Southern California Gas Company announces the company was recently awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2023 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for demonstrating leadership in its energy efficiency programs that incorporate ENERGY STAR as a key strategy to help increase the adoption of energy efficiency products in homes, buildings, and facilities. SoCalGas’ energy efficiency programs are the largest in the United States; over the last 5 years, SoCalGas energy efficiency programs delivered almost 240 million therms in energy savings, enough natural gas usage for more than 146,000 households a year and reduced greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by over 1,260,000 metric tons, the equivalent of removing nearly 273,000 cars from the road annually. These advances have also helped save SoCalGas customers over $358 million in utility bill costs.
“As a national leader in energy efficiency programs we know that investments that save energy deliver value to our customers, help improve the environment, stimulate our economy, and help improve the quality of life in communities we serve,” says Don Widjaja, vice president of customer solutions at SoCalGas. “Thanks to innovative programming, more than 90% of the ENERGY STAR smart thermostats purchased through our rebate program were able to be installed at no cost to disadvantaged community customers.”
In the first 10 months of 2022, SoCalGas has helped customers save $13.5 million dollars though ENERGY STAR product rebates. The rebates have also allowed for almost 1,300,000 therms of conserved energy: the equivalent of eliminating GHG emissions from one year’s worth of electricity in 1,245 homes, or over 778,000,000 smartphones charging. Through November 1st, 2022, the efforts of the SoCalGas residential rebate program resulted in over 15,500 ENERGY STAR smart thermostats and over 14,500 natural gas dryer purchases. ENERGY STAR natural gas tankless water heaters also saw over 16,700 rebate redemptions.
“As we accelerate historic efforts to address climate change, public-private partnerships will be essential to realizing the scale of our ambition,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “I applaud this year’s ENERGY STAR award winners for working with EPA to deliver a clean energy future that saves American consumers and businesses money and creates jobs.”