October 13, 2004

ROSEMEAD, Calif., Oct. 13, 2004—The Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), a long-time advocate of global energy efficiency, has name Southern California Edison (SCE) a “Star of Energy Efficiency” for 2004.

SCE was one of two utilities cited for its efforts in advancing energy efficiency, the other being the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal power marketing agency serving states in the northwest United States.

Based in Washington, D.C., ASE is a nonprofit coalition of business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders founded in 1977.  ASE advocates energy-efficiency policies “that minimize costs to society and individual consumers, and that lessen greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on the global climate.”  It does this through research, educational programs, and policy advocacy.

“This national recognition once again acknowledges our commitment to energy efficiency,” said Pamela Bass, SCE senior vice president, customer service.  “Edison has an unbroken record of more than 25 years of providing energy efficiency programs to its customers.”

Bass noted that, because of company programs and state standards, the per-capita electricity usage of SCE’s customers has been virtually constant in recent years while usage for much of the rest of the nation has risen.

Since 1998, SCE has budgeted $105 million of “public goods” charge funds annually for energy efficiency programs and even increased this level of funding during the 2001 California energy crisis. [A component of all customers’ bills, the public goods charge supports programs for energy efficiency, low-income services, renewable energy, and energy-related research and development.]

Over the past five years, SCE’s energy efficiency programs have provided the highest 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, and it is committed to energy efficiency and conservation as first-priority resources for its long-term energy plans. 

Currently funded at $170 million annually, SCE is proposing to its increase annual energy efficiency budget for 2006 through 2014 to an average of $245 million per year.  These funds are intended to obviate the need for a large new power plant every 2 ½ years by reducing energy consumption through efficiency and conservation. 

SCE’s administration of energy-efficiency programs has earned the company national recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.  In 2003 and again in 2004, SCE, along with the state’s other investor-owned utilities, was honored with an Energy Star award for its role as a leader in educating Californians about energy-efficient products and incentives. 

And in April 2004, SCE was one of 29 recipients worldwide to receive the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award for its efforts to protect the earth’s climate and ozone layer.  SCE was recognized for the capture and recovery of 23 tons of ozone-depleting materials through the company’s refrigerator- and freezer-recycling program.

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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 12 million via 4.6 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.