September 22, 2005

Background:  The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today authorized a significant increase in funding for the 2006-08 energy-efficiency programs managed by the state’s investor-owned utilities, including Southern California Edison (SCE).  The CPUC's approval of $675 million for SCE’s energy-efficiency programs will be the most in company history.  The decision also authorized the largest financial commitment to energy efficiency by any state in history.  In response, SCE offered the following statement.

ROSEMEAD, Calif., Sept. 22, 2005—We are pleased the commission approved every energy-efficiency initiative SCE proposed for the coming years.

We encourage our customers to participate in the many energy-efficiency programs available to them, including, among other things, SCE’s rebates and financial incentives to reduce the cost of energy efficient appliances and equipment, our refrigerator/freezer recycling program, our free on-line energy audits for homes and businesses, as well as the statewide 20/20 Summer Savings Program, SCE’s Summer Discount Plan and programmable thermostat program.

While reducing the need to build more power plants, SCE’s energy efficiency programs can save our customers millions of dollars in energy costs, create jobs in California, and help protect and preserve California’s precious natural resources. 

Over the past five years, SCE’s energy-efficiency programs have achieved the largest energy savings of any such program in the nation, in effect eliminating the need to build a 500-megawatt power plant.  In fact, SCE has one of the nation’s largest portfolios of energy-efficiency programs.

In its decision, the CPUC noted that the 2006-08 utility programs will help avoid the need to build the equivalent of three large power plants over the next three years and will produce environmental benefits equivalent to taking about 650,000 cars off the road. 

SCE's success and leadership in managing energy efficiency programs benefiting customers has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and numerous national energy efficiency organizations.

Customers can visit www.sce.com/RebatesandSavings to learn more about the many ways they can save energy and money through SCE's energy-efficiency programs.

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An Edison International company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.6 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.