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CUB To Give Facts On Slashing Energy Bills, Efficiency Incentives Of Up To $1,500, and Berwyn's Pioneering 'Smart-grid' Program
CHICAGO, June 17, 2010—The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) will alert consumers to a new online service that could slash energy bills, give them facts on efficiency incentives of up to $1,500, and explain how Berwyn is a national pioneer in testing “smart-grid” upgrades to the electricity system.
Each participant at CUB’s free “Saving Energy, Saving Money” seminar will receive a Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulb, which can cut electric bills by up to $50 over its lifetime. CUB also will raffle off other items that can help cut energy costs. The event is:
7 p.m., Wednesday, June 30
Berwyn Public Library 2701 S. Harlem Ave. Berwyn "Consumers may not have a lot of faith in utilities or volatile energy markets to bring their electric and natural gas bills down, but there’s a lot they can do without ever leaving home--and CUB knows the tools to help them do that," CUB Outreach Director Sarah Moskowitz said. "Energy efficiency is a great way to take power over your power bills." Attendees will learn about: *CUB Energy Saver (www.CUBEnergySaver.com), a free online service that can help consumers build a money-saving plan perfect for their homes. So far, it has shown Illinois consumers how to save an average of about $200 a year. *Efficiency incentives, such as a tax credit of up to $1,500, and how to get paid $25 for having ComEd junk an old refrigerator. *The state’s new “on-bill financing” law that will allow consumers to buy money-saving appliances with no upfront cost—and pay for it on their utility bills. *ComEd’s “smart-grid” pilot program and how it will affect consumers. Berwyn is one of the only communities in the nation where Internet-based upgrades to the electricity system are being tested for their cost-effectiveness and the potential to eliminate waste, prevent costly power outages, and save consumers billions of dollars. In addition to giving out free CFLs, CUB also will raffle off a “smart” power strip that can cut energy bills by hundreds of dollars a year, and a “Kill A Watt,” a helpful device that allows consumers to measure exactly how much energy an individual appliance uses. The event is part of the money-saving mission for CUB, which is appealing a $273 million ComEd increase as it prepares for another rate-hike request from the company. ComEd has said it expects to make a new push for a rate hike before October. CUB is Illinois’ leading nonprofit utility watchdog organization. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $10 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure consumer refunds. For more information, call CUB’s Consumer Hotline, at 1-800-669-5556, or visit CUB’s award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org. |