Little Things Save a Lot

Little Things
Save a Lot
Motorists in Polk County may have noticed a small change as they approach some intersections. Traffic signals, normally lighted by incandescent bulbs, are being replaced with bright light-emitting diode technology.
The LEDs last longer — but there's another big advantage as well. LEDs use less electricity and save about $30 per signal per year. It may not sound like much, but for a town with 50 signals, it amounts to $22,000 saved over the life of the traffic lights.
A recently released report by several public-interest groups found that if Florida adopted minimum energy-efficiency standards for 10 commonly used consumer and business products, the state's businesses and consumers could save more than $300 million a year in electric and natural gas bills by 2010.
"Gov. Jeb Bush said in August 2001 that 'the cheapest, easiest and fastest kilowatt we can generate is the one we save through efficiencies,' " said Holly Binns, clean air and energy advocate with Florida Public Interest Research Group, which helped compile the report.
She added that the governor's Department of Community Affairs can establish energy standards for products by placing a limit on the maximum amount of power the product can consume. "That's the route we recommend," said Jim Presswood, attorney for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
"Adopting energy-efficiency standards would also help protect Florida's environment and public health," Presswood said. "The energy savings achieved by the standards would decrease the amount of electricity that has to be generated by Florida's power plants. This would reduce the amount of air pollution these plants produce and precious water they have to consume for cooling purposes."
A spokeswoman for Bush's office said the governor "remains committed to energy conservation" and would "forward these thoughtful recommendations to the [state] Department of Environmental Protection for their review."
The 10 products targeted for minimum energy standards are: ceiling fans; commercial clothes washers, refrigerators and freezers; exit signs; large packaged commercial air conditioners; low-voltage, dry-type distribution transformers; set-top boxes, including digital cable, satellite and TV converter boxes; torchiere lights; traffic signals and external power supplies.
"As the old adage goes, a million here and a million there pretty soon adds up," said Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog group. "We think this will help both customers and taxpayers alike," he said, since governments use many of the items on the list.
The report found that governments could save about $800,000 a year if only two of the standards in the report were adopted.
If the demand for power can be reduced through such simple changes, the demand for more power plants will also be reduced. The report projects the new standards "would eliminate the need for three large [500 megawatt] power plants by 2020."
Moreover, "These policies would reduce harmful power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury."
By the 2030, consumers and businesses could save $3 billion with the suggested changes. The proposals are common-sense ones — they are not costly.
The results are impressive beyond the money savings. The DCA should quickly approve and adopt the standards proposed.