First Gen president and COO Giles Puno and PLDT and Smart president and CEO Alfredo Panlilio (4th and 5th from left) with (l-r) First Gen VP and power marketing head Carlos Lorenzo Vega, CFO Emmanuel Singson, EVP Victor Emmanuel Santos Jr., PLDT and Smart chief sustainability officer and investor relations head Melissa Vergel de Dios, PLDT VP for property and facilities management Leonard Gonzales and facilities management head Jeffrey TanjutcoPLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. are advancing their transition to renewable energy (RE) with the full switch of seven of their facilities in the Visayas to geothermal electricity use.

Through a supply partnership with First Gen Corporation, PLDT and Smart will be using geothermal energy to power up seven facilities located in Cebu, Samar, Capiz and Iloilo. These facilities will source their RE supply from First Gen’s 100% renewable energy arm Energy Development Corporation.

“This geothermal switch will allow us to save around P27 million in electricity costs on an annual basis for our seven facilities in the Visayas. This will also support our broader decarbonization road map and will enable us to reduce our emissions by about 16,000 tons this year, which amounts to 26% of our total target emissions reduction for 2023,” said Melissa Vergel de Dios, PLDT and Smart chief sustainability officer, first vice president and head of investor relations.

The telcos are exploring further with First Gen the expansion of geothermal energy use for more of their sites across the Philippines, including data centers.

“We have committed to make sustainability part of the way we operate and shall remain steadfast in delivering on our decarbonization targets. As we turn to renewables and clean energy, we are also supporting the Philippine government’s plan for green energy transition,” said Alfredo Panlilio, PLDT and Smart president and chief executive officer.

“In 2016, we made the decision to close our doors to coal-fired power plants to keep our energy portfolio clean and green. It was one of the most significant business decisions we made to show how serious we are in pursuing our decarbonization mission. It gives us motivation to continue doing what we do with partners like PLDT. We know that it is only by working together that we can power through to a greener and more progressive future,” said Giles Puno, First Gen president and chief operating officer.