Philippines

It's a Go for "Green" Lightings in Cagayan de Oro
By Rita Festin, ADB National Officer

The CEPALCO office in downtown Cagayan de Oro City.

Cagayan de Oro City – This progressive city in Northern Mindanao will soon "went green" in August 2009 when 100,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) were distributed free to residential customers under Department of Energy (DOE) incandescent light bulb replacement program. CFLs use far less electricity to produce the same amount of light as old-technology incandescent light bulbs, and – last much longer: up to an estimated 10,000 hours.

The DOE’s bulb replacement program provides welcome relief to the shortfall in electric power generation capacity currently experienced by Cagayan de Oro’s power generation plants. This is especially true since Cagayan de Oro’s electric power requirements are rising rapidly. In fact, Cagayan de Oro consistently ranks among the top Philippine cities in terms of annual growth in energy consumption.

A major participant in the DOE’s bulb swap project is Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO), which is the fourth largest privately owned electric distribution company in the Philippines. In addition to the city of Cagayan de Oro, CEPALCO serves the municipalities of Jasaan, Phivedec Industrial Estate, Tagoloan, and Villanueva. Due to CFLs’ long lifespan and low power requirements, customers participating in the program will be able to lower the cost of lighting their homes. The DOE project will also benefit electric power distribution utilities - in two ways according to Ralph Paguio, CEPALCO’s vice president - First, the switch to CFLs will reduce the load on the power generation facilities, especially during peak demand hours. Second, the lower power requirements of CFLs will translate into a smaller load on power generation facilities overall, which will help delay the need for upgrading CEPALCO’s equipment. This will help keep household utility bills low, since the cost of purchasing new equipment would ultimately have to be passed on to CEPALCO customers.

Ralph Paguio, CEPALCO Vice President.

However, Mr. Paguio stresses that the incandescent bulbs surrendered must be in good working condition. This will allow the reduction in the wattage required for residential lighting to qualify for carbon credits. Ultimately, the incandescent light bulbs recovered will be crushed and disposed of properly.

Several major electric power utility companies in addition to CEPALCO will also be distributing free CFLs in their franchise areas. These include Manila Electric Company which serves (metropolitan Manila), the Visayan Electric Company (which serves Cebu City), and the Davao Light and Power Company (which serves Davao City.) In addition, approximately 120 electric cooperatives nationwide will also participate in the CFL bulb replacement program.

The project was made possible through a $31 million concessional loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB), of which $18 million will be set aside for the National Residential Lighting Program under which 13 million CFLs will be procured.

CFL lights are more energy efficient.

ADB is the lead financing agency in the Philippine power sector. A third of ADB’s total lending to the Philippines of more than $10 billion thus far has been used to finance electric power generation, transmission, distribution, and overall development of the power sector. ADB also actively supports the government's power sector restructuring and privatization program which encourages competition as a means of lowering electricity costs to users. ADB's future power sector operations will focus on promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency, and improving electric power distribution in rural areas.