GRU First in State in Reducing Customer Electric Consumption
GRU also leads the state in long-term electric energy consumption goals
Gainesville Regional Utilities is the energy efficiency leader of all Florida Utilities for reducing electric energy consumption by customers. According to GRU General Manager Karen Johnson, programs put in place by GRU this year have reduced energy usage by 8,106 megawatt-hours, enough energy to power 675 homes for a year. This savings puts GRU on track to reach its first year reduction goal of 13,652 megawatt-hours. This is significant because energy efficiency is far more cost effective than producing energy or building a new power plant.
GRU is also Florida's long-term energy efficiency leader by virtue of having adopted the most aggressive goals for reducing electricity consumption by its customers. GRU has set a goal of a 10.1 percent reduction in retail electric sales by 2015. The city of Tallahassee is next, having set a reduction goal of 7.8 percent by 2015. All other Florida utilities have lower goals, or in some cases, none at all.
At a special meeting of the Gainesville City Commission on May 10, Roger Duncan, deputy general manager of Austin Energy, made a presentation based on his examination of GRU's demand side management programs. Austin has long been used as a model for energy efficiency and Duncan has been recognized by Business Week Magazine as one of the "Top 20 Individual Carbon Reducers" in the world. Duncan said he was very impressed with the programs being implemented by GRU and that he was going to take one of them back to Austin for use in his community. That program, developed with the Cultural Arts Coalition, is called “Energy Ambassadors” and involved high school students going into the homes of GRU customers to replace inefficient incandescent lights with efficient compact fluorescents lights (CFLs).
GRU's CFL programs have been the most popular, with almost 50,000 CFLs being distributed or sold by stores through specific GRU promotional events since November 2006. TCP, a manufacturer of CFLs, said that GRU's promotion at Home Depot resulted in the sale of 2,500 CFLs on the first day, which was twice as many as were sold by similar store promotions in the northeast over full seven-day periods.
Other popular programs include rebates for purchasing more efficient AC systems, natural gas conversion, duct leak repair, solar rebates, customized business rebates and many more. Customers can learn more about these programs at www.gru.com or by calling (352) 393-1460.
