The Department of Energy (DOE) has logged slight drop in megawatt-savings for the country during Saturday’s Earth Hour, hence, this prompted Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla to further intensify his call for Filipino consumers to sustain energy efficiency and conservation (EE&C) as a routine in their daily lives.
Based on data provided by the department, the scale of power supply saved when lights were switched off for one-hour last March 25 had been 62.69 megawatts; which has been lower compared to 65.32MW registered for the same activity in 2022.
The DOE emphasized that the biggest savings were still logged in Luzon at 33.29MW; followed by Mindanao with 20.5MW savings; while Mindanao had 8.9MW power demand that had been shaved off.
The energy department explained that the demand reduction was only marginal because the heat index last Saturday was at a high of 39 to 40 degrees centigrade; therefore, many Filipinos still opted to switch on their air-conditioning units.
This year’s Earth Hour-underpinned power usage reduction had been one of the lowest in the past eight years – next to the 35.5MW that was recorded at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The highest power savings on record had been in 2019 at 195.34MW; then in 2016 at 172MW; followed by 165MW in 2017; while the reduced demand in 2018 was at 110MW; then 73.01MW in 2021.
Amid the fluctuating volume of power usage getting trimmed on this yearly activity in promoting planetary health, the DOE reckoned that “the electricity demand reduction for that period alone is a testament that collectively, we could generate a great impact on our daily energy consumption.
Energy Secretary Raphael P. M. Lotilla primarily noted that the Earth Hour remembrance “illustrates how purposeful behavior could achieve something big and worthy.”
He thus asserted “imagine when individuals, businesses, government, and communities unite not only during Earth Hour but in making energy conservation their everyday way of life, the overall impact would be even much bigger.”
The energy further pleaded “let us help sustain the momentum by simply consistently practicing energy conservation measures at home, offices, communities, and businesses from switching off non-essential lights to choosing more energy efficient appliances, equipment and machines.”
Lotilla qualified “these are simple yet valuable actions that we can do easily not only for our planet but more especially during periods of high demand such as this summer season.”
Power supply, primarily for Luzon, will be on a knife’s edge within the stretch when weather temperatures would be high, thus, the DOE is lining up EE&C as key remedial measure to save the country’s main grid from suffering power outages or rotational blackouts.