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Keeping Your Cool: Options Suggested to Save Energy and Money This Summer


WEBWIRE

Southern California Edison Offers Variety of Alternatives for Customers

With summer approaching, Southern California Edison (SCE) recommends practical ways for customers to save energy, money and the environment through a variety of energy-efficiency programs and services.

“We are encouraging our customers to take advantage of these programs and start saving money and energy right away,” said Lynda Ziegler, SCE’s senior vice president of customer service. “We have more incentives than ever, including our air conditioner tune-up program and our Summer Discount Plan.”

Tuning up an air conditioner can save up to 30 percent on cooling costs and extend a unit’s life as much as eight years. SCE’s A/C Tune-Up Program offers up to $150 back to customers for each unit serviced, depending on the level of tune-up they purchase from a licensed contractor. The tune-up must occur between April 1 and June 30 for customers to be eligible for a rebate. A tune-up includes condenser and evaporator coil cleaning, duct testing and sealing and refrigerant charge adjustments. Customers can expect to pay between $75 and $150 for a basic tune-up; an advanced tune-up costs $400 to $600.

The company’s Summer Discount Plan allows SCE to remotely turn off willing customers’ central air conditioner compressors during a summer power emergency. In exchange, the customers get a credit of up to $200; customers can choose one of two options, depending on how many times they allow SCE to cycle off their air conditioners. Participating customers lower their energy costs and help to ensure a reliable electricity supply.

Over the past five years, SCE’s energy-efficiency programs have achieved the largest energy savings of any utility in the nation. The programs have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 2 million tons — the equivalent of removing 250,000 cars from the road.

SCE customers have reduced annual energy usage by more than 1 billion kilowatt-hours, enough power to supply 140,000 average homes for a year. During the next two years, SCE will help customers save an additional 2 billion kilowatt-hours, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1 million tons.

Other SCE energy-efficiency programs include:

* Refrigerator and freezer recycling: SCE will pay customers $50 to discard their old, inefficient refrigerators or freezers, which can cost up to $260 per year to operate. The utility will pick up old models and recycle them in an environmentally responsible manner. Customers also are eligible for $50 rebates for buying new, ENERGY STAR-labeled refrigerators or freezers.
* Energy-efficiency rebates: SCE provides rebates for efficient, ENERGY STAR-labeled fans, coolers and air conditioners. Customers can earn the following rebates:
o Up to $50 for room or wall air conditioners.
o Up to $100 for a whole-house fan.
o Up to $600 for evaporative cooling systems.
o Incentives of 10 to 20 cents per square foot for using reflective roof materials when replacing an old roof. This can reduce roof temperatures by 60 percent.
o Thirty dollars to $200 when replacing an old pool pump with a new, efficient one; variable-speed pumps are especially effective in reducing costs.

To learn about these and other programs, visit www.sce.com/save or call (800) 369-3652.



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