My EE journey in Government...Energy Commission II

1. My first two immediate jobs that I need to continue when I moved to the newly formed 2-staff EE unit in the end of 2007 were the processing the application for fiscal incentives on EE projects and products and soon after that, I was instructed to prepare the implementation strategy and plan for the enforcement of the new Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulations which finally was gazetted on 15 December 2008. 

2. Not long after that, the Budget Speech for the year 2009 added one more challenging test for me where suddenly the fiscal incentives for EE was extended to more products approved by Energy Commission effective from 31 August 2008.

3. In the end of 2007 and early 2008, I spent a lot of time asking people who were in-charge of every previous tasks under the disbanded EE department. It became more challenging because most of all the detailed documents and information were not at one place in  dedicated files. The handing over notes that I received was very brief an I had  to meet and speak personally to individuals who are in various department to get the whole picture on the historical information and progress of each tasks.

Incentives for EE Projects and Products

4. When I tried to understand to whole process of the EE& RE incentives application, the procedure required me to perform the assessment of each application  and later to call for a committee to present the initial assessment and later to call pre-selected applicants  for a presentation. There were brief guidelines prepared for potential applicants but most of the applications received were not following it and I had to contact each applicant personally asking about information and data required for the the initial assessment.

5. We received all sorts of application which some of them were quite difficult the EE element that qualify them for the incentives mainly due to lacking of EE related key information and data for proposed EE projects and products.

6. To improve this and to save more time  to assess each application, I drafted the evaluation guidelines for EE project and products with the intention to upload it the public domain in our website and to be circulated to other agencies such as MIDA and KeTTHA  for their information and reference. I tried to impart and integrate my knowledge and real life experiences in EE projects and products in the guidelines and in the same time not to make it too difficult for potential applicants.

7. Below are the two guidelines which finally approved by the management and later published and promoted to the interested parties.

for EE Projects

 

GUIDELINES ON THE INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR

 THE TECHNICAL EVALUATION OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECTS 

Please attach the information with completed MIDA’s application form. The information to be submitted may vary depending on the type/complexity/scale of the projects.  Kindly contact Energy Commission at Tel: 03-2612 5400/554/536 or Fax   03-26912654 should there be any query.

PART A : TYPE OF  PROJECT

·      Modification/improvement of existing equipment/systems or ·      Introduction/replacement of high efficient technologies or systems.

PART B : GENERAL INFORMATION OF THE PLANT/EQUIPMENT   AND ITS ENERGY CONSUMPTION

1 .Name and location.

2. Types of energy supplied.

3. Tariff/rates applied (fuel, electricity).

4. Energy consumption per year such as electricity and fuel.

5. Plant/equipment energy performance such as   efficiency level and etc.

PART C : INFORMATION ON THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT/EQUIPMENT

1. Description on the equipment/system technologies to be applied.

2. Operational principles/systems applied to improve efficiency and to save  energy.

3. A schematic drawings/diagrams showing the facilities, equipment and processes involved.

4. Equipment/System Information: Product description Brand and model name Supplier Imported/local sources Rated capacity and efficiency level

5. Energy efficiency/energy performance  standard referred.

6. Testing standard used  and its test reports.

7. Function of each equipment contributing to increase its efficiency and to save energy.

8. Comparison of technical and efficiency  data between existing or conventional plant /equipment and proposed plant/equipment.

PART D : ENERGY CONSERVATION POTENTIALS

1. Types of energy to be saved.

2. Comparison of energy consumption data between existing or conventional plant /equipment and proposed  plant/equipment.

3. Method and data used in energy saving the calculations.

4. Estimated energy savings from electricity and/or fuel consumption in energy units.

PART E : IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

1. Who will be involved in the implementation of the project (i.e. Internal personnel/external)

2. Brief description on steps to be taken to implement the project and the targeted duration for implementation.

PART F : COSTS OF THE PROJECT

1.  The total costs and itemized cost for each equipment involved. 2.  Estimated  energy costs to be saved and returns of the investment for the project (i.e. Simple Payback Period, IRR)

For EE Products

 

GUIDELINES ON THE INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR THE

 TECHNICAL EVALUATION OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTS FOR IMPORTERS AND LOCAL MANUFACTURERS

PART A :TYPE OF APPLICANT

1. Producer/Manufacturer  Or 2. Authorised Agent/Distributor/Importer/APVSP(for PV systems)

PART B :  INFORMATION OF ENERGY EFFICIENT EQUIPMENT/APPLIANCE/MATERIAL

1. Product Description

2. Brand and Model

3. Energy Efficiency Rating

4. Energy Efficiency Reference Standard Used

5. Testing Standard Used

6. Producer/Manufacturer

7. Product Application

PART C :   SUPPORTING DOCUMENT/INFORMATION

1. Letter/Certificate of  authorization to produce/manufacture

2. Letter/Certificate  as  authorized importer/agent/distributor

3. Confirmation on energy efficiency Test Certificate/Report from accredited lab.

Kindly contact Energy Commission at Tel: 03-2612 5536/32 or

Fax   03-26912654 should there be any query.

8. When I started for EE products, I found out only 2 types of products already had their EE criteria and labeling scheme  to be classified  as energy efficient products.

9. I was in tremendous pressure when manufacturers for other type of products already called  us to apply for incentives since the Budget 2009 speech clearly stated that the effective date was on 31 August 2008 and we only knew about it on the day  the budget speech  read by the PM. This has led me to rush quickly to request for more information from MoF and MIDA before I can start to answer queries with regard to the incentives.

10. What I did finally with all the updated information was, told the manufacturers and importers that we just knew about it  and need some time to prepare the criteria to qualify products covered under the budget speech. I invited them together with other relevant industrial & Professional organizations such as FMM,MEADA, and MASHRAE and also SIRIM to assist me to develop and agree on EE Criteria to be established for each type of products because that was the only way for them to enjoy the incentives at soonest possible.

11. Working Groups  were formed to look after each type of product and I personally chaired each of them and acted as the desk officer too  for each group who compiled and analyzed all information and data to be discussed in the scheduled meetings. 

There were days we had to have 3 meetings for different groups in a day  and finally some products were able to be qualify in stages from early 2009.

12. From 2 type of products in August 2008, within 6 months, we already had 8 types can be classified as energy efficient and manufacturers  were able to apply to enjoy the incentives. All can be done and we did it by working hand in hand with everyone.

13. With the published guidelines on our website, I had better time to explain to questions related to EE incentive application and asked them to the evaluation criteria for application purposes. This has made the processing smoother and faster because almost all key information and data were already available when application received instead to chase them to submit it previously.

14. On top of that, I had the chance to share the latest updates on the incentive application procedure and evaluation criteria personally too as guest speakers to events such as talks and briefing in seminar, dialogues and forum for different target groups organized internally and by other related  parties.

Briefing on EE Incentives Application & Evaluation Process

The Implementation Plan for Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulations

15. This regulation has a long and personal historical link to my career from the beginning.Finally, it was about to be gazetted and I was instructed to prepare the overall implementation plan which to be presented to the ministry for approval before the  effective date.

16. This was the most challenging of all the tasks assigned to me in EE Unit. I really had to dig deep from many references and utilizing all that I have in me as EE practitioner in the market previously and later my involvement in regulatory works in the legal department. All that knowledge and hands-on experiences helped me a lot because literally no one has ever implemented this type of regulations in Malaysia to refer. References from success stories and obstacles in implementing this type of law in countries such as Japan and India also helped me a lot in coming up with the plan for Malaysia.

17. Below are the my initial checklist that I personally developed on my own for the early stage of preparing the plan ( at this time there were still only me and my clerk in the unit).

PERINCIAN PERSEDIAAN YANG DIPERLUKAN UNTUK PERLAKSANAAN PERATURAN-PERATURAN PENGURUSAN TENAGA ELEKTRIK DENGAN CEKAP 2008

	PERKARA	TINDAKAN/MAKLUMAN
1	Perlaksanaan berdasarkan peruntukan-peruntukan  dalam peraturan	·         Sediakan draf flowchart
2	Peraturan 6 :Pemberitahuan oleh Suruhanjaya	·         Draf notis pemberitahuan kepada pepasangan
3	Peraturan 7 : Obligasi pemegang lesen persendirian/pengguna Mengemukakan maklumat-maklumat  seperti yang dikehendaki  dalam Peraturan 6 berkenaan:- i)              Dasar ii)             Matlamat iii)            Akaun/maklumat	·         Menyediakan garis panduan skop dasar , matlamat dan akaun/maklumat yang dikehendaki
4	Peraturan 11 : Pendaftaran pengurus tenaga elektrik i)              Proses permohonan – flowchart ii)             Buku panduan	·         Sediakan draf flowchart ·         Draf kandungan buku panduan pendaftaran
5	Peraturan 12 : Kehendak kelayakan i)              Syarat-syarat kelayakan 23 tahun ke atas , warganegara Malaysia ·         Jurutera profesional 6 bulan pengalaman kerja dalam pengurusan tenaga elektrik dengan cekap ·         Ijazah sains, kejuruteraan, senibina atau setaraf 1 tahun pengalaman kerja dalam pengurusan tenaga elektrik dengan cekap ·         Jurutera Perkhidmatan Elektrik(JPE)/Jurutera Elektrik(JEK) Kompeten 9 bulan pengalaman kerja dalam pengurusan tenaga elektrik dengan cekap ·         Pengetahuan berkenaan Akta dan Peraturan ii)             Temuduga	·         Untuk JPE, laporan projek/tugasan   berkenaan pengurusan tenaga dengan cekap merupakan salah satu keperluan  yang perlu dipenuhi sebelum pendaftaran diluluskan oleh ST(Peraturan 46(2)(a), PPE 1994). Peruntukan yg sama ada untuk JEK tetapi tidak dilaksanakan lagi ·    Kriteria penilaian pengalaman kerja dalam pengurusan tenaga elektrik dengan cekap ·    Kriteria penilaian dalam temuduga ·    Pemilihan dan perlantikan ahli panel penemuduga ·    Buku panduan  skop pengetahuan dan  pengalaman kecekapan tenaga dan perundangan yang  berkaitan untuk rujukan bakal pemohon
6	Peraturan 13 : Permohonan pendaftaran iii)            Fi Jadual pertama Perwakilan kuasa untuk menerima fi oleh pejabat kawasan iv)            Borang – maklumat dan dokumen sokongan yang diperlukan	·         Draf surat perwakilan kuasa ·         Draf borang permohonan
7	Peraturan 14 : Pengeluaran perakuan pendaftaran i)              Sijil perakuan pendaftaran
8	Peraturan 15 : Keterangan perubatan kesihatan pemohon i)              Dokumen pengesahan keterangan perubatan
9	Peraturan 16 : Fungsi dan kewajipan pengurus tenaga elektrik berdaftar i)              Mengaudit ii)             Menasihati pemegang lesen iii)            Memantau keberkesanan iv)            Menyelia penyimpanan rekod pengurusan tenaga elektrik dengan cekap v)             Mempastikan pengguna/pemengang lesen mengemukakan laporan dalam Peraturan 6 dalam tempoh seperti dalam Peraturan 7.	·         Panduan komponen-komponen utama dalam laporan audit ·         Definisi/penerangan/skop audit tenaga yang dimaksudkan. · Panduan jenis-jenis rekod yang dikehendaki
	Skop tugas i)      Makluman kepada pengguna/pemegang lesen terlibat ii)     Pendaftaran iii)    Penerimaan bayaran fi iv)    Borang laporan  setiap enam bulan daripada pengguna/pemegang lesen.	·         Edaran borang permohonan ·         Penerimaan borang permohonan ·         Proses borang permohonan ·         Panggilan temuduga ·         Jalankan temuduga ·       Daftarkan dan maklumkan calon yang  lulus permohonan ·         Keluarkan sijil kelulusan pendaftaran ·    Semakan dan penilaian laporan ·     Kriteria penilaian ·   Tindakan jika terdapat ketidakpatuhan

Below is the initial implementation timeline for the implementation of the regulations

18. There were only two of us in the unit and I strongly believe we have accomplished something very significant and satisfying for the whole year. I must thank everyone who was there to assist and support me all the way and that gave more motivation that  I can contribute more in EE for the country.

19. 2008 was the first full year for me doing EE works in Energy Commission and what I had accomplished did make more inspired to go further.

20. I hope to have the time to share some significant events that led to my involvement in the preparation of the National EE Master Plan way back when it started from 2008 and below are the summary  of key activties reported to the management for that year.

RINGKASAN LAPORAN  AKTIVITI TAHUNAN UNIT DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT 2008

 1.    Peraturan-Peraturan  Pengurusan Tenaga Elektrik Dengan Cekap 2008.

Unit DSM telah menyediakan pelan tindakan untuk melaksanakan Peraturan-Peraturan  Pengurusan Tenaga Elektrik Dengan Cekap telah diwartakan dan dikuatkuasakan  pada 15 Disember 2008.

Di antara perkara-perkara yang telah dijalankan ialah penyediaan  perincian pelan tindakan dan penyediaan keperluan-keperluan  untuk pelaksanaan  peraturan tersebut seperti sistem pendaftaran, borang, kriteria pemilihan pengurus tenaga, penilaian laporan dan lain-lain lagi.

2.    Kumpulan Kerja Untuk Menetapkan Kriteria dan Standard Rujukan Kecekapan Tenaga

Beberapa kumpulan kerja  untuk bahan dan kelengkapan cekap tenaga telah ditubuhkan untuk tujuan  pemberian insentif kecekapan tenaga  kepada pengimport dan pengeluar tempatan seperti yang telah diumumkan  di dalam Bajet 2009.

Kumpulan-kumpulan kerja berkenaan telah ditubuhkan dengan  disertai oleh wakil-wakil pengeluar, SIRIM, PTM, FMM dan pertubuhan-pertubuhan profesional dan industri yang berkaitan dan di antara objektif utama penubuhannya ialah:

• Mengesyorkan  kriteria prestasi kecekapan tenaga standard rujukan yang boleh digunapakai;
• Menetapkan syarat-syarat pengujian untuk pengesahan kriteria prestasi tenaga yang telah ditetapkan;
• Menyediakan sistem penarafan untuk menilai prestasi kecekapan tenaga bahan/kelengkapan tertentu.

Kumpulan kerja yang ditubuhkan untuk bahan dan kelengkapan  berikut:

i)  Bahan Penebat;

ii) Kipas domestik;

iii)Penyaman Udara;

iv)Lampu;

v) Televisyen

3.    Insentif  Kecekapan Tenaga.

i)     Proses permohonan insentif.

Unit DSM telah memproses sejumlah 22 permohonan insentif kecekapan tenaga. Permohonan insentif berkenaan adalah merangkumi permohonan pengecualian cukai jualan dan duti import, permohonan sebagai status perintis dan juga elaun cukai pelaburan. Unit DSM  bertanggungjawab sebagai Urusetia untuk Jawatankuasa Penilaian Teknikal Untuk Insentif Kecekapan Tenaga  dan menjalankan  proses penilaian teknikal untuk setiap permohonan.

ii)   Unit DSM juga telah menjadi ahli jawatankuasa kumpulan kerja yang ditubuhkan oleh Kementerian Tenaga, Air dan Komunikasi untuk menyediakan buku panduan permohonan insentif kecekapan tenaga dan tenaga boleh diperbaharui untuk rujukan pihak industri.

4.    Penarafan Prestasi Kecekapan Tenaga Untuk Peti Sejuk

Unit DSM telah memproses dan meluluskan 13 permohonan pengeluar  untuk mendapatkan penarafan STAR untuk peti sejuk berdasarkan prestasi kecekapan tenaga. Sebanyak dua belas model peti sejuk telah mendapat kelulusan  dengan penarafan 5 STAR dan satu model mendapat penarafan 3 STAR.

5.    Promosi Dan Kempen

i)  Unit DSM telah menjadi ahli jawatankuasa pemandu  Kempen Kesedaran Kecekapan Tenaga Nasional  dan  Bulan Tenaga 2008 di peringkat Kementerian Tenaga, Air dan Komunikasi. Pelancaran kedua-dua program tersebut telah diadakan pada bulan November 2008.

ii)  Taklimat dan ceramah kecekapan tenaga seperti  berikut telah disempurnakan oleh Unit DSM.

· Workshop on EE & RE Handbook for Fiscal Incentives  anjuran Kementerian Tenaga, Air dan Komunikasi;

· Workshop On High Efficiency Motors anjuran Pusat Tenaga Malaysia;

· Kempen Kecekapan Tenaga Dan Keselamatan Elektrik  anjuran pejabat Kawasan Suruhanjaya Tenaga Ipoh.

· Kursus Polisi dan Aplikasi Kecekapan Tenaga anjuran Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran;

·  Seminar Kecekapan Tenaga anjuran TNB Kuantan; dan

· Seminar Kecekapan Tenaga Dan Keselamatan Elektrik Untuk Kakitangan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan  Selangor anjuran pejabat Kawasan Suruhanjaya Tenaga Petaling Jaya.

 6.    Pembangunan Kakitangan

 Penyertaan di dalam program berikut:

i)   Training Program on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency anjuran Technical Energy Research Institute(TERI)  dan Kementerian Luar India  di TERI di Gual Pahari dan  Bangalore,India;

At TERI Gual Pahari, India

ii) Training Program on  Energy Conservation for Malaysia anjuran Kementerian Ekonomi, Perdagangan  dan Industri Jepun di  Energy Conservation Centre, Tokyo,Jepun;

At AOTS-Kita-senju Tokyo

iii)   Logical Framework Analysis  Workshop on Building Energy Efficiency anjuran JKR dan UNDP di Kuala Lumpur;

iv) National Photovoltaic Conference anjuran Pusat Tenaga Malaysia dan UNDP di Putrajaya; dan

v)  Seminar On Promotion Of Energy Efficiency And Conservation (PROMEC) for Buildings  anjuran Pusat Tenaga Malaysia  dan EISD/PROMECC 2008 di Seri Kembangan.

MAINSTREAMING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN MALAYSIA

1. "It is ok to do something about EE  but it is also ok not to do anything".That is how I can summarize the attitude about EE as of  now...if not among all Malaysians, at least the majority of them from my personal observations. I am not trying to finger point to anyone or blaming anybody but as a person who has been involved in this field, that would be my general statements to describe the take-up of EE in our country.

Status on Oil & Gas Resources for Malaysia

2. Should we blame the people or organizations? My answer is NO or should we  blame the government? My answer would be NO too at this moment. It is not a one man show here because like any other area that involving people, organizations  and the policy makers, all parties will have to play their  roles in line of their works and life as an individual.The roles that need be defined  and clearly to be made aware among all energy users in Malaysia.

3. At some points in the line of my works in the public sector, I did hear  a few remarks from  high level officials when EE was brought their attention.

 Here are some of those remarks:

i). " If we save energy, what would happen to the higher reserve margin of electricity supply that we have now. TNB would be in trouble if we use less electricity"

ii). " Don't worry. If we increase electricity tariff, automatically people will start  to stop wasting energy"

iii). " EE in not our priority now since we should give more focus on economic development"

Among the ordinary people, the following remarks are quite common too.

i). " We should pay less because we have abundant of our own oil and gas resources"

ii). " It's the government's job to ensure we pay cheap for energy"

iii). " Why should I worry because I  can afford to pay my energy bills"

iv) ." Other countries that have their own oil and gas can have cheap energy price, why shouldn't Malaysia?"

iv). " Petronas keep selling gas and oil  to other countries like Japan. Why don't they keep it low price for Malaysian? Why selling it?"

4. From career point of view, EE field is not one of the most popular choice among job seekers too.Most of the people involved in their works in EE is due to the nature their  existing works that have to deal with EE related matters. For example, if they works in facilities management, EE may be apart of their job scopes to save overall costs. When I started my career, I has tough time to explain even to my friends on what  exactly what I was doing.

I made the decision to be in EE Field

5. At some points, even most our national level policies related to energy do not specify clearly the direction of EE for the country.

6. In summary, below is the summary of key points in my  observations that I  made over the years:

• Initiated and executed by many parties(government,international agencies, NGOs, private sectors)  without any specific and long term policy and legal requirements to be followed. 
• On project basis and no continuation once completed and projects owned by various organizations with their own defined objectives and goals-lacking of long term coordination and collaboration in specific areas. 
• No standards  recognized by the authorities and followed in EE&EC  services, equipment and appliances and no certification system for the competency of EE & EC professionals/practitioners recognized and authorized by the government. 
• Lack of funding sources and confidence to fund EE&EC projects  by financial institutions. 
• Energy price (electricity and fuel) is still being made understood and promoted as among the lowest in the region- create  “cushioned” impact resulted from actual global environment among general public 
• Variety of standards and qualities of services provided by EE & EC services industry- lack of  confidence among interested parties such as high energy users (e.g: high cost charged by EE & EC service providers for energy audits) 
• No urgency among the utility companies due to supply of  electricity is more than demand (big reserve). 
• Bureaucracy issues in the processing procedures in fiscal incentives such as pioneer status, ITA, import duty and sales taxes exemption offered by the government. 
• Lacking of certified competent persons in EE& EC delivery  due to unavailability of national competency program. 
• Many studies on EE & EC  carried out by many foreign government agencies and organizations but not translated into comprehensive long term plan for implementation (UNDP,JICA, DANIDA).

7. From legal points, our current energy related laws are focusing on only on supply and safety issues. On top of that, the decision making structures is very fragmented and many points of intertaces with many parties that are involved at all level of authorities and scopes of duties.

8. For electricity sector alone, there are three federal level agencies namely Economic Planning Unit under the Prime Minister Department, The Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and Ministry of Finance are involved directly with different level of authorities to decide on matters related to policies such as policies on IPPs. Regulators such as Energy Commission and SEDA are just the implementation agencies  and at some points, almost the same level like IPPs or licensees such as TNB. The diagram below indicates the structure and authorities in electricity sector.

9. Looking at the above points  that I highlighted , it would be almost impossible for EE to find its ways to attract immediate attention of  everyone, even the policy makers.At present mainly is on security of energy supply  while dealing fluctuating energy prices.

10. It is quite well understood that being a developing country, we have to give sufficient focus to build our economy and creating more revenues from all resources that we have to become a developed nation. Can we do it both? Developing our economy using all energy resources that we have and doing it without forgetting the need to use efficiently too. Yes, the  benefits from being efficient cannot be seen up front if we compare it  to the conventional trades that we get paid for what we delivered immediately.For example, when we sell our energy such as gas and oil, we get money that can be used for other purposes. We can see it straight away but the nature of getting something from being efficient energy users is slightly different. The obvious example is, if we managed to save some quantity of energy, we won't get paid but we only pay less for energy bills instead. The money do not come from our front door in like the  incomes from sales  but the fact is when we pay less, it will improve our profit margin  from the overall reduction of operating costs.

11. In simple words, from sales, money will come to us and we can see it  revenue reports that normally being highlighted to all and so on but when we saved money, only a handful of related know about it and most of the time, never intended to be known to others since we have to chase the money that will come from the implementation of energy saving measures.


12. So, finally, how to get attention of people on EE? 

The answer is simple but very challenging too. 

WE NEED TO TREAT ENERGY EFFICIENCY AS AN INDUSTRY because only an industry can attract attention of people to be involved as players when there are economic opportunities to be exploited by everyone.
We have to bring EE intro the main stream route for it to been seen with a clear goals, platform and required supports from all parties.


How to make this happen?


13. Many can answer this nowadays and many can come up with many solutions too. We do not to reinvent the wheel because examples are everywhere around the globe for us to refer and learn. I  believe we have learned a lot for years and know exactly how to be energy efficient users. It is not the issue of the know-how, it is more on the will to do it within the scope of our works and life.

14. There are specifics roles that can be played depending on we come from  what category and levels of people  when it comes to use energy. It ranges from individual users until someone who make strategic decisions at organizational or country level. All of us have roles to play because we just could not do this alone.

We need all hands to "invest" in EE to get significant results

15. It has been my dream for years to see and the benefits of EE can be enjoyed by everyone when it become one of main stream industries such as manufacturing, financial, environment and etc. Hope to share more thoughts in the next posting on what are needed to transform EE to become an industry.

My EE journey in the government...Energy Commission

It was just a try when I joined Energy Commission in 2004.Ideally I wanted to be in a place where I can start something in EE  straight away but it was not the case. I secured a position in the Legal Department and assigned to become an enforcement officer. Yes, it was totally new thing to me but interesting too.I spend from September 2004 until end of 2007 and learned so much about investigation of criminal cases under Electricity Supply Act 1994 and Electricity Regulations 1994. 

Management Workshop

I managed to complete 15 investigation papers(some charged in courts), conducted many inspections and raids for cases such as power theft, products not complied to the regulations and many more. The best part from all of that I really understand how the legal process took place from the time a complaint or a first information received until the case classified as NO CASE, No Further Action(NFA) and approved to be charged at court by the Attorney General office. Along the way in doing my works in the Legal Department I saw the draft of the Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulations being reviewed at my department although I am not involved in it. I was very curious to know too since I know some of the initial contents of the draft way back in 1998 when ST still known as the Department of Electricity Supply and Gas.Throughout my tenure at the legal department, I have never hidden my interest and passion in EE to all my colleagues and bosses.

KPI Review Session

I did tell my Senior Director that I possible, one day I want to apply to be transferred to EE related Department.After I felt had enough experience in enforcement, I started to find my way towards EE works in EC.For almost 3 years in the Legal Department, I managed to keep myself in touch with EE industry.Attended few EE related events such seminar and forum, participated as a member in Malaysia Energy Professional Association and continued my on going communications with some active players in EE industry made me always updated on the EE development outside the government.

  

Suddenly, I felt so devastated when I heard EC wanted to transfer EE works to Malaysia Energy Centre sometime in 2007.Quickly I knew that time, the end has come for me in EC since EE would be no more there.Then I started to look for other job too and went for interviews where finally I secured one. I was about to tender my resignation letter when I was told that EC will continue doing EE.

  

Why? I was not so interested into that because I saw that was another opportunity for me to jump into it.What happened was, the EE department already disbanded and literally there no one there to run EE works since all staff were reassigned to other departments.It did not take me long to cancel my plan to leave and I quickly met the former director of EE department to tell him I wanted to be in. After two weeks I knew that my name was up in EE department and soon after that it was approved by the management although the actual set up for EE still did not certain or finalized.I felt so grateful to Allah with His blessing where finally, my dream came through.

I moved to the new set up for EE in EC sometime in the end of 2007 and started with myself and a clerk.Temporarily, I reported to three superiors until the proper set up to be established. 

The initial scope of works handed over to me covered the followings( as far as I can recall): 

1. Applications for EE&RE incentives;
2. Development and promotion of EE labeling for electrical appliances;
3. Committee member for CDM at KeTTHA;
4. Electricity Summit 2008(getting participants);
5. EE campaign and awareness program planning and implementation;

 ...and all other meetings,discussions,replies,proposals,issues and etc forwarded to EC and as instructed... ...literally the scopes covered all works that used to be performed by one department with a director, two deputy directors, executives and clerks with at least 2-3 units.  

Dinner in 2010

Did I complain? No I did not because I knew it before took the challenge.What really important to me that time was just to have a platform for me to pursue EE agenda in my career and trying to contribute some works to trigger the government to have more concerns about EE for the benefits of the country. 




To be continued...

" selling" energy efficiency(EE)

1.It is not uncommon to deal with rejection when we request someone or any organization to reduce energy costs that they can afford to pay until today.I personally was accused of being stingy by my own family members and some relatives when I started to remind them about being mindful when using electricity at home. It took sometime for them understand my concerns on why we need to stop using energy inefficiently just because we have no problem paying.

2.To certain extent, to get people to have some concerns on how they use energy also require some kind of selling activities too.It needs the right strategy and carefully planned to to enable the key decisions to be made to make it happen. And...how to sell it? I don't think there is any specific way to do it but generally, I believe we can identify some common elements that would be the key selling points. 3. Dollars and cents The main reason that normally will trigger the interest of the top management to pay attention to EE.In some organizations, quantity of cost savings resulted from EE measures will be sufficient for them consider more allocation to get greater savings.Meanwhile,insignificant quantity of energy saved that translated into costs may kill their interest at all.So, if we need to know more about the preference of the top management when we want to link EE to dollars and cents for the company.Investments with the shortest return and significant cost reduction would an ideal package but some finally it depends on how good we sell it to the decision makers.Nothing technical about this but it is so often many failed due to so much attention given in preparing the technical stuff instead of looking into tackling the human parts to sell the EE ideas way up to the top and in the end to get something to kick- off.

4. On the same page Getting the key players on board is another crucial element to push EE all the way up.Everyone and every section or department is using energy but unfortunately not everyone has the same responsibilities in the company to look after energy related issues.Unfortunately too, we can't be alone in championing EE.We need everyone and the real challenge is to get them on the same page with us without affecting their main commitment in the line of their duties.Again here, another right selling strategy is required to convince these key players to commit themselves with little additional burden to them and share the recognitions too later. 5.Exploiting the external factors Legal requirements and changes in the market trends towards energy issues that are related to green, climate change and GHG emission are the factors that I can single out immediately. People may not obey the law but when anything related to legal matters imposed on them, surely they will have to look into it.Some companies may not care so much about green or GHG emmision but when image and reputation at stake to be seen in the eyes of potential market, investors and public at large, this may work to make them to react with some degree of commitment.

6. People in sales or marketing businesses may be able to share more on selling because selling it right in EE is equally important as identifying the EE potentials to save the dollars and cents in a company. 7. Engineers are not only required to come up with attractive EE solutions but also to sell it with attractive package to the top management too.Only that will make the solutions works.

Preparatory Workshop for Registered Electrical Energy Manager (REEM)

The way forward...

1.There were plenty of events had happened since the last time I posted something here. Changed my career twice between agencies in the government and finally, today I am back at the private sector.

2. 2004 until 2012... Almost 8 years in the government taught me so much and developed me so much too! I have more confidence in myself today and thank you to experiences and exposure in that 8 years a a government officer.

3. A lot of turn around or unexpected things and challenges that I faced too and the last 3 years was the toughest and tricky period of all. Alhamdulillah, I managed to pull it through and still positive to remain in the field that I have dedicated myself for years, energy efficiency and energy conservation efforts in Malaysia.

4. Now, sky is the limit for me to explore my fullest potentials in the way forward and from 16 February 2012, I have started my new adventure in EE&EC...to be the key and recognized player in this industry...May Allah bless me with His guidance that will show me the way....InsyaAllah