TOKYO. – With the issuance next month of the guidelines on an energy conservation program, government expects to save P2 billion in electrcitiy and fuel this year.
Patrick Aquino, director of the Energy Utilization Management Bureau, said the guidelines of Administrative Order 15 will be out by mid-February.
AO 15 orders the implementation of Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) in all government entities under the executive branch, including government-owned and controlled corporations, government financial institutions, their subsidiaries and state universities and colleges.
With the AO, the government estimates nearly P2 billion in savings for both electricity and fuel this year compared from 2023’s P300 million.
Last year’s savings is equivalent to over 30 million kilowatt hours and more than P25 million fuel savings or an equivalent of 386,083.59 liters of fuel.
The Department of Energy (DO) said the savings resulted from 1,210 audited government offices out of the estimated 8,000 total entities identified.
“…We’re coming out with some additional implementing guidelines before February 14, that is the instruction. Under the issuance, we have to monitor. What we see right now is be it the government, households or businesses, it starts with being aware of where your consumption is. Sometimes, a lot of things are being taken for granted and (appliances and devices are) left unplugged,” Aquino told reporters in a briefing here earlier this week.
Aquino said the DOE will now break down the performance of different government agencies in terms of their reporting of energy efficiency efforts.
“We can remind agencies to re-examine their operations and if we can identify spikes in terms of (power) consumption, they can immediately address,” Aquino added.
Specifically, AO 15 directs the conduct of energy audits, submission of inventory of existing energy consuming equipment and timelines for upgrading to more energy efficient equivalents, ensuring compliance with the DOE guidelines on energy conserving design for buildings and the Philippine Green Building Code for new building construction and building retrofits.
It also reminds the adoption of low-cost EEC measures by maintaining ambient temperature of 24°C in airconditioned spaces, turning off unused lights and air-conditioning units and activating sleep settings on office equipment.
AO 15 also institutionalizes the designation of an EEC officer and focal persons in each government entities, preparation of EEC programs and allocation of appropriate amount for the implementation of planned energy management program, among others.
Meanwhile, Alexander Ablaza, Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) president, said AO 15 will “amplify the urgency and need” for a whole-of-government approach in accelerating the implementation and beneficial impacts of the Government Energy Management Program (GEMP).
“GEMP compliance cuts across national government agencies, local government units, state universities and colleges, government-owned and controlled corporations and even foreign posts, and if all these public entities succeed in contributing energy saving impacts in 2024 to 2026, the government not only inspires replication by other sectors but more immediately, free up significant energy supply requirements both in the grid and fuel market, especially when supply buffers run thin in a time of El Niño and global energy market uncertainties,” Ablaza said in a separate statement.
Ablaza added other benefits of accelerated government implementation of energy efficiency improvements, spill over across the entire energy end-use economy and also catalyzes energy efficiency actions from sectors that are not directly mandated by AO 15.
