THE Department of Energy (DoE) said it expects to publish the implementing guidelines for the labeling of energy-consuming products (ECPs) in one or two months.
ECPs covered by the draft rules include air conditioners, refrigerators, televisions, and lighting products.
“If there are no significant comments or revisions in this latest draft, we are targeting to have this issued in a month or two months at the latest. Otherwise, we may do one final public final consultation to point out… any significant changes that we will still be introducing as a result of this public consultation,” Energy Utilization and Management Bureau (EUMB) Director Patrick T. Aquino said at a public consultation on the latest draft of the rules.
He said any guidelines the department will issue will address any concerns raised by stakeholders “adequately and appropriately.”
According to a June 2020 department circular which detailed the guidelines of the Philippine Energy Labeling Program (PELP), additional ECPs may be included in the program’s coverage after public consultation in coordination with the environment and transportation departments for the “fuel economy performance labeling requirements for transport.”
The DoE’s latest public consultation on the ECP labeling draft guidelines is the second to date. “Since its first public consultation, the DoE has been continuously receiving valuable inputs and recommendations from our stakeholders, including inputs from World Trade Organization member countries,” the department said in a Feb. 19 advisory.
Mr. Aquino has said that the EUMB is hoping to implement PELP this year.
“Policies for implementation this year would include PELP, guidelines on energy conserving design for buildings, certification of energy conservation officers, energy managers and energy auditors, an energy-efficient transport policy which may include electric vehicles and charging infrastructure guidelines, to name a few,” Mr. Aquino told BusinessWorld on Feb. 25. — Angelica Y. Yang