News & events : energy star award

Press Release:

For Immediate Release
   Media Contacts:
   Jennifer Dryburgh / Tim Wirtz
   Hoffman York
   414-225-9535 / 414-225-9522
   jdryburgh@hyc.com
   twirtz@hyc.com

Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation Receives 2003 ENERGY STAR® Award
Award Honors Organizations for Protecting the Environment Through Promoting Energy Efficiency

MADISON, Wis. (April 25, 2003) - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation (WECC) a 2003 ENERGY STAR Award. WECC, along with Westinghouse and the Midwest Energy Efficiency Association, won the award for educating Midwesterners about the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficient lighting. WECC's accomplishments were recognized at an awards ceremony on April 15 in Washington, D.C.

As a leading partner in the ENERGY STAR Change a Light campaign, WECC has made it easy for Wisconsinites to purchase lighting that has earned the ENERGY STAR label. The "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign, which ran October 1 through November 30, 2002, urged Wisconsin residents to replace their standard incandescent light bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified compact florescent light bulbs.

WECC helped make the switch to state-of-the-art energy saving products easier than ever by offering a $3 instant Cash-Back Reward with the purchase of each ENERGY STAR qualified bulb at nearly 700 retail stores across the Midwest. Helping make this possible were WECC's regional sponsors Focus on Energy™, Westinghouse and Ace, True Value and Hardware Hank hardware stores, as well as numerous municipal and cooperative utilities across Wisconsin and the Midwest.

By choosing ENERGY STAR qualified products, the typical household can save up to 30 percent on its energy bills, or about $400 a year. In 2001 alone, ENERGY STAR helped Americans save enough energy to power 10 million homes and reduce air pollution by the equivalent of taking 12 million cars off the road.

"WECC is pleased to be a part of the ENERGY STAR program," said Janet Brandt, WECC executive director. "By working with ENERGY STAR on the Change a Light, Change the World promotion, we have been able to save homeowners in the Midwest more than $5 million and prevent the pollution equivalent of removing more than 11,000 cars from the road."

In Wisconsin alone, WECC's retail partners sold more than 500,000 ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs. The sale of these bulbs will:

Save Wisconsin homeowners more than $3 million on their energy bills.
Prevent more than 20,000 tons of coal from being burned.
Prevent more than 48,000 tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.
Save enough energy to power more than 4,000 homes for one year.

The ENERGY STAR Award is given to various types of organizations in recognition of their efforts to increase understanding of and broad-based demand for energy efficiency and to reduce pollution, resulting in significant cost savings for American families and businesses. Award winners are selected from thousands of organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program

"The ENERGY STAR program couldn't be such a success without the commitment of partners like WECC," said Kathleen Hogan, director of EPA's Climate Protection Partnerships Division. "The ENERGY STAR Awards are our chance to recognize those partners who, by promoting ENERGY STAR qualified products and educating Americans about their energy saving benefits, helped consumers save $6 billion on their energy bills just last year."

About the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation
Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation is a nonprofit organization based in Madison, Wis. Established in 1980, WECC is a national leader in designing and implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that partner with private businesses to deliver value to consumers. It champions innovative energy initiatives that deliver short- and long-term economic and environmental benefits to consumers, businesses and policy makers. For more information about WECC, call 800.969.9322 or visit weccusa.org.

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