Just as Pocket Change Adds Up Over Time, Small Changes in Electricity Usage Add Up to Real Energy and Cost Savings

CHICAGO, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ — Skipping a high priced coffee once a week can add up to about $200 at the end of the year. Incremental changes like this clearly can make a difference in the long-term. With the challenging state of the economy and environment, ComEd is recommending simple changes for customers to save money and conserve energy as the utility kicks off the second year of its 12 Ways to Green campaign. As ComEd partners with its customers to become more energy efficient all year long, these tips and resources can help make a positive impact on climate change.

“We are encouraging our customers to use energy more efficiently. It’s a smart thing to do because you reduce your energy costs, and you can make a significant positive impact on the environment,” said Val R. Jensen, vice president, Marketing and Environmental Programs, ComEd. “By empowering our customers with more information, they’re better able to make changes that will generate cost savings.”

Lighting is the easiest change to make and it leads to remarkable savings. With the installation and use of 2.6 million compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs discounted through ComEd’s Smart Ideas for Your Home program, ComEd residential customers can collectively reduce their overall electricity use by about 76 million kilowatt-hours during the first year or the energy needed to power about 8,000 average homes. These reductions will help customers save up to $8.8 million annually on their electric bills and it will reduce carbon dioxide or CO(2) emissions by more than 53,000 metric tons, which is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 9,755 passenger vehicles.

Simple changes add up to significant savings

• Replacing five incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient CFL bulbs, adds up to about $200 over the lifetime of the bulbs or about 2,949 pounds of CO(2), the equivalent of 152 gallons of gasoline consumed. Make sure they are disposed of properly. For more information, visit ComEd.com.
• By using a programmable thermostat to automatically adjust temperature in different seasons or times of day, average savings can add up to $180 or 2,432 pounds of CO(2) per year for a typical, single-family home. The CO(2) emissions equal that of 46 propane cylinders used for home barbeques.
• By maximizing power management by using standby, hibernation or sleep settings on your non-ENERGY STAR rated desktop computer and monitor through standby, customers can save about $250 over three years, which is equivalent to 3,392 pounds of CO(2) or the emissions from more than 3.5 barrels of oil consumed.

Customers can calculate their current electricity usage and resulting greenhouse gas emissions, then make a few simple changes to reduce their environmental impact for the year. Visit ComEd.com as more tips and resources are announced every month, and use the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) carbon calculator found at: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html.

Reducing your environmental impact is one of ComEd’s 12 Ways to Green campaign, which aims to educate customers about ways to save money and reduce their carbon footprint. Launched last year, 12 Ways to Green is a component of Exelon 2020, a comprehensive environmental strategy to reduce, offset, or displace more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020 among ComEd’s parent, Exelon, its subsidiaries, and customers.

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), one of the nation’s largest electric utilities with approximately 5.4 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across Northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population.

SOURCE ComEd