Peter Bae has a full-time job in finance.
He earns a decent wage — above the average in his home country Solomon Islands.
Yet, when his kids come home from school to their modest home on the outskirts of the capital Honiara, sometimes they're forced to do their homework in the dark.
"[It] upsets my children," he told the ABC's The Pacific program.
"They cry whenever it gets dark and our house isn't lit up."
Peter can't afford to connect to the country's main power grid. Instead, the family relies on solar panels to charge batteries and power other necessities.
When the weather's bad — which is often — they pay a neighbour one dollar to help them charge their phones.
But even then, they're still often left in the dark.
"It affects our children's studies, particularly before exam period," he said.
The cause
The figures show the reason why Peter is struggling.
According to UK-based aggregate website Cable, Solomon Islands has the unwanted title of the world's most expensive electricity, just above fellow Pacific nations Vanuatu and Cook Islands, which sit in third and fourth place respectively.
The research, released in December 2021, analysed 230 countries and found on average electricity in Solomon Islands cost $1.03 per kWh.
The cheapest electricity in the world is in Libya and costs $0.01 cents per kWh.
The research found Australia's rate was 26 cents per kWh.
According to Martin Sam, the acting chief executive of state-owned Solomon Power, the country's energy authority, the causes of the high prices are "complex".
He says the country's geography, with a population of 700,000 spread over hundreds of islands, is one cause.
The other is the source of electricity.
"98 per cent of the [country's] power generation is from diesel," he said.
"That is the main cause of the the high electricity price in the country."
In the 'Dark Ages'
On top of the cost, according to advocacy groups only about 15 to 20 per cent of Solomon Islanders have access to power.
For Solomon Islands' MP Peter Kenilorea, it is a major roadblock in the country's economic growth and "not something to be proud of".
Mr Kenilorea, an opposition MP and outspoken critic of the Sogavare government, says the impacts of the high costs of power are "massive".
And he says "corruption" and a lack of political will has stifled energy policy in the country.
"It's a tough comment for me to make, but there are players that don't see [personal gain] for them in the energy sector, as they see clearly in [something like] logging," he says.
"When you have a high cost of energy and power, then it translates to a high cost of living.
"So businesses [find] it difficult to grow and expand, just because of the cost of fuel is so high. Power is the big mover behind any developments and economic growth, it permeates every level of society.
"Without power [we] might as well go back to the Dark Ages."
$9,000 a month for an ice machine
Solomon Islands Government energy division director John Korinihona rejected any accusation of corruption or self-interest from the government as a cause of the high energy costs, and instead pointed to a planned "tariff reduction" to help reduce costs.
Yet, for business owner Craig Day, it cannot come soon enough.
Mr Day, who has run a fuel station franchise and accommodation business in the capital for the past 50 years, says new businesses have been forced to close because of the high cost of power.
And, he says, it has impacted his business.
"We've been forced to remove air conditioning and close down the ice production machines," he says.
"Those machines alone, were costing $50,000 Solomons per month ($9,000) to run to produce ice."
But, according to the Solomons government, there are more solutions in the works.
Hydro power coming ... soon
About 20 kilometres south-east of Honiara, the long-awaited Tina River hydropower project is getting closer to completion.
Feasibility studies for the project began in 2009. And in 2012 it was hoped power would come by 2017.
More delays have since beset the project, which is partly funded by the Australian government and NGOs such as the Green Climate Fund and Asia Development Bank.
The Solomon Islands government told the ABC it is hoped to be up and running by "2025 or 2026".
When it is live Mr Korinihona says it will provide of 93 per cent of the Honiara grid, or 82 per cent of all power stations in the country, displacing a "substantial amount" of reliance on diesel fuel.
"This is a significant reduction in Solomon Power's annual fossil fuel consumption and in turn reduces the electricity tariff," he said.
Back in Honiara, Peter simply hopes the proposed changes will allow him to access cheaper electricity, so he can help his children achieve their dreams.
"My plan is for Bridget to be a doctor, Shirwin to be a lawyer, Julius to be a pilot, Pius to work for the church . . . this is my dream," he said.
"Having access to electricity can enable children to do studies at night, [that's] something I want for them."
The Pacific program airs on the international ABC Australia service on Thursdays at 7pm, in Australia on the ABC News Channel on Thursdays at 9:30pm and on Fridays at 10:30am on ABC TV. It can also be seen on iview.
