Veco’s Cebu unplugged drive aims to teach consumers to save power

VECO File Photo (www.veco.com.ph)

WITH power demand in the Visayas almost equal to the supply in the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid, the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) is taking on an active role to advocate energy conservation among its consumers.

“We are taking it a step further with a more concrete campaign instead of just the usual ‘motherhood conserve energy’ statements,” said Sebastian R. Lacson, Veco senior vice president and chief operating officer yesterday.

Lacson was referring to the Veco’s Cebu Unplugged campaign focusing on eight tips on how to conserve energy.

The tips involve simple lifestyle changes for consumers to conserve energy.
The campaign will be officially launched on June 4.

The eight steps include unplugging appliances, using electric fans instead of air conditioners, etc. (See table.)

“There are two ways that we can avoid power outages which is one, you build more power plants which is very costly; and two, is managing the demand through energy conservation measures. We can do something on the second part,” he said.

Based on figures from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the supply capacity in the Visayas grid is at 1,600 MW while the peak demand is at very close level of 1,578 MW.

Lacson said that to make people more aware of their campaign and encourage higher participation, they have identified three phases in rolling out the campaign. These are meetings with stakeholders including local government units and the media, Using scout system to support the campaign especially in the household level, and lastly, we’ll hold energy forums to educate people.