Tell Tasneem Your Tip!

Hi,

As many of you in the Western Cape would know the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC) has spearheaded energy efficiency and savings. In 2006 the Western Cape was subject to serious load shedding and we called on stakeholders to join us and manage the shortages. We established the Energy Risk Management Committee (ERMC) and this year, once again, we have been called upon to re-activate it.

The ERMC is currently forming a demand-side management plan, has developed equitable and reliable load shedding schedules and will also investigate the uptake of renewable energies for both energy efficiency and generation. As mentioned by Premier Ebrahim Rasool, in his State of the Province address the Western Cape aims to save 500 MW of electricty each day as part of our contribution to the national effort!

One of my staffers was telling me that he is also trying to help by turning off his geyser each morning. However, he said that he kept forgeting to turn it on each evening after work and subsequently has had to deal with cold water.

His idea to mitigate this matter was to print a sign saying 'Geyser On' and 'Geyser Off' on the backside. This sign hangs over his switchboard and every evening when he comes home the sign catches his attention and he is remiinded to turn on his geyser.

This made me think about how important it is for each citizen in our province to also make their individual contributions. I am sure that there are many brilliant ideas on how to save electricty out there so we decided to start the 'Tell Tasneem Your Tip campaign' on my blog.

It would be fantastic if you had ideas and would enter them on this blog so we can keep a record of all of your efforts.

Regards

Tasneem