PE2 shares 1.5GW cooling efficiency concept with LGUs in WWF event
MAKATI CITY, 6 November 2025 – Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) president Alexander Ablaza updated local government units (LGUs) on the energy efficiency (EE) and energy service company (ESCO) market during the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines’ multi-stakeholder gathering entitled “Fostering Local Urban Partnerships for an Energy-Efficient Future” held earlier today at the New World Hotel. The event served as the culminating activity of the “Cool and Solar Initiative (CSI)” project. CSI is being implemented in Dipolog City, Ormoc City and San Fernando City (La Union) with the overall goal of increasing the uptake of energy efficiency, efficient cooling and rooftop solar photovoltaic systems in cities.
Stressing the potential impact of improving air conditioning efficiency retrofits across all public and commercial buildings in the Philippines, Ablaza shared with the LGUs the preliminary concept of collectively building a 1.5-gigawatt cooling efficiency virtual plant if an equivalent 6.05 million tons of refrigration capacities are retrofitted with more efficiency cooling technologies. Such collective market-wide program, once found financially viable, can shave off 1,513 megawatts of our annual peak power demand across major grids, reduce annual electricity bills by PHP 55.8 billion and avoid 5.59 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in annual greenhouse gas emissions.
He explained why energy efficiency, the “first fuel,” should be scaled up and deployed ahead of renewables by doubling efficiency improvement globally by avoiding demand, switching to more efficient fuel and improving technical efficiency. Ablaza explained, “On the global pathway doubling energy efficiency progress toward 2030, we should remind ourselves that the emission reduction impacts and investment gaps of energy efficiency and conservation are significantly larger than those of renewables and electrification of fossil fuel applications.
The PE2 head also said that the EE and ESCO sector are ready to help LGUs and other government entities implement their efficiency improvements under the Department of Energy (DOE) led Government Energy Management Program (GEMP). The Alliance remains optimistic that the procurement policies would soon be in place to enable government procurement of ESCO investments, public-private partnership (PPP) transactions and joint venture agreements.
