By Michael Liswaniso OPUWO A three-member delegation from Namibia’s power utility, NamPower, led by the manager of corporate communications and marketing, John Kaimu, last Thursday held a ‘consultative’ meeting with Kunene’s top regional management at Opuwo. The meeting took place at the Opuwo county hotel. Discussions centred around the advantages of energy-saving bulbs, the compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), after a presentation by Kaimu on the power situation in the country. Kaimu said the utility would spend approximately N$14.2 million on the entire project which is aimed at replacing the conventional lights with the energy-saving CFL bulbs and save about 20 megawatts (MW) of the country’s energy consumption. Though most people wondered how the amount they viewed massive would be spent, Kaimu assured the panel that the money is currently being spent on transport, marketing and the purchase of the CFL bulbs. Kaimu pointed out that saving 20 MW is a great achievement for the utility because if it was the other way round, looking at the current power situation in the country, the utility would spend more than N$250 million to develop a plant to produce 20 MW. He noted that the advantage of the CFL bulbs would be to reduce energy consumption during the peak of the current winter, as well as during the coming months and would even reduce electricity bills among other benefits. “It is too good to be true because the utility is selling you something – power – and in the same vein giving you CFL bulbs for free. But anyway, this is what NamPower and ECB and other stakeholders are doing,” stated Kaimu. He pleaded with the gathering to join forces with NamPower and other stakeholders to bring about an awareness and to educate people about the advantages of the use of CFL bulbs and saving electricity, especially during peak hours when the use of electricity is at its highest. “Never leave your computers on at your offices when you knock off work because that red light consumes electricity. Verify if the rubber of your fridge at home does not have a hole, and make sure not to leave your fridge open for any length of time because it consumes a lot of electricity given the fact that you will be cooling the entire kitchen,” pleaded Kaimu. He promised the gathering that the utility would be in contact with the community in an effort to identify suitable points for the exchange of CFL bulbs. Used incandescent bulbs are to be collected for disposal. Similar meetings, initiated by the ministry of mines and energy, the electricity control board and NamPower, were held in various parts of the country last week.