October 30, 2006
TULARE, Calif., Oct. 30, 2006—Southern California Edison (SCE) today celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its Agricultural Technology Application Center (AGTAC), a high-tech, educational and training facility where the benefits of energy efficiency can be shown to its customers in the Central Valley.
Attendees at the event included, among others, Bill Maze, state assemblyman; Richard Ortega, Tulare mayor; several members of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors; Lynda Ziegler, SCE senior vice president for customer service; Bill Bryan, vice president of SCE’s business customer division; and Ken Rebensdorf, AGTAC manager.
“Central California’s businesses, farms, dairies, and food processors are coping with the effects of soaring prices for fuel and energy,” SCE’s Ziegler said. “AGTAC offers our customers an excellent resource, a place where they can see, hear, touch and learn about the latest energy-efficient technologies for saving money and managing energy usage, including end-use water technologies.”
Some technologies currently being showcased at AGTAC include:
- A thermal storage system display demonstrating how a standard air conditioning condensing unit can be retrofitted to make ice during off-peak night hours to cool buildings using only a 100-watt pump instead of a 5,000-watt compressor during on-peak hours.
- A ground-source heat pump demonstrating how the ground can be used to dissipate heat from a building.
- A light lab demonstrating induction, fluorescent, and high-intensity-discharge lamps.
- A variable-frequency drive display demonstrating efficient water pumping applications.
SCE estimates that, during the past 10 years, approximately 200,000 people have visited the 24,000-square-foot facility to attend educational seminars, tours, and special events. During that time, AGTAC has hosted 600 seminars attended by more than 12,000 visitors and more than 3,000 business events.
A resource used by the entire community, AGTAC also has:
- Partnered with educational institutions, including, among others, California State University, Fresno; the University of California, Davis; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; and the Tulare County Office of Education.
- Co-sponsored several seminars, receptions, and other activities as part of World Ag Expo, the world’s largest farm equipment show annually held in Tulare, across the road from AGTAC.
- Sponsored a competition called “Power Up” for grade-school students involving team presentations on energy efficiency-related topics.
“We are fortunate to have such a beautiful and accommodating facility in our county,” said Jim Vidak, Tulare County superintendent of schools, of AGTAC. “We utilize the AGTAC center annually to host our summer institute for school administrators, as well as for other meetings and workshops throughout the year. The staff goes above and beyond the call to make sure all of our needs are met during our entire stay.”
For more information on AGTAC, call (800) 77-AGTAC or visit www.sce.com/agtac.
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An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.7 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.
