Community News

DOE Launches Energy Hog Campaign/Website to Educate Children

The U.S. Department of Energy has launched a national public service advertising campaign designed to make children and their parents aware of energy efficient behavior through a new spokes-villain, the Energy Hog, an energy waster.

The Energy Hog and the campaign were developed by the Advertising Council and Energy Outreach Colorado and are sponsored by DOE, The Home Depot, the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA), the National Fuel Funds Network, and the Colorado Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation.  Nineteen state energy offices in addition to Colorado are also sponsors. 

The campaign includes television, radio and Internet PSAs primarily targeted at children between the ages of eight and 13.  Headlining the campaign is the Energy Hog, a computer-generated creature that appears in the homes of families not using energy efficiently.  In all of the ads, children are the first to identify the Energy Hog as the source of the problems.

A key component of the ads is the new Energy Hog website, which is aimed at children, but also includes resources for parents and teachers. The website includes Energy Hog Training Camp and its five training games, where children can train to become Energy Hog Busters and learn fun and simple ways to use energy more efficiently. Check out the Energy Hog yourself at www.energyhog.org.

Indian Tribes and 150 U.S. Cities Team Up to Use Renewable Energy

Organizations representing 150 American cities interested in climate protection and Indian tribes interested in developing renewable energy projects announced recently that they will team up to promote tribal-owned renewable energy projects. On July 4, participating cities and tribes will deliver their declaration of energy independence to the White House.

This joint campaign promotes tribally-owned clean energy projects to help meet the emission reduction goals of U.S. cities. More than 150 U.S. cities have pledged to voluntarily reduce their carbon emissions through conservation, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy and are working with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

The new Energy Independence Day Campaign brings together the ICLEI with the Intertribal Council on Utility Policies (COUP), which represents federally recognized Indian tribes in the Dakotas and Nebraska and other tribes throughout the West. COUP has proposed a collaborative intertribal project for some 3,000 megawatts of tribally owned wind power, built on 24 Indian reservations across the Great Plains by 2010. The Energy Independence Day Campaign is open to any tribe, city or local government willing to commit to producing or promoting the purchase of utility-scale renewable energy.

World Renewable Energy Congress and Expo Announced

The eighth World Renewable Energy Congress (WREC) and Expo will be held in Denver, Colo., from August 28 through September 3. Billed as the world's premiere conference on renewable energy, the biennial conference is sponsored in part by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the American Council on Renewable Energy, and will be hosted by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

NREL is also working with the Infinity Expo Group to host the Energy Technology Expo and Conference (ETEC), which will be co-located with WREC. For additional information, visit www.nrel.gov/wrec.

Renewable Energy Generation Tracking System to Cover Entire Western Grid

For the first time, renewable energy generation in the West will be tracked and verified under a system being developed by Western governors and the California Energy Commission. The Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System (WREGIS) will cover all of the "Western interconnection" electrical grid, which includes 11 Western states, two Canadian provinces and northern Baja California. WGA and the CEC expect the system to be operating by 2005 and plan to use it to help implement and verify renewable energy requirements throughout the West.

All interested parties, from consumers to utilities, are encouraged to follow and comment on proposals and recommendations developed over the next year. Stakeholder committees were recently formed to develop recommendations on where the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System would be housed and how it should operate. Stakeholders can track that work and offer comments via the Web at www.westgov.org/wieb/wregis.

New Mexico Passes Laws for Clean Energy and Hybrid Cars

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson recently signed three energy bills into law. The "Renewable Energy Act" sets minimum requirements for renewable energy use by the state's public utilities. Richardson also signed a bill for New Mexico to invest in hydrogen and other energy sources, and to provide "clean energy grants" to state agencies, local governments, public schools, educational institutions and tribal entities. The third bill exempts from excise taxes any purchase of a new hybrid-electric car that achieves a fuel economy rating of at least 27.5 miles per gallon.

Energy Star Partner of the Year Award Winners Announced

Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized 57 businesses and organizations with Energy Star Partner of the Year Awards. These annual Energy Star awards recognize energy efficiency investments made by Energy Star partners. These investments save energy while also saving consumers money and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions. The award winners are businesses and organizations that have achieved energy efficiency in new homes and consumer products, as well as firms that have achieved excellence in energy management and in energy efficiency and environmental education.

Companies earning special mention from DOE included General Electric Consumer Products (manufactured Energy Star products), Whirlpool Corp. (manufactured the largest number of Energy Star appliances), Sylvania (produced an innovative line of compact fluorescent lamps), Gorell Enterprises (manufactured Energy Star windows), Maytag Corp. (national campaign to promote its Energy Star appliances) and Sears, Roebuck and Co. (boosted retail sales of its Energy Star appliances in 2003 by 30 percent).

In 2003, the DOE/EPA Energy Star program helped Americans save enough energy to power 20 million homes, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that of 18 million cars and saving consumers $9 billion. More than 200,000 new homes have earned the Energy Star designation. For more information about the Energy Star program, visit www.energystar.gov.

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