by Jovie Cabais | Dec 8, 2013 | Tech Updates
More than two weeks of unstable power or none at all crippled Bohol’s business environment very severely. Tourism should have been very brisk already at this time of the year. Consumers should have been buying lots of Christmas celebration related goods. Parties should have started already. Instead, we have stores closing earlier than usual and resorts making up promos to attract as many guests, if any arrive. After the October 15 earthquake, the tourism industry suffered because of a lot of cancellations. But it might have only been a temporary setback if power wasn’t knocked out after typhoon Yolanda which did not damage Bohol significantly. With the electrical service being totally out in major tourism areas, travel agencies have no choice but to suggest to guests to go elsewhere. Because we are not sure when electricity would be back to normal, service providers would either have to prepare to spend for fuel for their generators in order to meet their commitments with their customers, or shut down for a while. Others may have to shut down permanently, unfortunately. Yolanda reminded us that we should not assume electricity from outside the province is always available. Bohol must have its own capability to generate enough electricity at least to keep the city and major tourism and industrial sites running. The choice for Bohol would be renewable energy sources. At the household level, off-grid solar energy systems would be a practical option. If we could buy these systems in volume, we could drive the cost down. If these systems could be tax exempt and duty free, costs can easily drop by at...
