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A broader look at today’s business n
Sunday, July 5, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 264
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
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DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
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A LEAP IN MINDSET:
ROOFTOP SOLAR FOR EVERYONE
SOLAR DIVIDE Rooftop solar systems are seen atop homes in an upscale neighborhood in
Manila in this May 1, 2026, file photo. Energy advocates say the technology will remain out of reach for millions of Filipinos unless the government removes barriers such as high upfront costs, limited financing, complex permitting, and taxes on solar equipment. They argue the reforms are essential to ensure the benefits of the country’s clean energy transition are shared by all Filipinos—not only by those who can already afford to invest in solar. AP/ANTON L. DELGADO
T
By Rizal Raoul Reyes
HE Philippine government should accelerate efforts to democratize rooftop solar by making clean energy affordable and accessible to millions of Filipino households; otherwise, all the ongoing hype about ramping up renewable energy coverage will be seen as mere rhetoric. Speaking at a forum on Thurs‑ day on the country’s energy transi‑ tion, Alberto Dalusung III, transi‑ tion advisor for the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), said overwhelming public support for rooftop solar reflects a fundamental shift in how Filipi‑
nos view renewable energy, not as a luxury or alternative technology, but as a practical solution to soar‑ ing electricity costs and growing energy insecurity. “The public is no longer wait‑ ing for top-down solutions. Fili‑ pinos are demanding the tools to
“The data tells us Filipinos are ready. What they need now is an enabling environment that allows every household—not just those with financial means—to participate in the clean energy transition.”—Alberto Dalusung III, transition advisor for the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC)
“The demand is already there: what many Filipinos need now is structural access. By expanding affordable financing options... we can make clean energy inclusive, the transition shouldn’t be limited to those who can afford the upfront costs; it must be within reach of every Filipino.” —Brenda Valerio, Philippine Country Director of New Energy Nexus
achieve localized energy indepen‑ dence,” Dalusung said. Citing a nationwide survey con‑ ducted by Pulse Asia, Dalusung said 93 percent of Filipinos believe the government should make rooftop solar more available and affordable, while 85 percent now consider roof‑ top solar a necessity rather than a luxury. Moreover, 93 percent believe a mainstream transition is entirely achievable if citizens have access to the right information, while 91 percent said widespread adoption is viable if affordable financial options are more available. Moreover, Dalusung said the findings indicate that renew‑ able energy has moved beyond environmental advocacy and has become an economic necessity for ordinary families struggling with one of Southeast Asia’s highest electricity prices. “Climate action is no longer
separate from people’s daily lives,” he said. “Families now see rooftop so‑ lar as a way to lower their electricity bills, protect themselves from vola‑ tile power prices, and gain greater control over their energy future.” Despite strong public inter‑ est, Dalusung said millions of Filipinos remain unable to install rooftop solar because of high upfront costs, limited financing options, complex permitting re‑ quirements, and taxes imposed on solar equipment. He stressed that government intervention is needed to remove these barriers and ensure that the benefits of renewable energy are shared by all Filipinos rather than a privileged few. “The question is no longer why Filipinos want rooftop solar,” he said. “The challenge now is how we make sure its benefits are not Continued on A2
POWER, NOT JUST CODE: How AI is forcing a rethink of the grid By Troi Santos
N
EW YORK CITY—At a re‑ cent New York briefing, senior Morgan Stanley ex‑ ecutives sketched a shift already underway: the AI boom, they ar‑ gued, is no longer just about code but about electricity—and the strain it is beginning to place on the US power system. The briefing at Morgan Stan‑ ley’s Midtown headquarters is part of the New York Foreign Press Cen‑ ter’s Local Reporting Tour for ac‑ credited journalists. Since that briefing, Morgan
Stanley has only sharpened the contours of this argument, warn‑ ing clients that US power demand from AI could outstrip available supply by roughly 9 to 18 gigawatts through 2028—a gap they say is arriving faster than the grid can respond. In newer research and roundtables, the firm describes 2026 as a “year of execution” in which investors are told to “own the bottleneck” in power, favor‑ ing quick‑to‑build gas and nucle‑ ar‑adjacent projects or off‑grid, behind‑the‑fence generation over pure AI narratives. I slip into Morgan Stanley’s
THE Douglas County Google Data Center complex in Lithia Springs, Georgia. AP/MIKE STEWART
headquarters about five minutes before the briefing starts, af‑ ter crawling the last few blocks through late-morning Midtown traffic to 1585 Broadway. The room has the familiar trappings of a Wall Street event: a Times Square ad‑ dress, careful seating, the promise of actionable insight. What is less familiar is the subject. Instead of parsing earnings or the latest market tantrum, a group of se‑ nior executives spends almost an hour talking about transformers, gas turbines, and land-use per‑ mits. The hottest topic in finance, it turns out, now lives downstream
of the humble power line. Artificial intelligence is often sold to the public as a software rev‑ olution—a story about algorithms, training data, and the near-mysti‑ cal promise of machines that learn. In private, especially among the people who finance and build the infrastructure that makes AI pos‑ sible, the conversation sounds very different. Here, AI is not only a story about code. It is a story about electricity. Jim Caron, the Morgan Stan‑ ley portfolio chief moderating the discussion, tries to put it in a Continued on A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 61.5900 n JAPAN 0.3824 n UK 82.2288 n HK 7.8530 n CHINA 9.0800 n SINGAPORE 47.6445 n AUSTRALIA 42.6203 n EU 70.4282 n KOREA 0.0400 n SAUDI ARABIA 16.4039 Source: BSP (July 3, 2026)