dismissed solar power as too small, expensive or still too far away to impact business.

The Department of Energy prioritized solar farms and large scale projects and turned their back on promoting solar power for commercial and residential applications.

Ironically, Meralco was one of the first to acknowledge and recognize that solar power technology had its place in the future more than 15 years ago. In fact, it was Joe Zaldarriaga who helped me enroll in a 10-day course for installers.

Instead of making accidental enemies by proposing regulation of solar power installations, Meralco executives can still get on board, promote solar consumerism and partnerships if they would only accept that our collective future is dependent on solar power, even for Meralco.

Solar power is free when tapped, technology has become so advanced and efficient even during cloudy days, the power can be stored and is available “on site” through all that residential and commercial real estate.

It is simply a change of mindset, re-engineering and rewriting the business playbook for Meralco and other electric companies.

Instead of buying power from power generators, Meralco can wean themselves and buy solar equipment for consumer and commercial establishments and transform customers into partners through buy-back of excess power. This is already being done worldwide.
The profits will be smaller but so will the expense and operational costs. The current fuel crisis is warning enough to develop a “hybrid” Meralco.