Business groups encourage members to conserve power

CEBU, Philippines - Business groups in Cebu have said they will encourage its members to continually save power to help ease demand for electricity amid the push for more stable power supply in the country. 

Carlos Co, energy committee chairman of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said power conservation has always been the chamber’s advocacy in hope to not just push for less energy consumption but also to cut carbon footprint.

“Well, [we] encourage all of them [members] to save on power,” Co told The FREEMAN in a phone interview yesterday, responding to the recent call of the Department of Energy to the private sector and government offices to use less energy especially this summer.

“We’ll continue doing that as part of our advocacy,” the official added.

Co said businesses must adopt to set the thermostat of their air conditioning systems at 25 degrees Celsius, a number recommended by the DOE, in an attempt to use less power.

According to Co, constant awareness campaign should be done to remind the public and business owners in particular on the importance of saving electricity.

“Come up with more advocacy to make the public aware especially the business sector to be more conscious about power conservation especially during the summer months,” he explained.

He though believes Visayas and Cebu will have sufficient power supply this summer.

Visayan Electric Company, a major power distributor in Cebu, earlier assured the business sector there is not so much to be concerned about the supply this summer when electricity demand normally rises. It said its interruptible load program will help boost power generation capacity.

Good business  sense

For his part, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Jeruel Roa agrees to DOE’s call that setting air conditioning units to a certain temperature “is one of the many ways by which businesses and homes can save on power and also on cost.”

“Energy conservation has been practiced by companies in Mandaue and elsewhere for many years,” Roa told The FREEMAN in an emailed statement. “It is something that everyone with good business sense should willingly get involved in.”

“Mandaue businesses would certainly welcome new ways by which to save on power and cost without hindering productivity,” the official added.

The business leader recalled that during the energy crisis in previous years, member companies of MCCI were active participants of the VECO’s ILP where firms are to operate their own generators during peak demand time to augment supply.

“This greatly helped manage the crisis and is in fact being adopted in Manila now,” he said, referring to the load sharing project.

He also explained the chamber supports the crafting of Mandaue City’s Green Building program which will promote the use of alternative energy sources and of energy-efficient building designs and facilities.

“Hopefully, the Code will be completed and passed by the council within the year,” he noted.

Earlier, Filipino-Cebuano Business Club Inc president Rey Calooy also urged small and medium enterprise owners to implement energy saving measures to save electricity and cut their energy bills at the same time.

Limiting electricity consumption is one key to sustainability and reducing energy costs, Calooy said.

He shared some of members of FCBI, composed of more or less 200 Metro Cebu-based SMEs, have started to convert to the inverter type air-conditioner which is said to cut 20-30% electricity consumption. (FREEMAN)