Energy Conservation Bill passes, poses new mandates

Industry and transport companies, for one, have to hire a dedicated manager to optimize energy use and efficiency.

With the passing of the Energy Conservation Bill in parliament, so-called large energy users that consume more than 15 giga-watt hours of energy will also need to file reports on their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as propose energy efficiency improvement plans.

These requirements will be monitored beginning next year.

"Mandating energy management practices under the Energy Conservation Act will focus management attention of large energy consuming businesses on proper energy management. It will complement existing incentive schemes and capability building programmes, such as the Grant for Energy Efficient Technologies and the Singapore Certified Energy Manager Training Grant. The resulting best practices, technologies and processes will subsequently cascade down the economic chain to smaller enterprises. Similar energy management practices are already mandated in countries such as Japan, South Korea and China," said Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources.

"The respective Ministers in charge of the industry and transport sectors will be empowered to Gazette the corporations or class of corporations that have to comply with the energy management practices set out in the Act. We intend as a start to require all large energy users in the industry and transport sectors that consume more than 15 gigawatt-hours of energy equivalent each year or 54 terajoules of energy to (i) appoint an energy manager, (ii) monitor and report energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and (iii) submit energy efficiency improvement plans," she said.

"Dr Balakrishnan said large energy users in the industry and transport sectors were consulted by MEWR, MOT, NEA and EDB on the energy management practices to be mandated. In Dec 2011, the draft EC Bill was released for consultation and subsequently revised to incorporate feedback received. MEWR and MOT, together with our statutory boards will continue to engage stakeholders on the implementation details of the Bill," she added.