BACOLOD CITY — The three electric cooperatives in Negros Occidental reported a total of 20.6 megawatts (MW) in power use reduction during the observance of the Earth Hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), which covers the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay, and the municipalities of Murcia and Salvador Benedicto, recorded a decrease in power consumption of 8.6 MW.
This represents roughly 5 percent of the Ceneco’s daily average demand of 160 MW, Ceneco general manager Sulpicio Lagarde Jr. said.
Lagarde said since the Earth Hour is about volunteerism, Ceneco did not turn off any of its feeders during the hour-long switch off.
“We allowed power to flow and let the people decide whether they will participate or not,” he added.
In Bacolod, the SM City mall was the official site of the annual lights out ceremony for the 10th year.
Upon the directive of Mayor Evelio Leonardia, the city government switched off the lights in all city government facilities, including the Bacolod City Government Center, Old City Hall, old City Engineer’s Office, and City Health Office, among others.
The Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) has reported a power use reduction of 7.4 MW.
Corporate planning head Paulino Almedelia said during the Earth Hour, Noneco shut down the feeder covering Cadiz City, resulting to reduced consumption of about four megawatts while the remaining 3.4 MW accounted for other areas.
The Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (Noceco), which covers areas in the southern part of the province, noted a decrease of 4.6 MW during the hour-long switch-off.
The power use reduction is an opportunity cost for the cooperative, Noceco general manager Jonas Discaya said.
This year’s World Wide Fund’s (WWF) global campaign dubbed #Connect2Earth aimed to connect with the hundreds of millions and to different organizations to spark conversations on biodiversity. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
