Efforts to conserve energy have become a new way of life for government offices in Central Visayas as the Department of Energy (DOE) fully implements President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s order, an energy official said on Thursday.

Lourdes Arciaga, head of DOE-Visayas Energy Resource Development and Utilization Division, said that to support the implementation of Administrative Order (AO) No. 15, their office is coordinating with the Energy Utilization Management Bureau of the agency to conduct Government Energy Management Program (GEMP) spot checks.

“DOE-7 will hold GEMP spot checking in government offices, including LGUs (local government units). We will have information campaign activities to include GEMP briefings for government information officers as well as conferences and workshops for government energy efficiency and conservation officers (ECCOs) in the Visayas,” Arciaga told the Philippine News Agency in an interview on Thursday.

The agency is currently formulating the implementing guidelines for AO No. 15 and is expected to be issued within 30 days from signing.

On Jan. 16, the President signed the AO, highlighting the implementation of Republic Act 11285 or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act that mandates all government entities under the executive branch, including government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions, their subsidiaries, and state universities and colleges.

“It’s the President’s wish to have the entire government embrace energy conservation measures,” Arciaga said, quoting Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla’s statement sent to the media.

The implementation of GEMP, she said, is guided by the Inter-Agency Energy Efficiency and Conservation Committee created under the said law.

The committee is tasked to prepare an annual assessment of opportunities to reduce the cost of energy and the whole government’s electricity and fuel consumption by at least 10 percent through energy efficiency and conservation strategies. (PNA)