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Q. What is Virginia Energy Sense?
A. Virginia Energy Sense is an integrated state-wide consumer education and outreach program to encourage electric energy efficiency and conservation in households, businesses, and institutions. Q. What is the goal of Virginia Energy Sense?
A. The goal of Virginia Energy Sense is to deliver information to consumers that strengthens awareness of energy efficiency and conservation and empowers them to take action at home, work and school to reduce their energy use. This goal can be achieved by: - Enabling consumers to make rational and informed choices regarding their use and conservation of electricity
- Increasing awareness of simple and cost-effective options for reducing electricity use
- Helping households, businesses and institutions reduce energy consumption and increase savings
Q. What is the mission of Virginia Energy Sense?
A. The mission of this program is to help all Virginians better understand their energy use and, more importantly, how to save electricity easily and cost effectively. Reducing energy consumption will reduce waste and increase cost savings for all Virginians – in addition to helping the state’s economy and air quality. Q. How was Virginia Energy Sense created?
A. The Virginia General Assembly adopted a provision directing the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to develop and implement an electric energy consumer education program for consumers. The purpose of this program is to provide information regarding energy conservation, energy efficiency, demand-side management, demand response and renewable energy. Virginia Energy Sense was created to achieve these goals. Q. Who is paying for Virginia Energy Sense?
A. The General Assembly directed that the consumer education program be funded by using the special regulatory revenue tax that already exists to fund the regulatory responsibilities of the SCC. This tax is paid by consumers along with other taxes that appear on their monthly utility bills. Q. Who is involved in the program?
One of only a few independent, state-wide programs in the country, Virginia Energy Sense was created so that all Virginians across the state can get involved by: - Understanding their power bills in an effort to reduce energy consumption and save money
- Taking easy, common sense steps to decrease electric usage
- Encouraging friends , family and coworkers to do the same
Q. How can people get involved in Virginia Energy Sense?
A: People can get involved TODAY by visiting our web site, www.virginiaenergysense.org. Click the ‘Join Us’ button to get started. There you can sign up for email and news alerts, take the pledge, start tracking your energy usage to earn rewards and sign up to become an energy agent. You can also become a friend of Virginia Energy Sense by following us on Facebook and Twitter, as well as following our updates on Tumblr. Over the next several months, we will be working to identify ‘Energy Agents’ – people across the state who can help us spread the message and extend our program through partnerships and local activities. Q. How can people become Energy Agents?
A. Visit our web siteat: www.virginiaenergysense.org and select the ‘Join Us’ button. There, you can sign-up and will soon receive information on how you can participate in your area. Q. How can people learn more about Virginia Energy Sense?
A. We encourage everyone to visit the Virginia Energy Sense web site to learn more about the program at: www.virginiaenergysense.org. Q. What’s on the web site?
A. The Virginia Energy Sense web site will serve as the main resource for the Virginia Energy Sense program. There you can: - Learn more about your energy bill and how you use energy – at home, work and school
- Find out about available energy rebates and tax incentives
- Use the home energy tracker to see the results of reducing energy use and earn rewards
- Watch videos showing the best and easy ways to reduce energy consumption
- Look up community events in your area where you can learn more about the Campaign
- Get involved by taking the pledge, receiving email tips and becoming an ’Energy Agent’
Q. Why should people get involved?
A. Virginia has set a goal to reduce energy consumption 10% below 2006 levels by 2022. Reaching this goal will make us smarter consumers, reduce our waste, save all Virginians money and ease the need for additional power generation stations. Q. Why has Virginia decided to do this Campaign now?
A. Virginia’s overall per capita electricity demand is 11th highest among states – and Virginia has the 9th fastest energy demand growth rate in the U.S. The aim of this program is to encourage Virginians to understand their power bill and give them the right tools and information to reduce their energy consumption. Q. Is this Virginia’s first consumer education program to reduce energy consumption?
A. Virginia Energy Sense is the first state-wide and most comprehensive campaign in Virginia to date to reduce energy consumption. Prior to this effort, energy education in Virginia has been driven primarily through informational efforts by utility companies, community organizations, individual counties and state agencies.
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