Southern California Edison Announces CFL Video Contest Winners

Winning entries from Southern Californians demonstrating their creativity to extol the benefits of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are being broadcast in Southern California Edison (SCE) TV commercials. SCE’s commercials will be shown on network and cable television in the Los Angeles metro area.

“We wanted a fun, novel approach that would get our customers involved in spreading the word about these ultra-efficient CFL bulbs,” said Lynda Ziegler, SCE’s senior vice president of customer service. “We were thrilled with the creativity of all the entries. It was difficult to choose. The truth is that everyone’s a winner when it comes to a contest like this.”

Two videos began airing on Monday. The first, from Alan Decotes of Ventura, Calif., is “Fluorescent Man,” in which a superhero rescues a baffled shopper; the other, by Gregory Lewis of La Palma, Calif., is “Cya Car,” a scene in which neighbors discuss the benefits of CFLs — and the disadvantages of owning a gas-guzzling car. SCE will continue to take video and photo submissions throughout 2008 at www.sce.com/cfl.

The contest was just one part of the “Change a Light, Change the World” campaign, an effort by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ENERGY STAR, which asks that people pledge to switch at least one incandescent bulb to a CFL. At nearly 43,000 pledges, SCE is just more than 40 percent to its goal of obtaining 100,000 pledges.

“Even small steps like changing incandescent bulbs to ones that have earned the government’s ENERGY STAR label can help preserve our energy resources and environment,” said Hewan Tomlinson of EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. “We are delighted to work with SCE in offering Americans common sense, energy efficiency solutions that lower energy bills while handing the next generation a better environment.”

SCE leads the nation’s utilities in energy efficiency. Through SCE’s energy efficiency programs, customers have saved more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours — enough energy to power 500,000 homes for an entire year. The programs have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 2 million tons — the equivalent of removing 250,000 cars from the road. If every household in California swapped out five incandescent light bulbs for CFLs, the greenhouse gas emissions reductions would be equivalent to taking more than 400,000 cars off the road.

Among the characteristics of CFLs:

* CFLs use about a quarter of the energy and last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent lighting.
* CFLs provide similar features as traditional incandescent light bulbs and come in several varieties, including floodlights and recessed canister lights.
* CFLs cost between $1 and $15 (for specialty bulbs), and many come with discounts and rebates. In addition, they save about $30 or more per bulb in energy costs over their lifetime. SCE subsidizes the sale of CFL light bulbs throughout its service territory so they are less expensive for its customers.
* CFLs are now available with many warm and bright light qualities.
* CFLs come in all shapes and sizes and can be used in almost any fixture. Some can be used with dimmers, timers and three-way switches. Each bulb’s packaging describes its intended uses and what types and wattage of incandescent light bulbs it will replace.
* CFLs contain a tiny amount of mercury. SCE encourages responsible disposal of a spent or broken CFL, as you would any other hazardous materials. Find out how at www.epa.gov/mercury.

Those wishing to pledge to switch out lights, or to submit their videos and photos, can get more information by visiting www.sce.com/cfl.

Media Contact: Vanessa McGrady, (626) 302-2255
www.edisonnews.com

An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is the largest electric utility in California, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.8 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.