“How could you work for the Power Company, Dad?”, you once asked me over dinner. It must have been just after you had a school discussion on various sources of electricity. You were quoting words like renewable energy, hydropower, wind farms and other terms. “Power companies aren’t good for the environment,” you next blurted and then you talked about climate change, sustainability, COP 27 and many more things.
I proudly work for the Power Company because I get to empower people’s lives every day. Because of what my colleagues and I do, homes have lighting, hospitals can operate their theaters, computers can be turned on, manufacturing facilities can build things, and many other modern day conveniences can ensue. There aren’t many things in life that you expect to be available as and when you need it — come rain or shine, whether it’s at 8 a.m. Monday or 11 p.m.
In the Philippines, unemployment and hunger incidents are still major problems. Three out of 10 Filipino children experience childhood stunting due to malnutrition. One out of four Filipinos die due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease. Five out of ten Filipinos do not have access to safely managed drinking water services. Our job is to balance these trade-offs to determine the best possible outcomes.
By the way, renewable energy may indeed seem cheaper than traditional sources, and, to be clear, your Dad is helping build a lot, lot more renewable energy facilities. But it’s not as simple as it seems. Consider the levelized cost of electricity , or the average revenue per unit of electricity needed to recover the cost of building and operating a power plant.