Suwon City Rolls Up Its Sleeves for Summer Energy Conservation

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-seong] Suwon City has taken steps to conserve energy in response to soaring power shortages during summer months.

The city is leading by example in energy conservation efforts in the public sector. Since August 3rd, it has been inspecting 82 facilities including business offices, district offices, administrative divisions, and municipal buildings to ensure indoor temperatures are maintained at 26℃ or higher. Additionally, through the operation of energy guardians, the city is promoting energy conservation activities such as indoor temperature management.

Furthermore, between 4:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. during peak power hours, the city is sequentially turning off 30% of indoor lighting at business offices, district offices, administrative divisions, and municipal buildings.

On August 22nd, the city plans to hold an "Energy Day" event during which public buildings and multi-family housing complexes will raise air conditioner settings by 2℃ (2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.) and conduct simultaneous lighting shutdowns (9:00 p.m. to 9:05 p.m.).

To encourage private sector participation, on August 11th, the city partnered with Gyeonggi Province, Korea Energy Agency, and Gyeonggi Environment & Energy Promotion Agency, and on August 8th, with Korea Energy Agency, Electrical Safety Corporation, Gas Safety Corporation, District Heating Corporation, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Green Consumer Network to launch the 'Reduce Provincial Residents' Electricity Use by 1kWh Daily in Summer' campaign in the Suwon Station and Rodeo Street areas.

The 'Reduce Electricity Use by 1kWh Daily' campaign distributes promotional materials to citizens containing energy-saving methods including △raising air conditioner temperature settings by 1℃ △maintaining appropriate indoor temperature of 26℃ during summer △turning off unused lights △unplugging electronic devices △saving energy in offices through power management.

Additionally, since July 3rd, the city has been conducting a 'Reduce Daily Electricity Use by 1kW' campaign in the Ingye-dong and Suwon Station areas, and has implemented a 'Campaign to Discourage Open-Door Cooling' that recommends △refraining from leaving doors open while air conditioning is running △maintaining indoor temperatures at 26℃.

The city has also requested 64 high energy-consuming business facilities to △stagger summer vacations around early and mid-August, the anticipated period of peak power demand, and △sequentially shut down air conditioning units during peak power hours (4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.).