Fired Up: Growing support for PSEE

12 June 2015

An increasing number of companies and organisations are joining hands with the NBI by encouraging their supply chains and members to make use of the opportunities offered by the PSEE. Joining the list of existing lead generators such as Woolworths, Mercantile Bank, ABSA, First Rand Bank, Vinpro, eThekwini municipality and others, the following institutions also recently came on board: the Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA), the Ekurhuleni Captains of Industry Forum (ECOI) and Ekurhuleni Business Initiative (EBI), MassMart, Sanlam, and the Manufacturing Circle. Discussions are currently under way with the City of Tshwane, the Limpopo Economic Development Agency and Gauteng Provincial Department of Economic Development to assist companies in their regions.

Southern African Vinyls Association

NBI Head of Energy Valerie Geen, SAVA CEO Delanie Bezuidenhout, and SAVA Chair Dr Claus Maurer at the 2015 SAVA AGM in Midrand where Ms Geen addressed members on the role of energy efficiency in contributing to businesses continuity.

In a joint letter and follow-up interactions, SAVA CEO Delanie Bezuidenhout encouraged members to make use of the PSEE’s services to assist them in dealing with the increasing cost of energy to businesses as well as the current power supply challenges and its impact on business continuity. She also stated that participation in the PSEE programme would serve as one of the steps towards the inclusion of an Energy Charter in the current SAVA Product Stewardship Programme.

Ekurhuleni Captains of Industry Forum and Ekurhuleni Business Initiative

ECOI Chair Dr Roney Ndala, NBI Head of Energy Valerie Geen, Dealer Principal of McCarthy Nissan Germiston Jenny Duvenhage and ECOI/EBI Chair Chris van Biljon at a recent joint business event.

In terms of a collaboration agreement with the NBI, the PSEE, ECOI and EBI are hosting a number of breakfast events and workshops aimed at encouraging members to sign up for the PSEE’s services and join the campaign to become more energy efficient. The first of these events were two half-day workshops themed An Introduction to Energy Efficiency, and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning) held in Benoni and attended by more than 40 delegates.

This was followed by breakfast events hosted in Boksburg and Germiston, attended by some 60 ECOI and EBI members. This will be followed by an introductory workshop on 24 June and a workshop on lighting on 25 June in Kempton Park.

According to ECOI and EBI CEO Chris van Biljon, the collaboration was not only an important mechanism to enable members to save energy and money, but also to assist them in preparing for the introduction for carbon tax in 2016.