CHICAGO, January 30, 2012—The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) announced Monday that it has awarded the Village of Carol Stream 500 Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs after residents used CUBEnergySaver.com, a free online service, to cut energy waste by 26,591 kilowatt-hours and $2,968.

A little over a year ago, CUB and Carol Stream Mayor Frank Saverino launched an energy-saving campaign. CUB promised to award the village five CFLs for every resident who signed up for CUB Energy Saver, www.CUBEnergySaver.com. The free online service, created in a partnership between CUB and New York City-based Efficiency 2.0, recommends hundreds of actions that have been helping families of all incomes slash their electric and natural gas bills by an average of $130 a year.

What makes the service unique in the nation is that it allows ComEd customers to connect their electric bills to CUB Energy Saver so the tool can automatically track how much electricity they're saving and get rewarded with shopping and restaurant discounts for those reductions. Overall, CUB Energy Saver has helped Illinois consumers slash their power bills by $1,920,823 a year and 4,014,918 kWh.

"We thank Carol Stream for showing Illinois how energy efficiency is good for our planet and great for our pocketbooks," CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. "The cheapest kilowatt-hour is the one you don't use."

"The genius of CUB Energy Saver is that it gives residential customers a simple, easy-to-use online tool to help them reduce their energy consumption, and then rewards them for doing so," Mayor Saverino said. "CUB Energy Saver is paying dividends for participating Carol Stream residents, and I urge all Carol Stream homeowners to consider joining this energy-saving program so they can realize those same financial savings most welcome in this economy."

The 26,591 kWh saved by nearly 100 Carol Stream residents means the community helped reduce carbon pollution by about 5,456 pounds, Kolata said. The CFL bulbs will be delivered to the Village of Carol Stream, which will determine how to distribute them to the public.

CUB also announced that Carol Stream resident John Glass had won 50 CFLs and a month of free power, about $40, for saving the most electricity, 1,390 kWh, with CUBEnergySaver.com. Glass also saved $155 over the year, and gained 2,780 points to redeem for rewards.

"CUB has helped identify areas of energy savings for my house," Glass said. "Following their suggestions has lead to a significant monthly decrease in my utility bills. The CUB program is free, and being rewarded with a month of free power is a great gift. Thanks CUB."