Gov’t targets P2.22M cut in annual power bill

The government expects to soon reduce its annual electricity expense by an additional P2.22 million, once the Department of Energy (DoE) completes the “retrofitting” of 12 state-owned offices and universities in the Visayas.

In a statement, the DoE said it signed last week an agreement with seven universities, one hospital and four local government offices in Visayas, allowing it to improve the existing lighting systems in these government buildings by using more energy efficient technologies.

Aside from the potential monetary savings, the retrofitting is expected to reduce consumption by about 222 megawatt-hours and greenhouse gas emissions by 120 tons of carbon dioxide yearly.

The government plans to retrofit a total of 135 government buildings and make these more energy-efficient.

The move is expected to generate savings of as much as P73 million in electricity expenses yearly and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 3,900 tons.

The government completed the retrofitting of 35 government buildings within Metro Manila in February this year, while the retrofitting of the remaining 100 buildings is ongoing.

Early this month, the DoE signed an agreement with 56 agencies from the National Capital Region and Southern Tagalog for the retrofitting initiative, which is part of the bigger Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP).

In January 2009, the DoE began implementing the PEEP, which is aimed at reducing energy peak demand and oil imports for power generation.

With PEEP, the government expects to reduce peak power demand by 450 megawatts (MW) and reduce oil imports by $120 million yearly.

Apart from retrofitting of government buildings, PEEP projects also include the replacement of old bulbs in households, expansion of energy efficiency labeling and green building initiatives.—Amy R. Remo