Banks urged to adopt sustainability in energy practices

MANILA, Philippines — The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) is encouraging member banks to introduce sustainability in their energy practices, particularly in their day-to-day operations.

BAP managing director Benjamin Castillo said electricity is a substantial operational expense for banks, particularly those with big branch networks and data centers.

“Managing energy expenses correctly can enhance profitability and competitiveness, and implementing energy-efficient techniques can drastically cut operational costs for banks,” Castillo said.

Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the earnings of Philippine banks amounted to P270.35 billion from January to September, 10.4 percent higher than the P244.87 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Together with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the BAP hosted a forum titled “Power Up Forum” where experts shared their key insights on matters such as sustainability and green energy.

The first part of the forum centered on “Sustainable Business,” which touched on how banks could operate more sustainably through efficient management of power.

Pocholo Bollado, a services engineer, discussed upgrades banks could adapt to cut down on electricity costs.

Bollado said switching to LED lights from CFL lights could yield monthly savings of P5,000 per 100 bulbs.

He also pointed out that using a variable-frequency drive that saves power when their offices do not require energy usage.

John Louie Constantino, another services engineer, also reminded banks to keep key metrics in mind to optimize power quality in their operations.

“Complying with these metrics would avoid power quality problems that increase expenses for banks and decrease the quality of equipment they are using,” Constantino said.

John Pocholo Pabilona, an account executive at Meralco’s MSERV, discussed the services that the company offers to help banks be energy-efficient in their operations.

These include assisting them with energy audits and maintaining equipment banks use. In addition, banks can also take advantage of Energy Efficiency 360 – an online platform that allows users to track data related to energy consumption.

During the forum, experts from Meralco also explained the benefits of adopting green energy into banks’ operations.

Elefren Antonio, from the Enterprise Commercial and Conglomerates group of Meralco, talked about the requirements to be eligible for the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), which allows consumers to exclusively use clean energy in their businesses.

The criteria include having a monthly average peak demand of greater than or equal to 100 kilowatt hours for the past 12 months for existing customers and a monthly average peak demand of greater than or equal to 300 KW for the next 12 months for new customers.