City to switch off parks, Esplanade lights for energy conservation

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo City’s denizens will not be able to fully enjoy the beauty of plazas and the Iloilo River Esplanades in the evening as the city government will switch off lights to conserve energy in the wake of last weekend’s blackouts.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas mentioned the plan in a statement on Tuesday, citing suggestions from the Department of Energy.

“We have been asked by DOE to conserve energy—plazas and esplanades off by [10:00 pm]; streetlights one hour earlier on and off, and set aircon thermostat to 26 [degrees],” the mayor said via Viber.

During an executive meeting on Tuesday, City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) chief Engr. Neil Ravena expounded on the DOE’s suggestion and mapped out how the plan will be implemented.

“We will turn them off by 10:00 p.m., but from 100 percent, we will only shut off 80 percent and we will leave the remaining [20] percent to eliminate vandals and not leave the plazas compromised by visitors. It’s already bright by 5:00 a.m., so maybe we could also already shut off by 5:00 a.m., then afternoon shut-off would also be earlier by 1 hour,” Ravena said.

“[As to] aircon thermostat, room temperature is actually at 24 to 25 degrees Celsius, so we can keep it at that for the room temperature,” he added.

He added that they would also survey the power consumption of educational institutions in the city and look at the “Top 5” and their specific power usage.

“We have limited [energy] source and demand for energy is increasing day by day, and fuels will be exhausted,” Ravena said.

“We’ve seen the billing information from MORE [Power], so we will see from there which [schools] have high usage, and we will send an energy audit team to their facilities,” he added.

The full package of energy conservation initiatives by the city includes a regular energy audit, advocacy for solar energy, designated energy efficient conservation officer, drafting of a Local Energy Code, and formulation of a Local Energy Plan.

Ravena also encouraged the use of renewable energy sources as an alternative source for backup purposes to avoid similar future outages.

Other recommendations include:

–          Conduct of an information and education campaign to advocate for energy-saving measures at the household level;

–          Support for the provision of solar-powered light-emitting diode (LED) lights for barangay constituents;

–          Events at the plazas to encourage residents to gather at the plazas instead of engaging in individual activities at home, which may be more energy-consuming;

–          Permanent setup of community charging stations for mobile devices;

–          Explore the possibility of shorter mall times;

–          Compressed time or 4-day class days for schools; and

–          Possible implementation of a 4-day work week.

Treñas told media after the meeting that he would accede to these proposals, stating that he would coordinate with police and barangay officials to ensure security and community order.

But he likewise expressed hesitancy with the 4-day workweek proposal, citing a previous implementation last year in response to the escalating fuel prices. While it was indeed an energy-saving measure, there were concerns with the work times.

But the mayor remained open to the idea in the case of regional government agencies, citing the Department of Education’s advisory urging a blended modality in case of extreme weather.

“We’ve tried [the 4-day work week] here at city hall, but there were many complaints [from workers] because they have to leave [their homes] earlier but they have to go home late,” the mayor said.

The city was badly hit by a series of power outages starting last Thursday, April 27, which was traced to a line managed by the Central Negros Electric Cooperative according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the private company managing the country’s electrical grids.

Daily Guardian has continuously reached out to the NGCP over the weekend, but it has yet to respond.