MAKATI CITY, 28 September 2020 – The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) and the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) jointly kicked off earlier today the energy efficiency (EE) fora under the ECCP Energy Smart Forum Series with its EE Forum entitled “Enhancing Competitiveness through Energy Efficiency.” Both ECCP and PE2, which are associate members of the other under a reciprocal membership arrangement, entered into a partnership agreement to co-organize these EE fora. Stratcon PH, a new PE2 member, sponsored today’s EE forum.

(Screenshot image: ECCP, PE2)

ECCP Executive Director Florian Gottein opened the event highlighting the relevance of EE and renewable energy to business and overall economic recovery, while PE2 vice president for internal affairs and ECCP chair of its RE and EE Committee Ruth Yu-Owen steered the panel discussions.

Delivering the forum keynote, Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella of the Department of Energy (DOE) shared the DOE’s vision for smart grids and smart homes, employing digitalized solutions toward a more responsive energy supply-demand mix. He also reported on the approval of at least six department policy issuances in support of Republic Act 11285, more popularly known as the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) Act.

PE2 president Alexander Ablaza explained that, aside from pending economic stimulus legislation, there are other policy opportunities to accelerate Government spending in public sector EE projects, as a cost-effective manner to generate new jobs to support a post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

Stratcon PH director Colin Steley showcased the EE imperative to support business recovery and how new energy monitoring solutions can improve measurement and verification compliance of new EE investments through ESCOs and similar savings-based business models.

The ECCP Energy Smart Forum Series 2020 provides an avenue for discussions leading to a deeper understanding of how energy stakeholders can collaborate to achieve the Philippine energy objectives and support faster business recovery. With a focus on energy efficiency and conservation as well as renewable energy, this Forum Series will highlight government initiatives and private sector contributions in terms of best practices and innovative solutions to promote business resiliency and support a faster economic recovery.

Both PE2 and ECCP are reaching out to more PE2 member firms interested to sponsor and speak in the subsequent EE fora, which are tentatively set as follows:

• Improving Efficiency in the Power and Distribution Sectors, 2:00-4:00pm, Thursday, 15 October 2020
• Promoting Energy-Conserving Building Designs, 2:00-4:00pm, Thursday, 22 October 2020

Please contact secretariat@pe2.org for more details.