Energy Incentive Program offered by Taylor Electric Cooperative

Taylor Electric Cooperative is currently offering rebates for ENERGY STAR ® appliances and recycling, central air conditioning and heat pump, water heaters, lighting, conservation devices such as low-flow shower heads, energy saving power strips, and other agricultural and commerical equpiment.

To be eligible for TEC's Incentive Program:

• All rebates must be purchased, installed and/or recycled in 2010 (Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2010).
• Rebates are in place through December 31, 2010 or until funds, by incentive or in total, are depleted.
• Members are encouraged to submit rebate form and copy of your receipt as soon as equipment is purchased and installed to ensure rebate.

Click here to download the TEC Incentive Program Forms. Adobe Acrobat required.

Click here to download the TEC Appliance Recycling Form. Adobe Acrobat required.

Please complete details on our Incentive Program Form. Call Taylor Electric at 715-678-2411 if you have any questions.

Energy Star

ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

Results are already adding up. Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2008 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 29 million cars - all while saving $19 billion on their utility bills.

For Your Home

Energy efficient choices can save families about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort. ENERGY STAR helps you make the energy efficient choice.

• If looking for new household products, look for ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR. They meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US Department of Energy.
• If looking for a new home, look for one that has earned the ENERGY STAR.
• If looking to make larger improvements to your home, EPA offers tools and resources to help you plan and undertake projects to reduce your energy bills and improve home comfort.

For Your Business

Because a strategic approach to energy management can produce twice the savings - for the bottom line and the environment - as typical approaches, EPA’s ENERGY STAR partnership offers a proven energy management strategy that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings, and rewarding improvements.

EPA provides an innovative energy performance rating system which businesses have already used for more than 96,000 buildings across the country. EPA also recognizes top performing buildings with the ENERGY STAR.

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Questline

Taylor Electric Cooperative Questline is free of charge to Taylor Electric Cooperative customers. Use the form at this link to sign-up. You will then begin receiving a quarterly newsletter that includes all of the following features and services.

• Energy conservation tips and recommendations delivered right to your inbox.
• Non-promotional information and resources that can save you and your household energy and money.
• Access to an easy-to-search "Energy eLibrary" - filled with valuable resources, tips, and more.
• Access to HVAC, home energy use and carbon-footprint calculators - providing information to help you benchmark your home’s energy use and identify energy-saving opportunities.

Click here to sign up for Taylor Electric Cooperative Questline newsletter FREE of charge.

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Determining Your Carbon Footprint

Carbon dioxide exists everywhere. It's in every breath we take; it keeps trees and plants around us lush and green; it even gives our soft drinks fizz. But because the ever-present gas also helps holds the sun's heat in our atmosphere, it has taken on an edge of notoriety in recent years. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide emitted from sources like factories, cars, and power plants have been blamed for contributing to climate change (along with a list of other "greenhouse gases," including methane). Carbon dioxide molecules can last in the atmosphere for a century or more, and many experts see too much of it as a bad thing.

The idea of a "carbon footprint" has been developed to tally the amount of carbon dioxide anything emits, directly or indirectly-from a coal-fired power plant to a family of four. Technically, each of us expands our own carbon footprint every time we exhale, although the amount really adds up when it comes to burning fossil fuels like coal, gasoline, and natural gas. Burning these fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and everyone connected to those emissions (such as a family driving a car or using electricity) boosts their own carbon footprint.

The sources making up carbon footprints are often broad in scope, spanning state and sometimes national boundaries. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) breaks sources of carbon dioxide emissions into three categories, applied here to a family as an example: direct emissions, such as from the family minivan; indirect emissions from generation of the electricity they use; and all other indirect emissions, from trash to the manufacture of every item bought. (For example, how much electricity went into making your television, and how many miles did a tractor-trailer drive to get it to the store?) All things considered, the average U.S. household is responsible for 21 tons of carbon dioxide a year, according to the EPA, an amount that would take more than four acres of pine trees to soak up.

Many companies are using the idea of carbon footprints to show consumers just how much carbon dioxide was released in getting one particular item to them. PepsiCo, for example, recently determined that 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide are emitted for every half-gallon carton of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice it produces. With this information, steps can be made to reduce emissions. This applies to companies and individuals alike. A family can trim their carbon footprint by trading in the minivan for a more fuel-efficient vehicle, and by making their home more energy efficient to cut back on electricity use. Best of all, these measures not only cut carbon emissions but gasoline and electric bills as well.

As Congress considers legislation to limit carbon dioxide emissions, associated costs will impact everyone. Consumers paying electric bills, and every company making products with electricity generated from fossil fuels, will foot the tab. Electric cooperatives are asking elected officials to address climate change issues in an affordable and environmentally responsible fashion.

We're ready to provide insight into how various policy proposals will affect consumers, and we'll urge lawmakers to reach the right answers. In unity with 42 million other electric co-ops consumers around the country, ask your U.S. representative and senators to work with electric cooperatives to keep electric bills affordable. Get involved in this effort by participating in the Our Energy, Our Future™ grassroots campaign at www.ourenergy.coop.

Click here to calculate your HOUSEHOLD carbon footprint.

Click here to calculate your BUSINESS' carbon footprint.

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