Fuel-saving plan gets green light
Roy Pelovello
Manila Standard
President Arroyo yesterday approved the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project, which will replace oil imports with local fuel thus saving the government $120 million annually.
More savings can be realized once the Renewable Energy Bill, just approved by a bicameral conference committee, becomes a law and gets carried out, lawmakers said.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Mrs. Arroyo gave the green light for the P2.17-billion project after it was endorsed by the technical board of the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.
“The Philippine Energy Efficiency Project seeks to give form and substance to the policy of energy efficiency, including switching to fluorescent from incandescent bulbs,” Ermita said. The project includes the switch to the use of CNG (compressed natural gas)-fueled engines, Ermita said.
The project is expected to slash the government’s electricity bill by 20 percent and increase the consumption of electric cooperatives by 10 percent from 2007 levels.
According to the Neda-ICC, P1.58 billion of the project cost will be financed by a loan from the Asian Development Bank; P67.5 million will be sourced from the ADB Clean Energy Fund grant; and the remaining P517.5 million will be from the Energy Department’s counterpart fund.
The energy efficiency project is one of the six projects worth P17.4 billion endorsed by the Neda-ICC.
Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo announced yesterday the bicameral conference committee’s swift approval of the Renewable Energy Bill, a landmark legislation that is expected to boost the country’s energy security.
Arroyo lauded the swift passage of the measure, which he said would also yield huge economic benefits and boost the effort to safeguard the environment. He added that this was a notable achievement considering it has taken more than 20 years to get to this stage.
He said the House is expected to ratify the final version of the proposed Renewable Energy Act of 2008 before Congress goes into recess this week so that it could be quickly signed into law by President Arroyo.
“We are justly proud of this landmark measure’s passage, as it demonstrates the political will of this Congress to set aside politics and work as one in helping solve the problems besetting our nation,” said Arroyo, chairman of the House committee on energy.
The bicameral conference committee met to reconcile House Bill 4193 and Senate Bill 2046.
Rep. Arroyo said the bicameral panel agreed to use the Senate version as the working draft and incorporate the salient provisions of the House version with some minor amendments.
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