Entergy encouraging customers to change bulbs
Trinity Standard , October 2007

HUNTSVILLE – During October, Entergy Texas is asking its customers to take the pledge and change just one standard light bulb in their homes to an energy-efficient bulb.
Entergy’s Change a Light, Change the World initiative supports a nationwide effort by the federal Energy Star program aimed at raising environmental awareness via the promotion of energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs.
The program parallels the company’s ongoing efforts to help customers manage energy costs more effectively and adopt more responsible environmental practices.
“High energy costs and harmful environmental practices affect all of use,” said Stan Foley, customer service manager for the electrical utility. “That is why Entergy is working hard to generate power more efficiently and to help customers learn how to better manager energy use.
“Most people don’t realize that the average home pollutes more than the average car,” Foley said. “Taking the Change a Light pledge us an important first step toward helping conserve our nation’s energy resources and reducing energy costs. This is a win-win situation for customers and for the environment.”
The Change a Light campaign educates customers on the benefits of energy-efficient lighting and points to an easy-to-use web site – www.entergy.com/Ensight -- where customers can make the Change a Light pledge.
“Changing a single light bulb may hardly seem like a significant environmentally conscious action, but the results can be quite impressive if we all do our part,” Foley said. “Our goal is to help our customers realize how they truly can help change the world by taking this pledge and developing their own plan for conserving resources and protecting the environment.”
The benefits of a collective effort are convincing, he said.
For example, changing 100,000 bulbs can save up to 46 million kilowatt-hours of electricity over the life of the bulbs – enough to power 21,000 homes for one year.
At the same time, it can reduce carbon dioxide emissions comparable to removing 2,571 cars from the roadways and create the same effect as planting 3,656 acres of trees.
In addition, using energy-efficient light bulbs is an excellent way for Entergy customers to manage energy costs more effectively and save money. Every light changes to an Energy Star qualified bulb uses a third of the energy of a standard incandescent light, lasts up to 10 times longer and saves an average of $30 or more in energy costs of its lifetime.
Promotion of the national Change a Light campaign furthers Entergy’s environmental commitment. The company has already established itself as an environmental champion by being the nation’s first utility to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its generating plants.
The company recently renewed its commitment, aiming for further reductions over the next five years. In addition, legislative efforts on behalf of Entergy are encouraging sweeping policy changes on emissions.
“We can all produce benefits for the environment if everyone does their part to use energy resources more efficiently,” Foley said. “That’s why Entergy is working hard to show our customers how they can partner with use to make a difference.”
Entergy Texas provides electricity to 385,000 customers in 26 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, which is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations.
Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and is the second largest nuclear generator in the U.S.
The company delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and has annual revenues of over $10 billion and about 14,000 employees.