SAVE UP. Department of Energy Undersecretary Benito Ranque says while the government is looking for
ways of addressing the annual power crisis, citizens must also learn how to efficiently use and save power. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A high ranking official from the Department of Energy urged consumers to use power efficiently to mitigate the recurring power crisis.
“The problem with our households is that we are very excessive when we use electricity…..Our households should learn how to save electricity and fuels so that we may be able to save a sizeable amount of energy reserve,” DOE Undersecretary Benito L. Ranque said during the opening of the “Power Patrol Seminar on Energy Efficiency and Conservation” for Households held in the Davao City Recreation Center.
Ranque however, pointed out that the energy department has proposed solutions like reviewing existing policies and guidelines to mitigate the energy proble.
“We are now determining how much energy we really need so that we will have enough supply and avoid power interruptions while still maintaining the prices down,” Ranque said.
In April this year, five-hour rotating power outages hit Davao due to the low water supply caused by dry spell and malfunctioned power plants.
Despite Mindanao’s stable supply of energy, Ranque said DOE will continue to review existing guidelines and contracts, especially of existing electric cooperatives.
“We will look into the management of these electric cooperatives to determine why some power interruptions still happen and find out the possible solution. We have abundant supply. However, initially, we have found out that some distribution utilities did not have enough contracts with power generators,” Ranque said. (davaotoday.com)
