Forum tackles Energy Efficiency Opportunities
International expert and independent consultant on on Energy Environment and Engineering, Dr. Alexander Ablaza was the resource person in a Forum: Transforming the Crisis into Energy-Efficiency Opportunities sponsored by the Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (RISE) together with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Central Philippine University Office for Environmental Concerns held 16 May 2006 at the Dr. Alfonso Uy Conference Hall in Central Philippine University.
The forum was an immediate response of civil society in the midst of rising cost of fuel and increasing electricity demand that aggravated the energy problem in Iloilo City.
"The high cost of electricity and unstable supply of electricity are factors that are stunting the economic growth of Iloilo City and Panay Island," said by Melvin Purzuelo, coordinator of Green Forum-Western Visayas, a convener of Rise.
Furthermore, Purzuelo stressed, "We need to address this problem immediately by taking measures on Energy-efficiency (EE) and demand-side management (DSM)."
According to Rise, energy efficiency and demand-side management measures are proven effective in providing immediate relief in many countries including Singapore and Thailand. Recognizing the severe impacts of accelerated energy demand, the Thai government adopted a five-year comprehensive DSM Plan for their power sector covering the period 1993 to 1997.
Ted Aldwin Ong of the Freedom from Debt Coalition, also a convener of RISE shared that "the then Energy Regulatory Bureau has rendered its decision in December 12, 1996 in compliance with Section III of the Department of Energy (DoE) Circular No. 95-08-007, as amended by DoE Circular No. 95-11-010, entitled "Instituting DSM by Electric Utilities." This means that our electric utilities are lagging behind in the DSM implementation."
The group bared, that under Section 5 of the framework, each distribution utility shall submit within one (1) year from the effectivity of the regulatory framework its initial DSM plan and implementation schedule for the ERB approval. Such Plan shall have a time horizon of not less than five (5) years. Since the framework became effective on December 29, 2996, the deadline for submission of DSM plan and implementation schedule by utilities was on December 29, 1997.
"The DSM implementation could have yield big savings in terms of energy demand, and more importantly, electricity consumers could have benefited from such efforts through savings in its monthly electric bills especially with the very expensive electricity rates today," underscored Ong.
Dr. Ablaza presented the Panay Grid: Enhanced Energy Security through Energy Efficiency and DSM Opportunities and discussed topics covering re-integrating DSM into mainstream energy planning policies, potential energy savings, peak demand reductions and greenhouse gas avoidance and utility-led residential DSM program.
The group urges the electric utilities like the Panay Electric Company to take steps in implementing EE and DSM programs in order to manage the growing demand of electricity in Iloilo City, its franchise area.
The group also reiterated its call for PECO to implement the ERC order that they connect to the Negros-Panay grid. RISE concluded that "PECO has no reason not to implement the ERC order after National Power Corporation affirmed it has ready supply of electricity to meet its demand."