Light Bulb Fund Raiser leverages community groups in energy efficiency and peak shaving initiative

“Energy efficiency improvements don’t cost – they pay.”

This is the award-winning message that Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) used to develop an innovative campaign that combined energy efficiency and demand side management goals with community outreach. Electric cooperatives are private, independent electric utilities, owned by the members they serve. Electric cooperatives began to spread across rural America after President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in 1935. Today more than 900 electric cooperatives power serve 40 million Americans. (NRECA, 2007)

DMEA’s campaign reaped both environmental and economic benefits by promoting the purchase of high-quality, energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) at the full retail sales price. It also was the first rural electric utility cooperative to be honoured by ENERGY STAR for excellent in energy efficiency outreach.

Through DMEA’s support, community groups in the co-op’s service territory earned a $2 donation for each bulb sold. This campaign coincided with EPA’s “Change a Light, Change the World” marketing campaign. Participating non-profit groups raised $6,000 by selling 3,000 bulbs during a two-week time period. The CFLs will yield an estimated annual savings of 219,000 kWh, as well as a lifetime reduction of nearly 700 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Conference attendees will learn how energy organisations can promote energy efficiency improvements, such as CFLs, without subsidies. This program demonstrates that customers value energy efficiency, especially when the savings can be tied directly to environmental and community benefits. The paper will include examples of the program advertising and marketing materials, such as sales training, promotional materials, and evaluation strategies.

This light bulb fundraiser demonstrates that customers will pay the full retail cost when the energy efficiency message is conveyed in a meaningful way. This type of program benefits everyone- including energy organizations, communities, and customers.