While Santa Claus won’t make any house calls for a few more weeks, the Truckee Donner Public Utilities District is already in the giving spirit.
Customers of the TDPUD are invited to exchange inefficient holiday lights for energy efficient light emitting diode (LED) lights free of charge while supplies last.
‘I think we are hoping to serve around 600 customers,’ said Steven Poncelet, public information and conservation manager for the TDPUD. ‘We’ve already had about 100-150 customers come in. We’re hoping it will last a couple more weeks.’
To participate in the exchange, customers should bring a copy of their TDPUD bill and up to three strands of old holiday lights to the TDPUD offices at 11570 Donner Pass Road in Truckee. These old lights will be replaced with either one 66-foot strand or three 23-foot strands of white or multicolor LED lights. According to the TDPUD, energy efficient holiday lights save up to 98 percent on energy costs when compared to older, less efficient models.
‘We have a suite of energy efficiency programs we run,’ Poncelet said. ‘The cost to the program is a fraction of a cost of the electricity they save. … This is one that is a cost effective program and it’s also educating the community about LED technology.’
When customers come in to exchange their lights, they will also have the opportunity to look at TDPUD’s displays on improving energy efficiency in their home. For example, Poncelet said the TDPUD has a display of lights that can be hooked up to a meter to show visitors the different wattage they use. Poncelet hopes that customers coming in to exchange lights will have a lightbulb moment of their own when they are educated in all the different ways to improve efficiency and implement energy and water savings in their own homes.
‘We don’t want to incent new load, we just want a more efficient load,’ Poncelet said. ‘The customers love it. Last year we hit about five percent of our customers in a five week period.’
