ABRA lone district Rep. JB Bernos urged the government on Thursday to consider a nationwide subsidy for household solar installations, citing a successful renewable energy initiative in Thailand.
“Maybe we can also replicate this,” Bernos said, referring to Thailand’s 50-billion-baht (around $1.48 billion) home solar power initiative.
The program offers a subsidy of up to 50,000 baht per household for rooftop solar photovoltaic installations and targets around 1 million households.
“This is a program worth replicating here,” Bernos said, urging the government to consider a similar scheme to help Filipino households save on electricity by shifting to solar energy.
Meralco’s residential electricity rate rose to P15.0615 per kilowatt-hour in October 2026, up from P14.7424 in September.
Bernos urged the government to conduct a feasibility study to determine the costs and benefits of such a program, particularly its potential to reduce household expenses and help stabilize power supply for other industries.
“If we find that this could substantially reduce our countrymen’s expenses while also helping stabilize power supply for other industries, wouldn’t this be a win-win situation and a lasting legacy of the government to the Filipino people?” he said.
Bernos is the author of House Bill 3126, or the proposed On-Grid Solar Energy Systems Act, which seeks to require solar energy systems in national and local government-owned buildings and offices.
