Friday, September 05, 2008 Consumers to get ‘cheaper’ bulbs
TO encourage households to save on electricity through the use of low energy-consuming light bulbs, Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) entered into agreement with a private company to offer its products at discounted prices.
Veco and Osram signed last Wednesday a contract for the company to offer Veco customers a P20 discount on its light bulbs.
About 300,000 pieces of discount coupons will be distributed one time during next month’s billing period—starting Oct. 5 until Oct. 27. The coupons will be valid until December in selected stores in Cebu.
These are Gaisano Main, Gaisano Country Mall, Gaisano Metro Colon, Gaisano Metro in Ayala Center Cebu and Metro Gaisano in Mandaue City.
Customers can choose among Osram’s Duluxstar Twist compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs that are available in 13 watts (P119), 18 watts (P149) and 23 watts (P159).
According to Veco, studies have shown that CFL bulbs are low-energy light bulbs that allow a household to save up to 80 percent of its power consumption cost in a year.
One 13-watt Osram Duluxstar Twist bulb, for instance, lasts up to three years compared to the less than a year average lifespan of a 75-watt incandescent light bulb.
Osram Philippines trade manager Gerry Sangil added that using an Osram CFL bulb guarantees more light output but less energy consumption. Their products are also covered by a one-year warranty.
Osram Philippines Limited Corp. is a company engaged in the sale of light bulbs including CFLs.
Advocacy
Veco vice president for administration and customer services group Sebastian Lacson said that Veco has taken the “first step” in its advocacy for efficient energy use for a clean environment.
He said that such project with Osram will not distress Veco’s bottomline and “will not affect its collection revenues, although it is hard to quantify.”
Veco, owned and managed by the Aboitiz and Garcia families, is the largest private electric utility in the Southern Philippines.
As of July 2008, it has been serving 292,954 customers in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Naga, as well as the municipalities of Liloan, Conso-lacion, Minglanilla and San Fernando.
Veco, along with Aboitiz Co. (ACO) Inc., also signed an agreement with Rockford Marketing Corp. (RMC), a national distributor of Osram products to sell Duluxstar Twist and Duluxstar 2U CFL bulbs at discounted prices to Veco and ACO employees. (NRC)
