Shalini Singh is an integrated Communication Professional with 20 years of experience in the industries such as Power, IT, Telecom & Textiles & Garments. She is the Chief-Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Tata Power. She is a trustee on the board of Tata Power Community Development Trust & a Woman Director & board member on Tata Power’s subsidiaries. Shalini has been heading Corporate Communications at Tata Power since October 2004 with lead responsibility for External & Internal Communications. In an exclusive interaction with CXO Outlook Magazine, Shalini talks about the importance of energy conservation and the journey of Club Enerji, Tata Power’s energy and resource conservation initiative, in finer details.
- Energy conservation has been getting a lot of attention in many countries in the past few years. What is the status of India in this? Why is Energy Conservation Important?
Energy conservation is the need of the hour. It is important for us to conserve energy since we have a very limited quantity of non-renewable resources available to us. It has been estimated that nearly 25,000 MW can be saved by implementing end-use energy efficiency and demand-side management measures throughout India. The efficient use of energy and its conservation assumes even greater importance in view of the fact that one unit of energy saved at the consumption level reduces the need for fresh capacity creation by 2 times to 2.5 times. The economic development of a country is often closely linked to its consumption of energy. Although India ranks sixth in the world as far as total energy consumption is concerned, it still needs much more energy to keep pace with its development objectives. India’s energy intensity per unit of GDP is higher as compared to Japan, U.S.A., and Asia by 3.7 times, 1.55 times and 1.47 times respectively. This indicates an inefficient use of energy but also substantial scope for energy savings. Albeit the world is expiring a paradigm shift towards renewable energy, 65-70% of energy is still consumed for fossil fuels. Therefore, conservation of energy is imperative for further sustenance and to combat the daunting challenge of climate change.
- At present, Club Enerji has reached out to more than 533 schools nationwide, sensitized over 23.8 million citizens and saved more than 29.8 million units of energy. Tell us about the reason behind the inception of Club Enerji. What were your vision and mission?
India’s energy needs are met by 65% of fossil fuel-based generation. In 2007, Mumbai faced a power shortage of 150MW & hence Club Enerji was launched to sensitize people on energy conservation to reduce wastage & stall new capacities based on fossil fuel.
Club Enerji, is our energy and resource conservation initiative which focuses on bringing about a first-hand realization of the energy crisis and scarcity of natural resources in the country. Currently, we are in the 12th year and have been leading the change through this initiative when it comes to devising campaigns that promote responsible advocacy amongst future generations.
Starting with 12 schools in Mumbai in 2007, Club Enerji has now reached more than 533 schools nationwide, sensitizing over 19.34 million participants and saving more than 29.8 million units of energy till now. Since then the initiative has grown with the support of students, principals, teachers, parents, and partners spread across the country. Today, it has emerged as a successful model year ahead of it becoming a global movement.
- The company recently launched the “I have the power” campaign. Please tell us more about this campaign.
Through this campaign, we aim to promote the core message of opting for environmentally friendly means of consuming energy by highlighting Tata Power’s range of smart and sustainable solutions and services like Solar Rooftop, EV Charging and Solar Micro-grids that Tata Power now offers to its customers. This campaign has been curated and designed to educate our stakeholders about the various new offerings of Tata Power along with the benefits attached to it on a personal & global level. The objective behind this campaign is to inspire Millennials and ‘Gen Z’ generations to build a sustainable India and make a difference by contributing to a cleaner tomorrow.
We have undertaken an innovative approach to promote the campaign through influencer marketing on new age media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Quora, etc. Through this approach, Tata Power aims to connect with the millennials to convert them into conscious citizens.
The three-phased campaign will also include digital, ATL & BTL mediums such as Radio Advertising and Out-of-Home (OOH) to communicate the value of its unique offerings to enlightened and evolved citizens.
We have roped in our Indian Cricket player Shardul Thakur as a brand ambassador who epitomizes Tata Power’s values of hard work, commitment, honesty, and success. He will be a change- agent in our new endeavors and will be a part of all the messaging that takes place with respect to this campaign!
Through geo-targeting, the campaign will also make its way into 30 major Indian cities such as Vizag, Madurai, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Mysore, Belgaum, Chennai, Panjim, Cochin, Trivandrum, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nashik, Kolhapur, Lucknow, Agra, Ahmednagar, Amritsar, Gurugram, Delhi, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bhopal, Gandhinagar, Indore, Ranchi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Gwalior, and Kharagpur.
- What are the other successful campaigns Club Enerji has taken forward to propagate efficient usage of energy and educate the society on climate change?
Tata Power has been leading the change through its energy and resource conservation initiative ‘Club Enerji’ when it comes to devising campaigns that promote responsible advocacy amongst future generations.
Over the years, we have established a center of excellence and helped address climate change through various brand properties like Club Enerji, Club Enerji for 11 years is advocating simple energy-saving and resource-conserving tips to make considerable tips to make a difference in protecting the environment. We have done various campaigns like, “Switch off 2 Switch On” that focuses on the need to conserve electricity by switching off appliances when not in use. The second leg of this campaign was, “I CAN” wherein we roped in kids to imbibe the idea of how everyone has the power to make a difference. With our ongoing ‘I have the Power’ campaign we look to promote the use of sustainable and green solutions. To add impetus to the core communication thought, we have roped in Mr. Shardul Thakur, member of Indian Cricket team as a brand ambassador to create awareness about the Company’s foray into sustainable and green solutions and inspire Millennials and ‘Gen Z’ generations to build a sustainable India & make a difference by contributing to a cleaner tomorrow.
- Being one of the few Indian utility companies that have embarked upon new-age campaigns, what are the immediate plans of Club Enerji?
According to Deloitte Survey ‘19, Climate Change is the top concern for both Millennials & GenZ (29%). Tata Power through Club Enerji wants you to reach out to the ‘reflex generation’ of tomorrow to engage in ‘micro-activism’. The upcoming campaigns will revolve around ‘Reverse Parenting & Mentoring’ where children engage with society to raise awareness on saving energy, reducing carbon footprint & sustainable living. They will form the Energy Brigade comprising of Energy Champions, Energy Mentors & Energy Ambassadors to further chain reaction & make it a self-sustained movement. We will optimally use our School networks and digital platforms to amplify the message of conserving the environment. We plan to partner with various like-minded institutes that advocates the dire need of combating climate change and conserving the environment.
- As a successful leader in this unique space, what is your advice to the nation on the conversation of energy and resources?
When it comes to conservation of energy and resources, I believe that there are various simple and cost-effective methods such as lowering your energy consumption, reducing wastage and losses, increasing efficiency through technological upgrades and so on which can be easily implemented. A lower energy consumption not only reduces the impact on the environment but is also a proverbial win-win situation for everyone. In fact, making even a few small lifestyle changes in daily consumption patterns at home can potentially result in big financial savings. I believe that children from the Energy Brigade comprising of Energy Champions, Energy Mentors & Energy Ambassadors to further chain reaction & make it a self-sustained movement. I believe that it is imperative to recognize the immense value that schools and school children can bring to the initiative of energy conservation and take due consideration of this urgent need for conserving energy. In my experience, spreading the message of energy conservation through the active participation of children helps in sensitizing the larger network of grownups, families to combat climate change.