Deputy Minister of Energy and Petroleum John Jinapor is urging stakeholders in the country’s energy sector to educate consumers on the advantages of light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs over the traditional incandescent bulb. He stated that “while looking at investment in generation, we also have to look at consumption management by using efficient electrical equipments to reduce consumption”. Mr. Jinapor made the statement during an interaction with representatives from Philips over the implementation framework for the Philips Solar Project in Ghana. He said government has over the years endeavored to encourage consumers on LED bulbs and further imposed tax on Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) bulbs to discourage its import into the country, thereby ensuring that consumers use efficient electrical equipments. The Deputy Minister further urged the delegation to include local content in their planning to ensure indigenous companies also benefit from their initiatives. Mr Kofi Agyarko, a representative of the Energy Commission at the deliberations said the Commission is finalizing standards for bulbs and other LED equipment imported into the country to curb the influx of substandard equipment into the country. Mr Felix Darko of Philips who gave details of the project said a similar project has been rolled out successfully in Malaysia, adding his optimism of the success of the Ghana project as the first step to entering the West Africa sub region. Mr Darko also said Philips intends to provide solar lantern in off-grid communities selected by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, sign a partnership with the Ministry and other stakeholders in the provision, maintenance and management of street lighting in Ghana. He siad the partnership will also support the Ministry and stakeholders to achieve goal of switching from conventional lighting to energy efficient lighting across the country. It will be recalled that Government of Ghana at the commencement of implementation of full cost recovery in the Petroleum Pricing Formula in 2009, has adopted measures including the replacement of kerosene lanterns with solar lanterns to curb for instance its (kerosene) adulteration with diesel to be used as solvent for industrial and commercial activities, for automotive fueling and input for blending bitumen in road construction. Over 30,000 solar lanterns have so far been distributed to off-grid communities across the country.