Five Summer Programs Will Help Ontarians Save Electricity & Money

April 18, 2007

TORONTO – The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) unveiled today a province-wide suite of five Electricity Conservation education and incentive programs which give Ontarians the tools they need to conserve electricity, save money and benefit the environment.

Beginning this week, electricity consumers will be able to choose from a variety of incentives across the complete spectrum of energy efficient products and services – from retiring their power hungry refrigerators to tuning up their central air conditioners.

“These programs represent the largest coordinated effort Ontario has ever made to encourage consumers to use less electricity,” said Paul Shervill, a Vice President of the Ontario Power Authority.

“As Ontario moves toward re-building its electricity infrastructure, the conservation initiatives of each resident maintain and enhance the sustainability of our current power generation and distribution system.”

By combining offers and watching their own electricity habits, consumers qualify for a 10 percent credit on their electricity bills, automatically, if they reduce their current consumption by 10% over the same period last year.

“I am excited to see these incentives introduced to Ontarians,” said Dwight Duncan, Ontario’s Energy Minister, who attended the launch. “By taking advantage of the summer Conservation and Demand Management Programs announced today, individual Ontarians can play an important role in using electricity wisely and reducing peak electrical demand over the critical summer months.”

Duncan said, “In 2006, we saw Ontarians begin to embrace conservation incentives to the point that over 2.8 million CFL light bulbs were sold through OPA programs. I am confident that this years programs will help reduce the province’s overall demand for electricity and save people even more money.”

Spring Every Kilowatt Counts
This week, the first of Ontario’s 2007 Spring Electricity Conservation initiatives goes in the mail. It is the Spring Every Kilowatt Counts program. The OPA is mailing incentive coupons—valued at $44 for energy efficient products—to every household in Ontario. The coupons are redeemable at over 3,000 retail outlets in more than 400 communities across Ontario.

The Ontario Power Authority is promoting and operating this program in collaboration with local electricity distributors. In addition to the Every Kilowatt Counts program, the OPA is launching a series of other programs throughout the summer months:

Cool Savings Rebate
Air conditioning uses a large amount of electricity and is one of the main reasons that summer has become the peak season for electricity demand. The Cool Savings Rebate—available now--provides homeowners with rebates if they tune-up their central air conditioners, or towards the installation of ENERGY STAR®-qualified central air conditioning systems, programmable thermostats and furnaces equipped with electronically commutated motors.

The Great Refrigerator Roundup
The Great Refrigerator Roundup is designed to remove older, inefficient fridges from the electricity system. Refrigerators collected through the program will be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner, resulting in a significantly reduced contribution to local land fill.

peaksaver®*
This program assists qualified Ontarians, and their local electricity utility, to install a device in their home that allows the utility to briefly control their central air conditioning system during ‘critical’ peak times–typically weekday afternoons during the hottest days of the summer. Program participants will receive a $25 incentive payment for signing up.

Summer Savings
Another rebate, called Summer Savings is based on last year’s highly successful pilot project by Toronto Hydro. The program will run from July 1, 2007 until August 31, 2007. Participating residents who meet the program requirements will receive a 10 per cent credit on an upcoming electricity bill.

“Everyone in Ontario needs to be concerned about electricity conservation,” said Peter Love, Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer. “I am pleased to see the continued expansion of programs that encourage Ontarians to take immediate action and reward them for doing so.”

 
About the Ontario Power Authority
In pursuit of its mandate of ensuring an adequate, long-term supply of electricity for Ontario, the OPA creates and implements conservation and demand management programs, ensures adequate investment in new supply infrastructure, performs long-term electricity system planning, and facilitates the development of a more sustainable and competitive electricity system.

*® Registerd Trade mark of Toronto Hydro Corporation. Used under license.