Seattle City Light’s energy conservation work in 2012 will help customers save more than $91 million over the life span of the installed measures.
“Helping our customers use less of our product is the most effective way to keep their bills low and meet the growing energy needs of our community,” Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said. “Using the electricity supply that we have more efficiently means City Light does not have to acquire additional energy resources, which helps keep rates low for all our customers and reduces our impact on the environment.”
“It’s the best deal out there,” Carrasco said. “That’s why City Light has been a national leader in energy conservation for more than 30 years.”
Rebates, a direct install program for compact fluorescent light bulbs, Twist & Save lighting discounts and incentives for commercial energy efficiency enhancements helped City Light customers take steps that will reduce their electricity consumption by about 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours over the life span of the energy efficiency measures they’ve used. That’s enough electricity to power 142,800 typical Seattle homes for one year.
Over the life of installed measures:
- The average residential customer who participated in a rebate or direct install program will save an average of 1,210 kilowatt-hours of electricity, worth about $130.
- The average small business participant will save 229,104 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which equates to about $16,404.
- The average large business or industrial participant will save 1,862,280 kilowatt-hours of electricity, worth about $119,931.
Customer savings makes that money available to them for other uses, strengthening the local economy. The incentives provided by City Light alone were responsible for creating or maintaining about 17 local jobs, according to the Seattle Office of Economic Development.
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.