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City Light Wins National Award for Energy Efficiency

Seattle City Light won a special 30th Anniversary Award from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for outstanding contributions to the field of energy efficiency.

Seattle City Light won a special 30th Anniversary Award from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for outstanding contributions to the field of energy efficiency.

The award was presented to the utility in Washington, D.C., recently at a gala reception celebrating ACEEE’s 30th anniversary, featuring remarks by Cathy Zoi, Acting Under Secretary and Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Awards were chosen by ACEEE’s Board of Directors. City Light was honored for operating the nation’s longest-running energy efficiency program.  With more than three decades of operation, City Light’s conservation efforts originally were designed to reduce the need to build power plants and buy electricity.

“We are proud of our legacy as the nation’s longest-running energy efficiency program and honored by this award from one of the preeminent energy efficiency research and advocacy organizations in the country,” Seattle city Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said. “Very early on, City Light recognized the importance of conservation as an energy resource.” 

“We’ve been helping our customers reduce their energy consumption and lower their bills since 1977,” adds Interim Conservation Director Glenn Atwwod.  “And we continue to build our virtual conservation power plant, one customer at a time.”

“Energy conservation also reduces our impact on the environment and holds down operating costs for the utility because we don’t have to acquire more power to meet load growth,” Atwood said. “Everyone wins.”

Seattle City Light is the 10th largest public electric utility in the United States.  It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to nearly 1 million Seattle area residents.  City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.

ACEEE is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting economic prosperity, energy security, and environmental protection. For information about ACEEE and its programs, publications, and conferences, visit aceee.org.