Recycling Old Appliances Can Cool Off Summer Energy Costs
GAHANNA, OHIO, Aug. 10, 2011 — To help more customers lower their electric bills during an unusually hot summer, AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP), is extending its $50 incentive for recycling an old, energy-wasting refrigerator or freezer through its Appliance Recycling Program.
A “Summer Special” boosted the incentive from $35 to $50, but was slated to go back to $35 in August. Due to public popularity of this special offer, AEP Ohio will continue the higher $50 incentive, giving its customers the opportunity to take advantage of the higher incentive offer.
In addition to the $50 reward, customers who recycle an old fridge or freezer start reducing their energy usage right away. Often kept in garages and basements, these old, inefficient appliances require up to three times more energy to operate than new ENERGY STAR® models built to higher energy-efficiency standards. The savings can add up to as much as $150 a year.
“This program pays people to save money on their electric bills, and that’s really important as high summer temperatures place heavy demand on home cooling systems,” said Jon Williams, AEP Ohio manager of energy efficiency and peak demand response.
During June and July, nearly 4,500 AEP Ohio customers scheduled their old refrigerators or freezers for pick up. Participation is easy. Customers can arrange a home pick up by calling 1-877-545-4112, or by visiting gridSMARTOhio.com. That’s the only work required. Crews arrive at the scheduled time and provide the labor of moving the old unit out of a house, into a truck and onto a recycling facility. The only requirement is that the refrigerators and freezers must be at least 10 cubic feet in size and currently working.
Recycling old refrigerators and freezers not only relieves pressure on raw materials, it also keeps them out of landfills. The appliances contain a toxic brew that includes mercury and oils that poison the environment when improperly discarded. Instead, those toxins are safely neutralized at the recycling plant, operated by the national firm of JACO Environmental.
“When appliances are recycled, money, energy, the environment and natural resources are all saved at the same time,” said Michael Dunham, director of Energy and Environmental Programs for JACO Environmental.
Investor-owned utilities in Ohio are required to meet specific energy reduction targets. The Appliance Recycling Program is part of AEP Ohio’s overall energy efficiency and peak demand response efforts to meet the State of Ohio target of reducing electricity consumption 22 percent by the end of 2025. For more information about AEP Ohio’s energy efficiency consumer programs, events and tips, go to gridSMARTOhio.com.
AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP subsidiaries Columbus Southern Power Company and Ohio Power Company in Ohio, and Wheeling Power Company in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power.
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east and north Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other information about AEP can be found at aep.com.
###