AmerenUE, the Missouri utility company of Ameren Corporation, will present its “Smart Energy Efficiency House” at this year’s celebration of Earth Day in Forest Park, April 20. UE is a Main Sponsor of this year’s Earth Day festival.
The exhibit will feature:
• a computer model showing how planting various species of trees in certain areas affects energy usage;
• a device that demonstrates how much muscle power is needed to generate a kilowatt of electricity;
• a display of showcasing the “energy hogs” among your appliances; and
• a demonstration of the low energy demands of new, Energy Star®-rated appliances compared to older, less efficient models.
“There really is something for everyone at the Smart Energy Efficiency House,” says Missouri Product Supervisor Cara Dolly. “We’ve designed it to appeal to a broad audience of people interested in understanding their energy usage and learning about ways to be more energy efficient.”
UE will also give away 5,000 electroluminescent nightlights at the display. The nightlights, which emit a soft, diffuse light, use three-tenths of a watt of electricity, costing about 2 cents to operate year-round and saving consumers about $16 over the life of the light compared to a 4-watt incandescent bulb.
In its recently published Integrated Resource Plan report, UE announced that it will spend $24 million on energy efficiency programs in 2009, a number that will grow to $56 million annually by 2015. That level of spending should place Missouri among the top 10 states in the nation in per capita investment in energy efficiency programs.
“Energy efficiency programs help customers reduce their utility bills and help the environment by reducing the number of kilowahtthours we must generate,” says Dolly. “Less power used reduces emissions and stress on our delivery and generation systems.”
UE is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation. Ameren companies serve 2.4 million electric customers and one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
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Contact: Tim Fox, of AmerenUE 314.554.3120