TeaM Energy bags highest award for CSR program from Pinnacle Group

MANILA, Philippines - TeaM Energy Foundation Inc. (TEFI), the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of TeaM Energy Philippines, bagged recently the gold award for community development given by Singapore-based Pinnacle Group.

The award, the highest in its category, was in recognition of TEFI’s P1.5-billion rural electrification program recognized by Pinnacle, one of the leading CSR award-giving bodies, at the 2010 Global CSR Summit and Awards held in Singapore recently.

“We are humbled by this recognition of our efforts to spread the benefits of electrification to the entire country,” said Federico E. Puno, TEFI chairman and president and CEO of TeaM Energy.

“At the same time, we are proud that our CSR programs are being recognized at the global level,” he added.

TEFI’s Project Beacon (Barangay Electrification Assistance for Countryside Development) has energized over 1,500 barangays in the most far-flung and remote areas of the country by installing distribution poles and cables, as well as solar panels in some off-grid areas. To date, it is considered the largest CSR effort undertaken by a private institution in the country.

Puno points out that Project Beacon, started in 2001, has provided electricity to an estimated 300,000 families and 1.5 million individuals. “This initiative has paved the way for progress in several far-flung villages throughout the country. Access to electricity has opened the doors to income and employment opportunities,” he stressed.

The project is being implemented in partnership with the Department of Energy, provincial and local government units, electric cooperatives and the National Electrification Administration.

“The recognition of Project Beacon shows that Philippine companies can come up with world-class CSR programs that can impact the country’s development in a big way,” TEFI executive director Ma. Teresa C. Lopez said.

Project Beacon has installed over 11,000 kilometers of electric distribution cables, roughly the distance of a one-way trip from Manila to Los Angeles.

The Global CSR Summit and Awards was held to showcase and reward promising and sustainable CSR programs on Community Development, Best Workplace Practices, Environment, and CSR Leadership. It was participated in by two other local companies (Globe Telecom and Manila Water) as well as global firms like Procter & Gamble and FedEx, among others.

TeaM Energy is one of the largest independent producers of electricity in the country with over 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity. It operates two clean coal facilities, the 1,218-megawatt Sual power station and the 735-MW Pagbilao power station.