He Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) and the government of the United States, through its Agency for International Development (USAID), held a meeting with representatives of the government entities of the electric sector to promote a culture of saving and efficient use of electrical energy in the country.
Through focus groups to gather information, the experts contributed their knowledge and points of view about the beneficiaries for the positioning of key messages, which allow education on the appropriate use of energy resources. This, to demystify erroneous patterns on electricity consumption and expand awareness levels about the importance of the appropriate use and consumption of these resources for the reduction of greenhouse gases, and compliance with the commitments assumed in terms of climate change.
In this sense, work groups were defined to identify channels to place these messages, the appropriate tools and institutions for these purposes, and the articulation mechanisms among all the entities that make up the sector for their implementation and monitoring.
The inputs validated in the focus groups will be the baseline for the design of what will be the “National Plan for Awareness and Communication on Energy Saving and Efficiency”, which will be promoted by the MEM, as the governing body of energy policy, with technical assistance of the “USAID Project for the Reform of the Energy Sector”.
The Vice Minister of Savings and Energy Efficiency, Alfonso Rodríguez, who led the event on behalf of Minister Antonio Almonte, highlighted the importance of the entire electricity sector participating in the promotion of energy saving and efficiency in the country, and recalled the need for approval of the Energy Efficiency Law, the project of which was approved in the Senate and is currently known in the Chamber of Deputies.
He said that this workshop is an exercise for the preparation of the Energy Savings and Efficiency Plan, which will allow government actors in the sector to have contact with society and be able to present this tool, and he thanked USAID for the support it provides to the Dominican State. so you have a more efficient electric service.
For his part, the interim deputy director of USAID, Javier Castano, emphasized the commitment of both countries to the efficient use of energy and the support of his nation within the framework of the Association between the United States and the Caribbean to address the Climate Crisis. 2030 (PACC 2030). He assured that the meeting “represents the commitment of our two countries to collaborate to build a more sustainable future in which more people have access to reliable and affordable energy.”
In addition, he added that through the Energy Sector Reform project, “USAID seeks to collaborate with the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries to strengthen their energy systems, thus creating the conditions for greater energy independence, more productive and diverse economies, and greater resilience to natural and market phenomena.
In addition to this assistance for the promotion of energy savings and efficiency, the USAID project for the Reform of the Energy Sector facilitates the training of actors in the aforementioned sector in cybersecurity, the updating and expansion of studies to strengthen energy resilience in the country. and the training of financial institutions in green and sustainable investments, for the strengthening and modernization of the Dominican energy sector. This project has an investment of US$10.8 million from the Government of the United States.
This meeting is part of the permanent work of the Ministry of Energy and Mines to promote a culture of energy efficiency throughout the country in the long term. Likewise, last December 2022, the MEM became the first institution in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean to obtain the certification of the international standard ISO 50001:2018 for energy management, which provides the most solid framework for optimize energy efficiency in public and private sector organizations.
In addition to Vice Minister Rodríguez, there were Andrés Porte, manager of Edeeste; Miguel Díaz, Vice Minister of Mining; Charly de la Rosa, director of the USAID Project for the Reform of the Energy Sector; and Alfredo Kramarz, MEM Communication Advisor.