PARANAS, Eastern Samar — The Samar town of Paranas made a historic move as the first municipality in the province to fully transition its energy requirement away from the main electricity grid starting Wednesday evening.

Just after sunset, the whole municipal building lit up in a ceremonial switch-on that signaled the transition to its locally generated energy to power the building.

Paranas Mayor Eunice Babalcon said the transition will mean not only big savings for the municipal government but also a commitment to helping reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change.

“We look at this as symbolic because we believe that the just transition to renewable energy is already ripe and it should be happening,” said Babalcon.

“This project is not only economical for the LGU of Paranas but will also push for continued LGU operations even during calamities and power interruptions.”

She added that the municipality spends between P120,000 and P200,000 for its monthly electric bills for the municipal building itself, which houses 13 offices each with its own air-conditioning units.

She added that the solarized project is projected to save approximately P15 million in net lifetime electricity costs, with solar power costing only P4.70 per kWh compared to the Samar II Electric Cooperative’s rate of P13.00 per kWh.