More benefits and savings will be realized from the Government Energy Management Program (GEMP) in the next three to four years, according to the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2).
The group issued the statement after the Department of Energy (DOE) reported GEMP resulted in a cumulative electricity savings of P205 million or an equivalent of over 20 million kilowatt hours (kWh) as of the first quarter of 2023.
The GEMP implementation is guided by the Inter-Agency Energy Efficiency and Conservation Committee (IAEECC) created by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) Act that aims to reduce the entire government’s electricity and fuel consumption by at least 10 percent through various strategies.
Prior to the EEC Act’s enactment in April 2019, the DOE said the national government’s cumulative electricity savings only stood at 5 million kWh equivalent to over P51 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,” said Alexander Ablaza, PE2 president, in a statement.
Ablaza cited that among the factors that will drive GEMP progress in the next three to four years, include the expected national and local policy issuances to operationalize the resolutions of the 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.
