Vijayawada: Energy Conservation cells in all government offices

Vijayawada: In a major development towards enhancing energy security in the state by promoting energy conservation, the state government ordered setting up of Energy Conservation (EC) cells in all state and district level offices of the government departments. Energy department issued GO Rt.No.89 to this effect on Thursday.

Andhra Pradesh is the first state in India to take a decision to involve all government departments in the energy conservation and energy efficiency movement which is essential to achieve cost effective power and sustainable development of the state.

The state government directed that all heads of departments (HoDs), all district collectors and chairpersons of corporations and societies to take necessary steps to constitute Energy Conservation cell utilizing their existing staff, within one month under intimation to the chief executive officer, Andhra Pradesh State Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM).

Each energy conservation cell shall act as a nodal agency to coordinate with the CEO, APSECM for effective implementation of energy conservation and energy efficiency measures in respective department and organisation in a time bound manner.

"Once all government departments start to implement energy conservation and energy efficiency measures in offices, it will definitely influence the general public as well and encourage them to follow the same," said chief secretary and chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh State Energy Conservation Mission Nilam Sawhney. Implementation of energy conservation and energy efficiency measures will help all departments, local bodies such as gram panchayats and urban local bodies to avoid wastage of energy, the chief secretary has added.

Secretary for energy Srikant Nagulapalli said the Energy Conservation cell helps to create necessary awareness and bringing about sustainable behavioural change leading to economic consumption of energy.

As per the estimate of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, an agency of Union ministry of power, and APSECM, there is a scope to save about 25 per cent of energy (16,000 million units) against the state's annual energy requirement of about 64,000 MU. Achieving energy efficiency will require very less investment and it is also the easiest solution to bridge the gap between demand and supply of energy. On the other hand, buildings are an important field for energy conservation and use of energy efficient appliances in offices and residences is one of the crucial steps in promoting energy conservation and energy efficiency. Efficient use of energy will benefit the energy end-user in the form of reducing electricity bills.