ICSC is at the forefront of promoting real competition in the power sector, sustainable energy, and low carbon resilient development.
During its early days, ICSC developed alternative renewable energy programs for on-grid and off-grid communities in the Philippine province of Negros Occidental. It developed and eventually launched in 2007 to international acclaim the country’s first 27-strong electric public vehicle fleet known as e-jeepneys, as part of the the Amsterdam-based, Doen Foundation-supported Climate-Friendly Cities initiative. The project has received numerous distinctions, among them the top prize in Discovery Channel’s Ecopolis Program as “the best transport alternative that can save the world’s cities from pollution.” The project also won the Grand Prize in the Inclusive Mobility Challenge project of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ateneo School of Government and the Metro Manila Development Authority.
At present, ICSC’s energy policy team is composed of some of the leading minds in the country working on energy economics and regulatory issues. The organization is engaged directly with the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, the Department of Finance, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippine Senate Power Committee, the Mindanao Development Authority and several local government units in support of policy development promoting the early transition to affordable, sustainable, reliable, and efficient energy systems. It has released groundbreaking reports on small island grids and stranded coal plant assets, and has led the campaign to pass a coal tax in the Philippines last 2017.
Last year, ICSC co-organized dialogues with the finance and energy departments on a proposed economy-wide carbon tax and an alternative Mindanao energy plan, respectively.
Moreover, ICSC has worked with the Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines (1CISP) to launched a learning program to better engage the cooperatives sector in renewable energy. CREATE>LEADS, or the Cooperatives in Renewable Energy and Transformative Economies Leadership and Advocacy School, is a pilot training program for leaders of select cooperatives from Metro Manila who will immerse in an intensive learning process so that they can lead their cooperatives in developing business cases to bring renewable energy to their members.