BACOLOD City – Three major electric cooperatives in Negros Occidental have overall reported that 20.6 megawatts (MW) were saved during the latest Earth Hour observance in the province.
The annual event, which is observed globally by turning off appliances and gadgets for an hour, was set from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on March 24 this year.
The Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) – which covers Bacolod, Bago, Talisay, and Silay cities, and Murcia and Salvador Benedicto towns – reported to have saved 8.6 MW, representing roughly 5 percent of the electric cooperative’s daily average demand of 160 MW.
Ceneco general manager Sulpicio Lagarde Jr. said Ceneco did not turn off any of its feeders during the Earth Hour.
This was to give the member-consumers a choice since the hour-long switch off was not mandatory, Lagarde explained.
“We allowed power to flow and let the people decide whether they will participate or not,” he added.
The Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) reported a power use reduction of 7.4 MW while the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco), 4.6 MW.
Noneco corporate planning head Paulino Almedelia said they shut down their feeder supplying power to Cadiz City, which resulted to reduced consumption of about 4 MW.
The other 3.4 MW were accounted from other areas in northern Negros Occidental, Almedelia added.
Noceco general manager Jonas Discaya said power use reduction is an opportunity cost for their cooperative, which covers areas in the southern part of the province. (With PNA/PN)
