CDO Mini Energy Camp aims for grassroots demand side management

• Source: http://www.kagay-an.com/cdo-mini-energy-camp-aims-grassroots-demand-side-management/
• Monday, October 19, 2015

By Mike Baños

While other energy players pay lip service to energy demand side management, a new program backed by the country’s largest distribution utility has taken the bull by the horns, so to speak.

Energy demand management, also known as demand side management (DSM), is the modification of consumer demand for energy through various methods such as financial incentives and behavioral change through education.

Choosing the latter path to promote its advocacy among the Philippines’ 40,000 public schools, the Coalition for Better Education (CBE) and One Meralco Foundation launched Monday, 19 October 2015 the first ever Teacher’s Mini Energy Camp in Cagayan de Oro City which aims to develop 100 flash cards for energy education of students in public elementary schools from Grades 4-10.

“Before the opening of the next school year, we expect the 35 teachers attending this Energy Camp to develop at least 100 new flashcards for Energy Education,” said Jeffrey O. Tarayao, One Meralco Foundation President and Meralco Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer who developed the program with CBE Executive Director Luchi Flores.

Three local school teachers were among the original 37 hand-picked teachers nationwide who developed the initial Energy Ed kit of flash cards over a year are the lead campers for the CDO 3-day Mini Energy-Camp: Myrna P. Banana (Maccabean Elementary School), Avellino Costanillo (Camp Evangelista Elementary School) and Jessica Joy Hinacay, City Central School principal.

Anita M. Gochuco, Department of Education Cagayan de Oro City Division Superintendent, said she hopes the program can eventually be shared with the 70 public elementary schools and 39 public high schools in the city, 30 of which remain without electricity.

Flores said the initial 300 flash cards will be integrated into the public school K-12 curriculum subjects including English, Math, Science, Technology Livelihood Education (TLE), Edukasyon Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) and most especially, Values Education (Edukasyon sa Pagpakakatao).

“Over the long term, we hope to teach students the nature and proper use of electricity, which they would hopefully cascade to their friends, and most especially, their parents and siblings in the home,” Tarayao said. “There is an old Zen saying which says, ‘A seed will never see its flower’. May we all be so similarly inspired to aspire for a responsible stewardship of God’s creations in the generations to come.”