Calif. Utilities Provide Support to Retailers for Energy Star
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) recently announced a program to encourage businesses and consumers to save energy and lower their costs for electricity.
The Business and Consumer Electronics Program joins the utilities, retailers, and manufacturers to help businesses and consumers become more informed about the benefits of purchasing energy-efficient electronic products. In addition to the utilities, the program includes Best Buy, Sears Holding Company, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and Lenovo.
Administered in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program, this new program provides marketing support to encourage manufacturers and retailers to educate, promote, and sell the most energy-efficient televisions, desktop computers, and monitors. Consumers will see co-branded signs on the most energy-efficient and cost-saving electronic products in participating retail stores.
The program is expected to save PG&E and SMUD customers up to 380 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) through 2011, enough to power more than 55,000 typical homes.
PG&E, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation , is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers energy to 15 million people in northern and central California. SMUD has been providing electricity for more than 60 years to Sacramento County (and a small portion of Placer County).