The Virginia State Corporation Commission has launched a consumer education program called Virginia Energy Sense to help consumers reduce their energy consumption.
The program provides information through a comprehensive website —www.VirginiaEnergySense.org — that gives consumers tips on how to monitor and cut their energy usages, and earn rewards for reducing their consumption.
The website includes ways to track energy use, provides a list of ways to get rebates and tax credits for upgrading appliances, furnaces and air conditioning systems, explains what an energy audit is and generally encourages consumers to “value your power.”
Andy Farmer, the education resource manager with the SCC, said the program is the result of a General Assembly mandate to lower electricity usage statewide by 10 percent by 2022.
Some methods to reduce usage are easy and inexpensive, Farmer said.
“There are inexpensive tips that, without a major investment, can be done right now, today, and reduce electricity consumption,” Farmer said. “In an era of rising electricity costs, steps can be taken to lessen the blow.”
Farmer said many consumers don’t realize how much electricity they are using, and the tips offered will help them avoid the “staggering bills” seen across the country as a result of the brutal winter last year.
The energy-tracking system on the website is the first in the country that allows consumers to tract usage while earning rewards for reducing consumption, according to a news release from the SCC.
Nate Lewis, interim key account manager for Danville Utilities, praised the website, calling it a good resource for consumers interested in lowering their electricity bills.
“Everyone everywhere is talking about energy efficiency, because (electricity) costs are not going down,” Lewis said.
Lewis said Danville Utilities recently announced plans to stabilize rates and introduce energy efficiency programs that could include free or low-cost energy audits, rebates and other incentives to convince customers to weatherize their homes and reduce their consumption of electricity.
The Virginia Energy Sense website’s list of links to rebates and incentives offered by retailers, state and federal agencies and local utility companies is a helpful one-stop resource for finding such incentives, Lewis said.
“Hopefully, once our program is implemented, we can get our name on that list,” Lewis said.
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