Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the agency has formed a team to study putting up charging posts for electric vehicles in gasoline stations.
Cusi said DOE is updating the policy standards for gas stations to include charging stations. He said this is part of the agency’s move to support the growing e-vehicle industry.
“In preparation for the booming electric vehicle industry, I instructed the DOE’s Oil Industry Management Bureau and Energy Utilization Management Bureau to issue the necessary policies that will support the development of infrastructures complementing the e-vehicle industry, such as the availability of charging in gasoline stations,” Cusi said in a statement.
The scarcity of charging stations has been a huge problem for e-vehicle players, and caused the cancellation of the $504-million e-vehicle program of the DOE and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Read: Department of Energy cancels e-trike project
“Apart from readying electric vehicle infrastructures, we also want to strengthen our gasoline stations’ consumer welfare and satisfaction through well-maintained and functional amenities within its premises,” the secretary said.
This includes improving the standards for gasoline station amenities like the parking area, comfort rooms, CCTVs, and convenience stores.
Under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 8479, known as the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998, the DOE has the authority to hold liable industry players in providing suitable facilities in accordance with the existing national and accepted international standards.
This provision is also in the DOE’s Retail Rules on Liquid Petroleum Products, in which the Philippine National Standards on Petroleum Products, Retail Outlets, and Health, Safety and Environment specifies that the site of operations shall have a sales office, toilet facilities and an electrical or mechanical room.
*Photo from Shutterstock
