Athens County – Congratulations for meeting the Community Energy Savers goals!

Athens County exceeded its participation goals in both AEP Ohio and Columbia Gas of Ohio energy efficiency programs, making the county eligible to receive two significant awards:

1. $85,602 to go towards energy efficiency upgrades within the county’s public libraries — READ MORE HERE
2. Technical assistance towards the development of a Sustainability Roadmap — Take the Roadmap Survey HERE

LED light bulbs remaining: 2,600 of 48,000

The Community Energy Savers (CES) program in Athens County (October 2015-January 2016) developed as a partnership between AEP Ohio, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Athens City and UpGrade Athens County. This program marked the first time both utilities

pushed for county-wide efficiency upgrades in conjunction with the clean energy goals set forth by UpGrade Athens County (UAC). This program served as an effective tool to increase participation in the utilities’ available incentive programs.

At the birth of the CES program, AEP Ohio donated 48,000 LED bulbs to be distributed in Athens County by the end of 2016. We are looking for community volunteers to go door-to-door assisting in the installation of 5 bulbs per household. To date, 5,000 bulbs have been distributed by an off-campus sweep led by Ohio University’s Campus Involvement Center and UAC’s Rental Efficiency Committee (REC). Another 5,000 bulb campaign is currently in development by the REC to work with local landlords. Please fill out the contact form below to learn more about the CES and its corresponding utility programs and LED Distribution.

LED Bulbs can be distributed in two ways:

1) To build awareness of utility energy efficiency programs, we give 2 bulbs per AEP Ohio customer in Athens County and are distributed at local events and community spaces throughout the county. Literature about utility programs will be distributed with these bulbs. This campaign will run through the end of 2016. Find out where we will be on our public calendar, come talk to us about our community’s exciting energy transformation, and we will give you low-energy LEDs!

2) Through a direct install campaign, 5 bulbs are delivered directly to a homeowner/renter (AEP customer in Athens County only) and either directly installed in high-use areas, or handed to the homeowner/renter with specific instructions about installation, followed by their signature on an agreement that holds the homeowner responsible for installing the bulbs.  Contact us if you would like to get 5 bulbs for your home and your neighbors by volunteering to do a door-to-door distribution in your neighborhood, street, or hillside.

For unique project ideas, involving a distribution of hundreds or thousands of LED bulbs, please send us a detailed message below and we will try to make it work.

 

Data Tracking Disclaimer: UAC is collecting the names and addresses of all AEP Ohio customers who receive bulbs through either type of campaign. Names are cross referenced to determine if a person has already received bulbs. We will keep these lists until bulb distribution is complete, but will not use them outside of tracking. We will hold this data for AEP Ohio, if needed, and for creating qualitative reports to help advance our work and our standing in the Georgetown University Energy Prize.

The LED bulb distribution initiative is being administered by Teny Bannick, UAC Energy Advocate and a dedicated group of county employees compiling data, mapping, and tracking distribution campaigns. We are thankful for the donation of bulbs by AEP Ohio. This allows us to directly connect with people about our work while giving them a free first step towards energy efficiency. Our distribution of LED bulbs is also an important first step that helps build dialogue about energy reduction in Athens County, Ohio.

Contact below to make a difference in this important project: