Govt, consumers and private sector must work together to avert 2015 power crisis

Energy saving initiatives to alleviate the power supply situation in the summer of 2015 must be a coordinated effort of the government, consumers and private sector, instead of approaching the impending crisis to each his own, a government official said Tuesday.

“Government initiatives and private initiatives, it should be in tandem,” Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) director-general Lilia De Lima told reporters on the sidelines of European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) CEO Forum on Energy Efficiency in Makati City.

Last July, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla recommended to President Benigno Aquino III to declare a state of national emergency on power due to “very thin reserves” and delays in the operation of some power plants next summer.

On the part of PEZA, De Lima explained what agency is doing at this point. “We already started seminars for economic zone locators especially for manufacturing… Also in IT… and we will also have energy audit.”

In the same briefing, ECCP vice president for external affairs Henry Schumacher said the bilateral foreign chamber is pushing for energy saving and efficiency in big companies, which is the “easiest, fastest way” to help solve the power woes.

“We’re trying to push this opportunity to do this thing from now and to the end of first quarter 2015,” he said.

“We are also talking about the possibility of using standby generators in big companies,” he added. This could help the Luzon grid save about 200 megawatts (MW), Schumacher noted.

Apart from government and private sector initiatives, consumers should do their part, De Lima said. “There should also be a strong campaign in consumers to save energy… We are appealing to households not just because it will help this country but it will help save on expenses,” she said. – VS, GMA News