Flex Your Power Case Study: City of Pasadena

Pasadena took a creative, all-encompassing approach to energy conservation. Its public awareness and education campaign, "You Have the Power to Conserve," involved numerous public services and incentives, such as landscaping classes and rebates for buying electric vehicles and for installing solar-power roofs. In addition, Pasadena leased 21 electrical vehicles for city departments, and the city also encouraged commercial customers to participate in the state's Voluntary Load Curtailment Program.

The goal of these programs was to encourage energy conservation in the public and private sectors.

The response rate to the free CFL package direct mailer was 17 percent; 8,337 CFL packages were distributed. The city's services and incentives are estimated to save customers $2,173,000 in energy costs each year. The City of Pasadena ranked second for participation in the Voluntary Load Curtailment Program for the State of California. This state program, developed to mitigate the threat of rolling blackouts, encouraged commercial businesses to voluntarily agree to reduce energy consumption during power emergencies in exchange for financial incentives. Nineteen commercial customers voluntarily participated in the program providing 7.5 MW of curtailable load. The city reduced energy usage in city facilities by 12 percent, exceeding its goal of 10 percent.