Utility Service Santee Cooper owned by the state has begun one pilot program aimed at saving energy which has helped the School district of Horry County spend $596,000, the previous year to set up sensors for detecting occupancy in around 3000 classrooms in the county, which is famous for its tourist hot spot, Myrtle Beach.

It will take only two years for getting monetary savings stemming from unspent kilowatt hours because of this investment in energy saving.

According to the supervisor for Energy management for the school district, Paul Hucks, “everybody needs to be aware of his carbon footprint.” During his growing up years, electricity was abundant and much less costly. Now the scenario has changed. For instance you must surely turn off the light when you are leaving a room.

Due to the installation of sensor project of the school district and the Santee Cooper system that saves kilowatt hours to the tune of 2 million, which is enough to electrify 150 homes, a rebate was offered by the utility amounting to $93,400 to the school district.

Reduce-the-use campaign for energy saving was tested in the Horry school district by the Utility for its electric commercial customers. Last week, the project for rebate was launched by Santee Cooper for every one of its 30,000 clients in Horry, Berkeley and Georgetown counties hoping that energy efficient materials and devices will be installed for energy saving and reduce the need for power.

According to Marc Tye, vice president of Santee Cooper’s renewable energy and conservation department, the Utility wants to target users of high energy who have the most potential for saving. They are trying to inspire their business clients to take up more efficient energy and energy saving technologies as they can get rebates, reduce energy consumption in the long term and substantial monetary savings.

The Reduce the Use campaign amounting to $113 million set in motion in 2009 by Santee Cooper helps to save money for businesses by fixing motion sensors, new lighting, refrigeration, air-conditioning and heating systems.

For example, by replacing fluorescent bulbs by energy saving lighting or providing sensors for occupancy and controls for day lighting, companies can get 25 cents from saved Watt or from $30 up to $50 for each control or sensor.

For upgrading air conditioning and heating, businesses can get rebates around $75 for a ton, which depends on selected equipment and the efficiency of the equipment. They can earn up to $100- $200 for a system for installation of quality, insulation or duct sealing and tune-ups for heat pumps.

One of the renowned home builders in America, KB Home, conducted energy saving survey. The result of the survey depicted that installing energy efficient equipment at home help save substantial amount of energy and money. The survey was conducted on a pilot program implemented in 50 homes that are customers of KB Home in Riverside California. KB Homes has a total of 60,000 homes across the country, which are Energy Star qualified.

The houses that were surveyed had installed energy saving tools for least one year. Houses were four bedroom large houses. The survey revealed that these 50 homes spend about $85 per month on utility bills that is $1020 on an annual basis. Conversely, regular houses spend approximately $195 per month, which amounts to $2030 yearly on gas and utility bills. That shows energy efficient home saves up to $110 monthly and $1320 annually on energy bills.

On these results, the president and chief executive officer of KB Homes said, “The results of this research allows us to quantify the actual financial benefits of owning a new, energy efficient KB Home in a way that is very meaningful to our customers.” He also acknowledged the fact that “Today’s homebuyers care about the environment and they care about saving money. With this kind of real world data, we can better inform our buyers about the potential utility cost saving they can achieve.”

It is imperative to recognize individual efforts to motivate people to use clean energy. A report stated, two entities in Maine were acknowledged for their energy saving efforts. They received stimulating rewards for it. In South Berwick Maine, Efficiency Maine, which is a statewide program that markets use of clean energy, awarded South Berwick Water District and Fogarty’s Restaurant for their hard work in using clean energy.

Water District received $41,000 to upgrade a 6-year-old water treatment plant situated at Willow drive and Fogarty’s restaurant, which is run by a family, received $24,433 for self-initiative of saving and burning the waste vegetable oil, use it in place of electricity, and generate hot water through “Vegawatt” system.

Fogarty’s restaurant expects to save up to $8000 yearly on water and electricity bills, and Water district estimates that they would be able to save up to $4000 annually. Efficiency Maine, who awarded the money for this energy saving initiative, received grants under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

As temperatures plummet this winter, it is anticipated that energy bills would be at its peak. With the aid of (EPA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is trying their best to educate every American household on how to reduce energy bills by resorting to efficient and practical energy saving techniques. The EPA has come with five tips on energy saving, which anyone can easily adhere to.

As per the EPA, the five tips are that the American households have been advised to assess and measure their energy saving methods at energystar.gov., ensure that they seal all air leaks in their home, make sure their heating equipment are inspected by a licensed contractor, control home temperature using a programmable thermostat, and to utilize energy star qualified products, which maximizes energy saving.

It is believed that these simple five tips on energy saving, if followed diligently, shall save up to $14 billion in energy costs annually. Besides saving money, these energy saving tips will also contribute towards fighting climate change by curtailing more than 160 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, besides saving the environment as well. The energy saving programs by the U.S. is directed towards creating a perfect energy economy.

Of late, National Home Energy Solutions have highlighted that Heat Shield reflective insulation are perfect for energy saving. For instance, the conventional insulation serves only the purpose of subduing heat transfer, whereas the Home Heat Shield reflective insulation is believed to augment energy saving by blocking around 90 percent of heat transfer.

The Heat Shield is considered perfect for homes, especially during winter, as it keeps the home warm. And during summer, the Heat Shield will protect the home from heat by reflecting it back into the environment. The National Home Energy Solutions have guaranteed a reduction of thirty percent in energy bills with the aid of their highly efficient Heat Shield product.

The Editor of Homebuilding & Renovating magazine, Jason Orme, conveys that a strict adherence to the DIY (Do It Yourself) policy will definitely help homeowners save quite a lot of money. Homeowners can now save more money than before by refraining from consulting professional contractors or energy consultants for tips on efficient energy saving. The underlying motto spread across the U.S. has now become ‘save energy, save money, and save the environment.’

New York State and Electric & Gas Corporation has come up with myriad measures in order to create the best possible energy efficient programs to solve the problem of energy saving issues. The commendable efforts taken by the NYSEG are basically to cut down costs, and thus save money. The energy saving schemes have been intently carried out to encourage wise energy use, and to save the environment as well.

By partnering with the Energy Federation, a non-profit organization, NYSEG Solutions have been trying to highlight the importance of using quality energy saving products by resorting to practical and cost effective methods. According to them, this strategy on energy saving is believed to help control energy budget as well as lower bills. The NYSEG has been conducting a lot of multi-family programs concentrating on ‘energy saving’ to curb the excessive energy consumption that has become widespread in the state.

Recently, NYSEG conducted an energy saving awareness program at the Boys and Girls Club of Binghamton, NY, to convey certain practical energy saving tips to families. The Representatives of NYSEG suggested that washing clothes in cold water, preheating oven for not longer than 10 minutes, and switching off lights when not required would contribute much toward energy saving. For instance, certain individuals, even to this day, believe that only hot water cleans clothes better. But the truth is cold water cleans clothes just as good as hot water.

This holiday season, NYSEG along with Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation (RG&E) are aiming at offering families with the best possible measures for energy saving. It has been anticipated that energy bills could be on the rise, as temperatures plummet this winter. Representatives of both organizations are encouraging individuals and families to use ‘energy saving’ indoor and outdoor lighting and to ensure that the energy efficient holiday lights they use carry a seal of approval from a recognized laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories.

In the midst of these myriad efforts on energy saving by NYSEG, there has been one particular effort that seems to be glowing and out in the air. Recently, the NYSEG had to cut down an evergreen tree for safety measures. The tree was delivered as a Christmas gift to a Children’s Home. Word has been passed around that this is the biggest Christmas tree that the Children’s Home has ever had. And this holiday season, it will be beautifully lighted with energy saving LED lights.

Several schools have realized the importance of energy saving. Schools have received grants to install energy efficient equipment to save on utility bills, and many are taking full advantage of it. Some schools have started their own initiative by spreading awareness within their premises.

A recent report stated that Tulsa Public Schools had launched in-house energy efficiency programs. Principal of McArthur and Cooper Elementary School confirmed that the program helped save 50 percent on the utility bill by the end of 10 months of the program being implemented. About three district employees, education consultants, moisture specialist and mechanical engineers assisted the school in identifying problems and areas where energy saving could be done.

This included the use of air conditioners, exhaust fans, lights, heating equipment and water leaks. To achieve this goal the school deliberately kept the lights off when places like gym, cafeterias and halls were not in use. Even classroom lights were turned off through a central system at a designated time and could be switched on if there were extra classes conducted.

In another instance in Arizona, to thirty-nine schools and other buildings in Gilbert Public Schools was allotted a grant under the federal government American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Arizona Department of Education approved it. The school received a sum of $6.8 million as upgrades. It is anticipated that once the energy saving program is implemented, it will help save the school up to $900,000 in utility bill.

Under the program, the schools buildings will be fitted with new air conditioning and heating systems, lighting retrofits, ventilation and occupancy sensors. Climatec Building Technologies, a Group of Phoenix, will execute the program. District would be paying for the energy saving program through a loan from Bank of America. However, the loan would not pinch on the pockets of the taxpayers.

In contrast to the two instances, a school in Maine has rejected federal grant of about $300,000 citing reasons of ambiguity over federal regulations changing in the near future. Through the grant, a wood chip boiler was supposed to be installed, however, Lee Academy’s headmaster Bruce Lindberg stated that the laws of Federal Environment Protection were subjected to change in the near future, particularly in regards to boiler emissions. Therefore, if they installed the energy saving boiler now, the school would end up spending 30 percent extra of the total cost later on.

The new energy saving programs announced by Vice President Biden is majorly focused at providing the middle class citizens with the wherewithal for superior energy saving in their houses. He revealed various actions that the federal government is going to implement to start the groundwork for a future self-sustaining energy efficiency retrofit industry. The various programs that he announced recently included:

• The Home Energy Score Program
• The FHA Power-saver Loan Program
• New Workforce Guidelines for Home Energy Upgrades and Healthy Indoor Environment Protocols for Home Energy Upgrades
• Small Business Administration Green Business Opportunities Course

The first energy saving program that is being implemented is the Home Energy Score Program. Department of Energy has designed this program, which will help the homeowners to make energy efficient decisions about improving their energy needs in a cost effective way. It is a voluntary program and initially will be rolled out only in a few cities as a pilot program to test its effectiveness.

In this program, expert contractors will be hired to help the citizens with the implementation. The program includes a simple graphic representation of a score that will be evaluated by the experts. The score will be rated from 1 to 10 this will help the homeowners to compare their energy saving performance with other homeowners in various areas and know their own energy needs. The programs also helps understand how much money one can save by installing these energy retrofits.

Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard are the chosen areas for launching this program. A local electricity distributor Cape Light Compact has taken the rights to implement the program locally. The agency has approximately 17,000 customers. It will pilot the program in about 200 homes initially. As it is a voluntary program, therefore homeowners will be chosen from a list of voluntary participants.

To promote the energy saving program and attract more participants the agency Cape Light Compact will provide up to 75 percent of the initial installing cost that could be around $2000. Compact said that if the program turns out to be successful in these areas they would implement the program in all of their 21 towns where they have customers. Later once the program is put into successful practice there will be finance options available for citizens who would like to install the energy saving equipments.

Lutron Electronics wants to spread the message about its devices for energy savings such as automated shading systems, appliance controls, sensors and dimmers.

Lutron also announced the launch of a national awareness campaign for energy saving with the aim of getting every home across the nation to adopt energy saving dimmers in the place of at least two light switches.

This message is going to be taken to millions of Americans through early 2011 via four 30 second commercials to be aired nationally on The Home and Garden television (HG TV) channel, and Do It Yourself (DIY) networks. Featuring on the commercials are the new CL’s by Lutron (for use with dimmable LED’s and CFL’s) as well as eco-dim dimmer collections. These devices can save $30 -$50 in energy savings per dimmer every year.

Also coinciding with the commercials, Lutron will launch its energy savings website. The website contains tips, advice and information on how to use Lutron devices in offices and homes to save energy.

According to Chris Murray, Senior V.P. with Lutron, it has been dedicated to energy savings since 1961. He claims that the already installed range of energy saving devices save $10 billion kwh of electricity for the nation annually. It amounts to around $1 billion in utility costs per year. The latest campaign is intended to make the public aware of the products for energy savings from the Lutron stable.

According to an estimate by Lutron, installation of two dimmers in the place of two traditional light switches in all homes across the nation could make savings of $1.2 billion in power and close to 25 billion pounds of CO2 which amounts to taking off the road about1 million cars.

Murray pointed out that this is the kind of initiative which can involve everyone and everybody can make a difference. Lutron dimmers cost $7 a piece and make for a cheap and elegant device to install in your home.

Along with the commercials and the website, Lutron will resume its nationwide tour of Mobile Experience Centre (MXC). The MXC which was launched in October 2009 offers to visitors a personal experience of Lutron’ devices for energy savings such as single-light dimmers, automated shades and full house systems.

The MCX presents several Lutron solutions and products, exhibited in several residential examples offering customers highly personalized experience. The MCX will visit St. Louis, Kansas City, New Mexico, Southern California, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Orlando. Using the website, commercials and the MCX, Lutron is bent upon popularizing devices for energy savings.

Practices in energy saving is turning increasingly predominant with awareness being created right up to the grassroots levels. The joint cooperation between the government and the manufacturing sector in the USA has seen big strides being taken in the field of energy efficiency by providing consumers with a bonanza of technology that helps to cut power consumption and create a greener society to live in. Here is a take on some of the latest developments happening in this arena.

Wind farms are a good way of implementing energy saving practices. Taylor Township has recently got popularized due to processing and installation of the first turbine out of a lot of 9 turbines, an endeavor of Gamesa Energy from the United States. Once the 9 turbines are fixed, an additional 16 turbines are expected to be installed in Snyder Township which is in the neighborhood of Taylor Township. Upon completion of work in both the townships, it is expected that approximately 15,000 homes will be powered by the availability of 50 megawatt of energy. On the other hand, the US Government has given the green signal for four huge solar energy plants in Southern California which are slated to provide power to as much as 750,000 homes.

Other interesting information on the energy saving front is that customers using power provided by UPPCO/SEMCO/WE are a privileged lot. In a bid to make these consumers of energy spend less power and money, they are being granted with a dole of kits that will help steer less consumption of power. Much in the same vein, United Illuminating has teamed up with Energy Efficiency Fund to facilitate an awareness program by providing reports on energy consumption at home to their first 6000 registered customers for period of one year that can be compared to power consumed a year back.

With the setting in of winter it is expected that power consumption will increase. If all consumers make a united effort in being thrifty and practice energy saving methods, the difference will surely make a mark. See to it that meter readings are checked regularly so that if a faulty situation arises with the meter one gets to know about it immediately. Electricity bills should be paid on time, preferably through direct debits so that bills do not surmount. Get educated on techniques for energy saving at home such as using insulated cables, checking out electrical appliance working condition and replacing if necessary. A simple act of switching off lights when not in use and setting the thermostat at optimal temperature can make a lot of difference to energy saving.

Pennsylvania has rolled out three huge energy saving projects recently. The biggest of all is the 11,000 solar panels that will be installed by the fifth greenest company in the world, GlaxoSmith Kline. The Deputy Secretary of the state John Hanger had his hands busy on Thursday morning, earlier in the morning he visited Lancaster County Frey Farm Landfill in Conestoga to inaugurate a huge 3.2-megawatt wind power project done up by Lancaster County’s solid waste management organization. Pennsylvania has several wind power projects and is among the fastest growing states to install maximum wind power plants.

After the inauguration of the wind power plant deputy secretary John Hanger visited the area of Yardley in Bucks County. There he opened an energy saving lighting system for Lower Makefield Township. This system will run on solar energy and help save up to $50,000 in taxes for the Lower Makefield Township. Other than this on 28 October 2010 GlaxoSmithKline started to build their mega project of installing 11,000 solar panels on their colossal seven football field roof top building which stands in 105 Willow Springs Lane, Pennsylvania in Northern America.

It is a huge 626,000 square foot building. This new building houses up to 40 employees and was inaugurated on June 5th this year. Once the energy saving solar panels is installed on the roof, it will help the company save $424,000 as power bills annually. This amounts to about electricity used by at least 400 average sized homes. Although the company took the initiative, the project would not have been possible without outside grants, which totalled to a huge sum of $14 million. Apart from this there was $1 million dollar funded by the state government and about $4.1 million funded by the federal government to give a boost to this project.

Once the panels are built, they will last for at least 40 years. The 11,000 energy saving panels will generate 3.4 million kilowatts of power every hour that in turn will save up to 2900 tons of carbon dioxide emission. To soak up such heavy emissions under normal circumstances it would require about 15,000 trees, which will be able to gulp the gases in about a year’s time only. It is the first time GlaxoSmithKline is putting up such a huge resource where the whole building is completely dependent on energy saving solar systems.

Early this week, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) publicized its State Energy Efficiency score card. This is a much awaited report on the efforts of states for achieving energy savings in terms of transportation policies, combined heat and power utility, public benefits schemes, appliance efficiency standards and codes for building energy.

The good news is that almost all states are making remarkable progress in the area of energy saving through really effective, innovative and progressive policies. Their efforts outpace those by the federal govt. and indicate that across the nation we are making substantial progress in energy saving.

The proof of this in the following findings:

• The budgets for states for energy saving in 2009 were twice the level of investment in 2007. It was $4.3 billion compared to $2.5 billion in 2007 and 0.9 billion in 1998.
• Twenty seven states have accepted or are in the stage of accepting Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS) that fixes goals for energy saving. The number of states in 2010 is double the number in 2006.
• Twenty states have accepted or are in the procedure of accepting the latest codes for building energy for residential and commercial properties.

Ranking via the state wise score card for energy saving is an interesting exercise:

California is the leader in energy efficiency (status quo) for the 4th straight year followed by Massachusetts.

In general, southwest region exhibited considerable progress between 2009 and 2010. The four most improved states in energy saving: Alaska (no.37, up 8 spots), New Mexico (no.22 up 8 spots), Arizona (no.18, up 11 spots) and Utah (No.12, up 11 spots)

Other than California the top 10 spots of energy saving states are as follows: Maine (no.10, status quo), Minnesota (no.8, status quo), Connecticut (tied for no.8, down 5 spots), Rhode Island (no.7, up from number 9), Washington (no.6, from no.7 spot), Vermont (no.5 up from no.6), New York (no.4, from no.5), Oregon (no.3 up from no.4 spot), and Massachusetts (No.2, maintaining status quo).

The 10 states that require most improvements in energy saving are:

North Dakota (number 51, tumbled 2 spots),Mississippi (number 50, tumbled 1 spot), Alabama (number forty nine, tumbled 1 spot), Wyoming (number forty eight, up by 3 spots) Nebraska ( number forty seven, maintaining status quo), Kansas (number forty six, down 7 spots), West Virginia ( number forty three , up 2 spots), Oklahoma ( number forty three, down 4 spots) Missouri ( number forty three, down by 2 spots) and Louisiana ( number forty two, down 1 spot).

According to the ACEEE, over $11 billion from American Recovery and Re-investment Act went to the cause of energy saving and they achieved much progress in this endeavor.