Garcetti Launches 'Save Energy LA' Campaign; Urges Locals To Conserve During Summer Months

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti launched a new campaign on Friday called "Save Energy LA",  that encourages locals to conserve energy and provides helpful tips and details on various rebate programs.

To help kick off the campaign, Garcetti has asked all Angelenos to turn out their lights tonight between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

A large amount of local buildings and landmarks will also be participating in tonight's energy-saving hour.

The LAX pylons, Staples Center, LA Live, City Hall, City Hall East, City Hall South, LADWP HQ, Central Library, Microsoft Center, The Shrine, Wells Fargo Center, U.S. Bank Tower, and the Wedbush Center are just some of the buildings participating tonight.

The goal of the initiative is to conserve electricity, reduce energy bills, and protect the environment.

The campaign will include prominent advertisements across the city, all provided by the LA-based ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day.

Mayor Garcetti also announced an energy reduction target for municipal buildings of 5% from August to October, compared to the last five years. Municipal buildings have reduced their energy usage by 7.3% between 2014 and 2015 alone.

Garcetti encourages commercial building owners, universities, and other large employers to aim for the same 5% reduction target in their facilities.

The LADWP also has a number of new and existing programs geared to help locals save energy and money:

• Residential Lighting Program: LADWP will give away two LED light bulbs per household beginning mid-September. They will reach 1.35 million LADWP customers and distribute a grand total of 2.7 million LED light bulbs across the city.
• Community Partnership Outreach Grants for Nonprofit Organizations: LADWP will award an additional round of energy efficiency outreach and education grants to local non-profit organizations to improve energy efficiency and water conservation in Los Angeles communities. Applications for these grants valued at $90,000 each are available now, and are due August 19th.
• Refrigerator Exchange Program: LADWP Refrigerator Exchange Program provides new energy saving, Energy Star®-rated refrigerators in exchange for qualified older model refrigerators, free of charge to low income residents. When the new refrigerator is delivered, the old unit will be removed and recycled.  LADWP also offers rebates to anyone looking to upgrade their refrigerator.
• SummerShift: To help reduce the strain on the grid, LADWP launched a SummerShift program to encourage large energy users to take actions to reduce demand, including shifting work hours earlier to avoid the 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM peak demand time.
• Home Energy Improvement Program: The Home Energy Improvement Program (HEIP) is a free assessment of the most appropriate and effective improvements for private homes. During the assessment, LADWP's trained technicians identify areas in the home where cost-effective energy efficient upgrades and repairs should be made. The home report is then forwarded to LADWP's skilled repair technicians to complete the work.
• Energy Savings Assistance Program: LADWP recently joined the Southern California Gas Company (SCG) in offering the Energy Savings Assistance Program (ESAP) to eligible low-income residential customers in the City of Los Angeles. Through the LADWP partnership, ESAP offers additional electric measures such as smart power strips and efficient light bulbs, as well as water and gas-saving showerheads and faucet aerators, to low-income residents of multi-family buildings.