PE2 updates House COE on EE&C Act status
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Quezon City, 12 November 2019 – Upon the request of the Committee on Energy (COE) of the House of Representatives (HRep), the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) reported here earlier today on the status of the implementation of Republic Act 11285, otherwise known as the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) Act. PE2 president Alexander Ablaza was one of the resource persons during a special meeting convened by COE Chairman Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco for the purpose of discussing the EE&C law, as well as welcoming the report of the European Union – Access to Sustainable Energy Programme (EU-ASEP) during its courtesy call on the House energy committee.
Ablaza reported that the Department of Energy (DOE) was very much on track as far as internally finalizing the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 11285 is concerned. DOE’s completion of all inter-agency consultations through March-June 2019, all stakeholder consultations through July-August 2019, and three public consultations in September 2019 enable the Department to finalize, approve and release the IRR within the 6-month timeframe reckoned from the start of effectivity of the new law on 24 May 2019.
The PE2 head was also asked by COE members to brief them on the salient features of the EE&C Act. Ablaza explained that the Act defines the roles of DOE, national government agencies, government financial institutions, local government units and the Inter-Agency Energy Efficiency and Conservation Committee; the certification framework for individual professionals and energy service companies; the energy performance requirements for appliances, equipment, vehicles and buildings; demand-side management policy; the obligations of designated establishments; waste management responsibilities; incentives, penalties, oversight and special features of the law. He also emphasized that the former Joint Congressional Power Commission created under the EPIRA law is now re-organized with a wider energy scope and a new name, the Joint Congressional Energy Commission, to cover the huge portion of the local energy market outside the boundaries of the electric power industry.
The COE members had a lively discussion on the roles of distribution utilities in demand-side management and whether the law sets obligations on DUs to reduce system losses.
PE2 treasurer and trustee Theresa Acedillo Lapuz and member services and communications manager Luigi G. Eusebio also participated in the COE meeting.
At the end of the meeting, COE Chairman Velasco invited the EU-ASEP delegation and the accompanying local government unit participants to visit the HRep-PE2 Exhibit “A Showcase of Energy Efficiency Services and Technologies” located at the North Wing lobby of the HRep Batasan complex.
