THE Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) expects an accelerated progress in the Government Energy Management Program (GEMP) in the next few years after the Department of Energy (DOE) reported that the program has yielded electricity savings of P205 million.
“DOE’s reported four-fold increase in cumulative energy savings under GEMP is already impressive given that DOE’s GEMP outreach has been limited through the pandemic years. The energy efficiency sector can expect accelerated GEMP progress in the next three to four years,” said PE2 President Alexander Ablaza.
The DOE said the other day that the government saved 20 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) since the signing of Republic Act No. 11285 or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) Act of 2019. This is equivalent to P205 million worth of cumulative electricity savings.
Prior to the EEC Act, or from 2017 to 2019, the government’s cumulative electricity savings stood at 5 million kWh, equivalent to over P51 million.
Ablaza is confident that the savings will increase exponentially if the necessary policies are enforced.
“First, we expect national and local policy issuances to operationalize the resolutions of the Inter-Agency Energy Efficiency and Conservation Committee [IAEECC], especially those relating to the forced obsolescence of low-efficiency cooling and lighting systems in government facilities, as well as the resolution instituting the GEMP guidelines.
Next, PE2 expects new procurement guidelines that would enable the flow of private capital and knowhow to public sector energy efficiency projects through energy service company (ESCO) performance contracts, public-private partnership (PPP) transactions and joint-venture agreements,” he said.
Lastly, Ablaza said, the DOE’s GEMP outreach is expected to permeate from the levels of national government agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations to the local government units, which will certainly need more time and resources to build EEC awareness and capacities.
The GEMP implementation is guided by IAEECC created by Republic Act (RA) No. 11285 or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act. It aims to reduce the whole government’s electricity and fuel consumption by at least 10 percent through energy efficiency and conservation (EE&C) strategies.
The committee prepares an annual assessment of opportunities for energy cost reduction in state-owned and leased buildings and facilities and mandating the adoption of energy-efficient measures and technologies. This includes the use of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, inverter-type air-conditioners, and other energy-efficient technologies in government facilities.
The EE&C Public Sector Management Division of the DOE-Energy Utilization Management Bureau is mandated to conduct energy audits and spot checks under the EEC Act and targets a minimum of 100 annual energy audits. At the same time, it authorized third-party auditors, such as the Philippine National Oil Company-Renewable Corporation (PNOC-RC), which assisted in the conduct of energy audits to reach more government entities nationwide.
“We commend the efforts of our government agencies in implementing energy efficiency measures. Small acts and what appears to be minor could indeed drive significant impact, especially when the entire bureaucracy, LGUs and State Universities and Colleges [SUCs] would adopt behavioral changes and imbibe energy conservation as a way of life,” DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla had said.
Image credits: Filipe Lopes | Dreamstime.com
