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CEBU CITY, Philippines – The ability to save energy and other government resources will be part of this year’s performance evaluation for employees of the Cebu provincial government, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said Monday.
Garcia said results of that part of the evaluation would be used as basis for the employee’s annual bonus.
“Whatever savings we will achieve will be pro-rated to the different departments. We want to see how well they save on government resources without sacrificing their efficiency in the delivery of basic services,” she said.
Garcia made the announcement after meeting with Sebastian Richard Lacson, the new vice president for administration and costumer service of the Visayan Electric Company (Veco).
Lacson visited the governor’s office for a courtesy call on Monday morning.
Garcia said Lacson told her of Veco’s plan to campaign for energy conservation, especially among households during peak hours from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“The growth in energy demand is huge and even surpassing the forecast. We’re faced with a situation (that demands) a more efficient use of energy. The best way is to campaign for people to minimize their use of energy during the peak hours,” Garcia told reporters after meeting Lacson.
Garcia ordered Manolette Dinsya, Capitol consultant on labor management, to inventory all bulbs and air conditioners used in the different Capitol offices and other province-run facilities, like Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, district hospitals and the Cebu International Convention Center.
Dinsya will also inventory supplies and other consumables and how well the different offices use these.
Garcia said Lacson told her that Veco was planning to apply with the Energy Regulatory Commission to allow the power distributor to impose different rates during peak hours.
If approved, the peak hour rate would cost more than other hours to encourage people to conserve energy.
Garcia said the Korean Electric Power Co. (Kepco) has just started excavation and civil works for their 200-megawatt (MW) power plant in Naga City while Global Powers is also in the process of expanding their operations by establishing another power plant in Toledo City that would produce 246 MW of electricity.
These power plants, however, would not be operational for another two to three years.
Garcia said earlier projections of a power shortage by the end of the year may materialize if “we continue to waste on energy.”
