The programs were approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PPUC) and could collectively result in customer energy savings of up to $960m over the life of the initiatives.
Doug Elliott, president of Pennsylvania operations at FirstEnergy, said: “Over the next few months, we will introduce a number of new programs to help our Pennsylvania electric utility customers save energy and money. They will include incentives for making efficiency improvements in homes and businesses, and tools to help customers understand how to make better energy decisions.”
Depending on customer participation, the plans are expected to reduce energy use by more than a million MWh annually through 2013, equal to the average annual usage of approximately 100,000 homes. This reduced electricity usage also could avoid annual emissions of some 900,000 tons of carbon-dioxide.
The plans were initially filed with the PPUC on July 1, 2009, to comply with Pennsylvania Act 129, which requires electric utility companies to reduce customer usage and peak demand. The programs include home energy audits, HVAC program, energy efficiency products, direct load control program, on-line home energy analyzer, and low-income residential assistance.
The companies also filed revised rates to reflect recovery of approved program costs, as provided for in Act 129. If approved, costs for a typical residential customer using 750kWh are expected to be less than $3 a month.
The plans also include various programs for commercial, industrial, government and non-profit customers to increase energy efficiency and conservation efforts.
