By Kyle Massey
Entergy and Southwest Electric Power Co. are once again Energy Stars.
The two power companies both claimed Partner of the Year Awards for energy efficiency programs serving residential customers.
Entergy Arkansas, the state’s largest utility, received the national award for its Solutions in Residential Lighting and Appliances Program, and Swepco, which serves customers in western Arkansas, took the Energy Efficiency Program Delivery Award for its Home Performance With Energy Star program.
The companies were due to be recognized Thursday in Washington by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Entergy, which serves more than 700,000 homes and businesses in Arkansas, focused on energy savings by offering incentives for more efficient lighting and appliances. Swepco’s program offers free home energy assessments and efficiency options like ceiling insulation, duct sealing, LED bulbs and advanced power strips, according to Sherry McCormack, energy efficiency and consumer programs manager for Swepco in Arkansas.
“We appreciate this recognition for Swepco’s staff, the implementation team from CLEAResult, and the network of contractors who work every day to help customers improve the comfort and energy efficiency of their homes,” McCormack said.
Entergy Arkansas has been an Energy Star partner since 2010, and Swepco was recognized for a fifth consecutive year. The program provides a government-backed endorsement for energy efficiency.
“We’re proud to help Arkansas customers save energy and money through energy efficiency services and products,” said Gabe Munoz, Entergy Arkansas’ manager of energy efficiency.
Swepco said its program completed 1,776 single-family and nearly 2,000 multifamily projects last year, with savings per single-family home rising 14 percent year over year. The utility, a subsidiary of American Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio, also completed 375 joint projects with Black Hills Energy Arkansas, officials said.
Thousands of industrial, commercial and government organizations, including more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500, work with the EPA to save energy and money. Since 1992, Energy Star and its partners have helped American homes and businesses save nearly 4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3 billion metric tons.
In 2017 alone, the last year for which full figures are available, Energy Star and its partners helped consumers nationwide avoid about $30 billion in energy costs. A complete list of 2019 Energy Star winners is available at energystar.gov/awardwinners.