Through the BGE Smart Energy Savers Program, Baltimore Gas & Electric customers have achieved $2 billion in energy savings over the life cycle of the energy efficiency measures installed. These annual savings make a substantial impact on the environment and the savings equate to the amount of energy needed to power more than 165,000 homes per year. The BGE Smart Energy Savers Program, a suite of offerings intended to help customers reduce energy usage and demand in support of EmPOWER Maryland’s goal of a 15 percent per capita reduction in energy consumption by 2015, and the smart meter enabled BGE Smart Energy Rewards and Smart Energy Manager programs, have allowed participating BGE customers to save nearly 1.8 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) a year. Participants in these programs have received more than $380 million in incentives for their efforts to create more energy efficient homes and businesses throughout central Maryland.
In celebration of this significant energy savings achievement, BGE participated in an event at the Living Classroom’s Frederick Douglas – Isaac Myers Maritime Museum in Baltimore City to congratulate all BGE customers on their commitment to energy efficiency and support of the BGE Smart Energy Savers Program and the BGE Smart Energy Rewards and Smart Energy Manager programs.
“Working together with BGE, our customers have achieved this tremendous milestone by strongly supporting the BGE Smart Energy Savers Program, which is intended to help customers manage and decrease energy use, which may ultimately help reduce their energy bills and impact on the environment,” said Calvin G. Butler Jr., BGE’s chief executive officer. “BGE aims to empower our customers to be smart energy managers by providing important information and innovative programs and tools to help them make smart decisions about their energy consumption in their homes and businesses. The success of these programs is dependent upon increasing customer participation and BGE is proud to work with our customers to reach this impressive energy savings milestone. By achieving a savings of nearly 1.8 billion kWh a year, our customers are proving that they are committed to working with us in keeping Maryland clean, green and reliable.”
BGE thanks its customers for participating in the many components of the BGE Smart Energy Savers Program, which has achieved a number of accomplishments including saving customers money on their bills, helping to reduce electric demand and ensuring the reliability of the electric grid.
The BGE Smart Energy Savers Program is a suite of programs that enable all customers to control energy use, leading to more efficient use of electricity and lowering energy bills from where they otherwise would be. Collectively, the programs help contain the cost of energy and improve reliability. The programs also help to reduce peak demand and slow the growth in energy consumption to lessen the need for more power plants.
BGE offers a variety of energy saving solutions for renters, homeowners, large and small business customers, non-profits and institutional customers, including rebates and discounts such as on Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® to improve the efficiency of a home and energy efficient lighting and appliances. To date, more than 18 million energy efficient lighting measures discounted under the BGE Smart Energy Savers Program have been purchased by customers throughout central Maryland.
The program also includes the BGE Smart Energy Rewards and BGE Smart Energy Manager programs, supported by cloud software provider Opower. The BGE Smart Energy Rewards program is a voluntary program designed to encourage customers to use less electricity during summer peak hours, when energy demand is high. BGE customers with a smart meter, regardless of their electricity supplier, are eligible to participate in the program. These programs provide customers with targeted, personalized information about their energy consumption, empowering customers to take action to reduce energy usage and save money on their monthly bills.
The BGE Smart Energy Rewards program provides bill credits to residential customers who reduce their electricity usage below their typical usage during Energy Savings Days. Since inception, more than 660,000 customers have earned credits by participating in Energy Savings Days.
In addition to these residential programs, BGE has installed 1.5 million energy efficient measures to more than 17,000 business participants, over half of which are small businesses.
The BGE Smart Energy Savers Program supports the EmPOWER Maryland Energy Efficiency Act’s goal of reducing both per capita energy consumption and per capita peak demand by 15 percent by the end of 2015. For more information, visit bgesmartenergy.com.
