A girl plays with lighted cups forming the “60+” symbol of Earth Hour during the March 29 program at Mandaue City Hall grounds. Similar switch-off events were held in malls in Metro Cebu. (PIO-Mandaue)
Are Visayans losing interest in Earth Hour?
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) recorded a drop of 26.4 megawatts (MW) in power demand in the Visayas grid during Saturday’s Earth Hour celebration, the smallest drop in the past six celebrations in the Visayas of Earth Hour.
The drop was 42.43 MW in 2013, 57 MW in 2012, 87 MW in 2011, 52 MW in 2010 and 40 MW in 2009.
The Earth Hour, started in 2007, is a global advocacy to raise awareness on climate change and the need to protect the environment by limiting power consumption and carbon emission.
Every last Saturday of March, advocates voluntarily switch off nonessential lights and electric appliances for an hour.
Drop
The NGCP Visayas System Operations recorded the following drop from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. last Saturday: Cebu (10.4 MW), Negros Island (10 MW) and Panay Island (6 MW).
No drop was reported in Leyte-Samar and Bohol, which were hit by a supertyphoon and an earthquake in 2013.
Many areas in Leyte and Samar are still without electricity due to the devastation left by supertyphoon Yolanda.
Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) recorded a drop of 1.956 MW in power demand during Saturday night’s Earth Hour celebration. It was the smallest drop in power demand since the Earth Hour celebration was started in Cebu, said Theresa Gonzalez-Sederiosa, Veco corporate communications manager.
She said the drop in power demand in 2013 was 11.016 MW, more than the 2.78 MW in 2012.
Asked why there was a smaller decline in power demand this year than in the past, Sederiosa said it could be only a few turned off their lights during the Earth Hour on Saturday.
Another reason, she said, could be that Cebu’s power demand had been increasing by six percent annually due to its robust economy.
“That is why we, in Veco, are advocating energy conversation all year round, and not just for an hour,” she said.
Veco, the country’s second biggest power distributor, services the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay, Naga and the towns of Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla and San Fernando.