Water savings would fill Rose Bowl 106 times
By Daily Press staff
California’s utilities, water agencies, businesses and nonprofit organizations have come together with “Flex Your Power” to honor the spirit of Earth Day by urging people to retire older “energy hog” appliances in favor of new high-efficiency models.
“This partnership... will help the state achieve the goals laid out in the Energy Action Plan for California: To meet 100 percent of California’s energy demand growth over the next 10 years through a combination of energy efficiency, demand response and renewable generation,” said California Public Utilities Commissioner Susan Kennedy.
“This partnership... will help the state achieve the goals laid out in the Energy Action Plan for California...” — — SUSAN KENNEDY California Public Utilities Commissioner
To demonstrate the environmental benefits of efficient appliances, Maytag has donated 40 Neptune Top Load washers and dryers as part of the statewide campaign to nonprofit organizations and individuals. The washers save up to 25 gallons of water per load, compared with a 10-year-old washer. Maytag estimates that Californians who are currently using their energy efficient washers saved nearly 715 million gallons of water and close to 12 million kilowatt hours of energy in the past year.
“If all appliances purchased this year were Energy Star qualified appliances, our state would save nearly 9 billion gallons of water and more than 700 million kilowatt hours,” said Dennis Wolcott, president of the 2004 California Water Awareness Campaign. “That’s enough water to fill the Rose Bowl 106 times and enough energy to power 111,600 homes for an entire year.”
The efficient washers and dryers will be given away today at 2 p.m. on the Third Street Promenade, where Earth Day festivities will be taking place throughout the day.
As part of the Los Angeles Earth Day event, campaign partners, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the City of Santa Monica announced that the Asian-American Drug Abuse Program and the Ocean Park Community Center have been selected to receive the Maytag appliances.
The new machines should save the organizations about 925 gallons of water each week and 48,100 gallons of water each year, officials estimated.
Utility officials added that many California residents are eligible for rebates on the water-and energy-saving appliances they purchase. To find a rebate in your area, log on to www.fypower.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 17, 2004. Read the original PDF.