Energy Efficiency and Savings Cannot Be Achieved Through Marketization Practices

The Energy Efficiency Law, which aims to increase efficiency in the use of energy resources and energy in order to use energy effectively, to prevent waste, to alleviate the burden of energy costs on the economy and to protect the environment, entered into force in 2007. Unfortunately, the strategies for energy efficiency and saving, which have been brought to the agenda for 15 week in January every year for the past 1 years, have not been fully implemented and regulations have not been made.

Reaching energy is the most natural human need! However, reliable, cheap and clean energy supply for economic/social development and human life; It has become the most important problem of our time. The marketization process and the greed for profit in Turkey for the last 30 years have destroyed the possibility of efficient production, and as a result of leaving the electricity market completely at the mercy of the private sector, our country has been put into a system in which electricity prices are constantly increased.

Energy efficiency; It is the reduction of energy consumption per unit or amount of product without causing a decrease in the standard of living and service quality in buildings, and the quality and quantity of production in industrial enterprises. Energy saving is; It means saving the extra and unnecessary consumed energy within the requirements and comfort conditions, not the reduction or programmatic interruption by turning off one of the 2 bulbs.

It must be thought that the more expensive the energy becomes, the more the awareness of saving will increase. In practice, while creating a more profitable environment for the private sector, it remains for the citizens to think, “Where can I save money”. Contrary to the Ministry's campaign slogan of "Live Efficiently with Your Mind", our people tire their minds not on efficiency, but on how to cut back.

Concrete examples of this are; When Turkey's greenhouse gas inventory is examined in the years when the economic crisis deepened, such as 2001, 2008 and 2018, it can be explained by the decrease in emissions from gas and coal in the parts related to buildings. The main reason for this decrease can be explained by the fact that households avoid the use of imported coal and natural gas during the deepening of the economic crisis and spend the winter months colder. After the energy hikes, it is seen that our people will spend the winter of 2022 with more cold. The fact that our people are trying to cope with energy poverty in order to survive instead of thinking about energy saving is obvious. And yet, it is only to make fun of our people to tell stories of efficiency and savings with the messages of "be smart" to our people with ostensible projects financed by European Union funds.

The high costs caused by the lack of planning and inefficiency created in the delivery of electricity service have been burdened by the citizens. While it would be possible to consume 20-40 percent less energy with the electricity savings to be made in the buildings, in January 2022, the unit electricity prices for residences were increased by 50 percent to 125 percent. In other words, it is not possible for the citizens to get rid of the price hikes caused by the market energy management with the savings they will make.

Considering that the losses in the electricity distribution networks in the production structure where imported and fossil resources are predominantly used in electrical energy production, it is not possible to talk about efficiency.

In order to activate energy efficiency practices and to save energy;

• In electricity generation, priority should be given to domestic and renewable resources; Applications for maximizing the use of wind and solar energy potential should be expanded.
• Use of renewable energy sources; means less fossil fuel use, lower carbon footprint and less greenhouse gas emissions. The Renewable Energy Strategy and Action Plan should be prepared with a participatory model, and the Action Plan and a holistic, general framework law should be established accordingly.
• The use of imported resources in electricity generation should be minimized, liberalization and privatization policies should be abandoned.
• Resources should be evaluated in the public interest, liberalization and privatization should be abandoned.
• Public planning, public production and control should be considered as a priority energy policy.
• All strategic goals on energy efficiency should be redefined by econometric analysis based on public interests.
• A common monitoring and evaluation mechanism should be developed and sanctions should be applied for all strategies and action plans related to the sector.
• The issue of energy efficiency transformation should also be coordinated, planned and implemented together with the “Paris Agreement obligations, clean-eco production, urban transformation and renewable energy” legislation.
• The current "National Energy Efficiency Action Plan 2017-2023" targets should be revised and brought forward, parts that have not been implemented yet should be activated.
• A more effective structuring should be established by including the relevant professional chambers, sector associations and organizations within the Energy Efficiency Coordination Board (EVKK).

In the Energy Efficiency Week, which is celebrated in the second week of January every year, which we welcomed under the shadow of a raise this year, we demand that the policies aimed at providing efficiency and savings through “marketing and expensive energy” practices should be abandoned. The issue of energy efficiency and saving should be handled with the understanding of public service and social awareness should be raised within the framework of public interest. It is a fundamental necessity to consider efficiency together with real economic solutions beyond the show campaigns.