Singapore Government Media Release
ADDRESS BY MR PETER CHEN, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY AND MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AT THE PUB FLAG OFF CEREMONY FOR BUSES AND TAXIS ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THE ELECTRICITY EFFICIENCY AWARENESS PROGRAMME ON FRIDAY, 8 DEC 2000 AT 9.30 AM AT SINGAPORE POWER BUILDING
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning.
INTRODUCTION
It is my pleasure to join you here this morning to flag off a fleet of buses and taxis carrying the electricity efficiency message and supporting our national effort to promote energy conservation.
As Singapore is dependent on imported fuel for our energy needs, we have always encouraged prudent usage of electricity. Our industry is naturally keen to conserve electricity so that they can reduce their input costs and be more competitive. PUB offers electricity efficiency audit services to companies to help them identify possible measures to promote electricity savings. Post-audit workshops are then conducted to share the findings with the industry. PUB also trains company personnel to operate and maintain machines more efficiently and conducts seminars to help the industry keep abreast of the latest electricity efficiency practices and technology.
In the domestic sector, PowerSupply has used various educational programmes targeted at school children to spread the message of electricity efficiency and conservation to families.
However, with the rising oil prices and the increasing cost of electricity, electricity efficiency and energy conservation has become an even more pressing issue. Over the last 2 years, the cost of fuel has more than doubled, and the average electricity tariff has increased by 44%.
Today, we are also more affluent and own more energy-intensive appliances than before. Such sophistication increases our energy consumption. Over the period 1995 to 1999, the monthly household average electricity consumption increased by 17%.
ELECTRICITY EFFICIENCY AWARENESS PROGRAMME
We must do more to raise the level of awareness amongst our people as to how they can consume electricity more wisely and efficiently. For this reason, the Inter-Agency Committee on Energy Efficiency (IACEE) and PUB launched the Electricity Efficiency Awareness Programme in October this year to educate all consumers in this area.
In the non-domestic sector, electricity cost can be a major component of a company’s expenses. Improving electricity efficiency could achieve up to 5 – 20% savings for a company. Under the Electricity Efficiency Awareness Programme, PUB and the Nanyang Technological University have co-organised an Executive Programme on Energy Management to educate executives, managers and engineers in the manufacturing sector on some of the electricity efficient practices and technology that they could adopt in their manufacturing processes. The recent Seminar on Efficient Use of Electricity organised by PUB was another effort to impart electricity efficiency knowledge to the industry.
DOMESTIC CONSUMERS
As household consumers, many of us mistakenly think that there is little we can do to alleviate the increase in our electricity bills. This is not true. While we have no control over the oil prices, we can make the effort to monitor our electricity consumption. The first question we should ask is, are we using more electricity than necessary?
For a start, domestic consumers can log on to the Bill Presentation Service at the Can.Supply module of the www.can.com.sg portal to find out if they are using more than the average electricity consumption for their household type. The service will alert users if their consumption is above the average consumption of the same household type. Consumers can also see their household consumption pattern on the website and use this information to monitor their consumption and manage their own electricity bills. By keying in the number and type of electrical appliances in your home and the average number of hours a day you use them, the website will tell you which appliances contribute most to your electricity consumption. I would like to urge everyone to utilise these user-friendly services to monitor their consumption and conserve electricity where they can.
Later this month, PUB will be distributing mailers containing electricity efficiency tips to all households with PowerSupply utilities bills. When shopping for electrical appliances, we can also look for those that have been identified under the Singapore Green Labelling Scheme as electricity efficient.
From today, a fleet of buses and taxis will be carrying the electricity efficiency message to commuters to remind them of the need to use electricity efficiently. This will be a valuable visual reminder that we can do our part to cut our consumption and conserve energy. On behalf of the Public Utilities Board, I would like to thank Singapore Power and Tuas Power Ltd for supporting electricity efficiency through this activity.
CONCLUSION
As a country, we have no oil under the ground and are at the mercy of global oil prices. We must recognise though that the increases in our electricity bills are sometimes a result of increased electricity consumption. We often use more electricity than necessary in our daily activities. I urge all Singaporeans to play a more proactive role in better monitoring and managing their electricity consumption. I hope that the Electricity Efficiency Awareness Programme will help one and all realise that with some effort and prudent management, we can reduce the impact of rising electricity costs.
Thank you.