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Students at Luther Burbank, John Muir and Jordan middle schools in Burbank, Calif., spent the month of February learning about the importance of water and energy conservation by participating in the LivingWise program funded by Burbank Water and Power (BWP).  Twenty Burbank middle school science teachers lead nearly 1,200 sixth grade students through a blend of teacher-designed classroom activities and hands-on home projects that comprise the LivingWise class curriculum.

The BWP-sponsored LivingWise program provides middle schools with efficiency and educational LivingWise kits for each student. The kit contains water and energy saving tools and products designed to teach students about energy and water sustainability. Each kit contains a low-flow showerhead, a low-flow kitchen faucet aerator, toilet leak detector tablets, a compact fluorescent light bulb and additional energy saving educational material. With the help of their parents, students install the products at home and help the entire family understand how to preserve water and energy resources.

BWP and the Burbank Unified School District have partnered on this educational program since 2007.  Teachers appreciate the LivingWise program as it brings to life California’s required environmental educational standards for sixth grade students.  The program also includes a friendly competition between the science classes to see which classes have the highest installation rates.  BWP provides gift cards for classroom supplies to the first-, second- and third-placed classes at each school, with first-placed classrooms receiving $250 in supplies.

The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) is offering a limited number of scholarships to attend the 2011 Utility Solar Conference, July 26-27, at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego. 

Scholarship recipients will receive a complimentary full conference registration, valued up to $1199, plus a stipend of up to $750 for coach airfare and hotel accommodations. 

Created by utilities for utilities, the conference’s educational content will target employees across departments with a role in solar program and project development and implementation, from executives to distribution engineers to program marketers. Attendees will enjoy a variety of networking opportunities, including:

• 2010 Top 10 Utility Awards Luncheon
• Utility Solar Interest Groups (USIGs) face-to-face meetings
• Evening receptions
• Networking breakfast with your regional colleagues and SEPA regional director

Don’t miss this forum where utilities can explore solar issues free from outside influences.  The deadline to submit applications is March 7, 2011, and scholarship recipients will be notified by March 14, 2011.

Webinar Series Will Help Utilities Save Money & Better Serve Their Customers

The Clean Energy Ambassadors (CEA) Lunchtime Webinar Series continues with a free webinar Tuesday, March 15, noon Central time. As a special offer, early registrants will receive a free copy of the American Public Power Association guide for small business energy savings, Energy Matters for Small Business.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and this webinar will show community utilities how to help their small business customers control energy costs. “The challenge for utilities is two-fold: first, how to reach small businesses, and second, what to tell them,” said Jill Cliburn, a public-power utility veteran who leads the Clean Energy Ambassadors program.

Speaker Christine Geltz, will address the first part of that challenge. As president of Geltz Communications, Inc., a nationally-recognized energy consulting firm, Geltz has specialized in developing utility programs for small businesses. Her presentation will draw on some of her best case studies and tips for ways to generate powerful word-of-mouth publicity. Participants will discover how to build program participation by working with local business groups and matching the marketing message to a particular target audience’s business culture.

This webinar also will include a discussion of how to use handout material, including the APPA small business energy saving guide, Energy Matters for Small Business. CEA has 50 guides available for early registrants to the webinar.

 CEA Webinars are held from noon-1 p.m. Central time (11 a.m.–noon MST) on the third Tuesday of each month. Next month’s topic is: 

Schools – A Top Choice for Energy Savings and Outreach – April 19, 2011

Register today, and receive materials in advance.

Wyoming state officials announced last week that construction will begin this spring on a $40 million wind tower manufacturing facility near Cheyenne, Wyo. The Spanish-based Corporacion Gestamp and Ohio-based Worthington Industries will co-own the facility, which is expected to create about 150 new jobs.

The 30-acre facility will reportedly produce 300 steel wind tower sections annually and support a growing wind generation industry in Wyoming and Northern Colorado. While most of the towers will be used to build wind turbines in Wyoming, Worthington also plans to ship tower sections to northern Colorado, the Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest.

A recent Federal study predicted wind energy development could pump $5.1 billion into Wyoming’s economy during the next decade, but analysts say the emergence of a wind energy manufacturing sector could be an even bigger boost to the state’s economy.  A spokesman for the Wyoming Business Council  said the council will try to “leverage” the Gestamp/Worthington announcement to attract more wind manufacturers to the state.  The hope is that building up the wind industry might help to even out the boom-bust cycle that is the nature of the coal, oil and natural gas industries — and therefore, much of Wyoming’s economy.

Italy became the second fastest growing solar market in the world in 2009. Join select utility decision makers in Italy from May 7 to 14 for the Solar Electric Power Association’s (SEPA) 2011 international fact-finding mission.

Participate in this invaluable learning experience and unparalleled opportunity to network with your peers. Program participants will see interesting solar sites and meet with key utility players, Italian government representatives and various solar stakeholders as we travel through the country with stops in Milan and Rome.

Apply today to be a part of this unique educational opportunity!  SEPA is offering a limited number of scholarships to eligible applicants.  The deadline for applications is March 7.  Contact Cynthia Hunt Jaehne at 202-595-1148 for more information about the fact-finding mission.

Western’s Energy Services Manager Ron Horstman is one of the featured speakers on the webinar, “Practical Energy Audits,” Tuesday, Feb. 15, from noon to 1 p.m. CST.

Clean Energy Ambassadors is presenting the free online event that will help you answer the vexing question: which kind of energy audit or troubleshooting works best? Steve Carroll of Linn County Rural Electric Cooperative in Iowa will join Horstman to describe the different kinds of energy audits and how to pick the right one for the specific situation.

Attendees will learn how consumer-owned utilities have achieved greater cost-effectiveness and greater customer satisfaction by matching their services to customers’ needs. Discussions will explore which on-line energy audits get good reviews, where to find “templates” for your own energy audits, what kind of training you’ll need and how you may cover some of the costs.

Register for “Practical Energy Audits“ today. Participants will receive materials in advance.    

While you are on the Clean Energy Ambassadors site, take the time to check out other stories and resources. The virtual forum—Energy Services’ Website of the month in November 2010—is committed to making clean energy work for consumer-owned utilities and their communities.