The Alliance Promotes Energy Efficiency in the Southeast U.S.

The Alliance and its subsidiary, the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA), recently promoted October’s ENERGY STAR sales tax holidays in Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina. The tax holidays provided consumers in the region with the possibility to save “up front” when buying energy-efficient products, and to save again with lower monthly home energy bills.

Temporarily lifting the tax on energy-efficient products stimulated an interest in energy-efficient products in a region where – according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – there is the lowest market penetration of ENERGY STAR products, despite high rates of energy use and population growth.

Eligible products included programmable thermostats, compact fluorescent light bulbs, ceiling fans, air conditioners, clothes washers, refrigerators, doors and windows. ENERGY STAR labels designate products that meet strict federal energy efficiency criteria. The label is a program of the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Alliance issued a press release in English and Spanish, which garnered Ben Taube and Alex Tapia, Executive Director and Program Manager at SEEA, respectively, interviews by several newspapers, including The Tennessean (circulation 174,073). In addition, a web banner campaign was donated to the Alliance by the Hispanic Digital Network. The Spanish language web banner created by the Alliance has been viewed thousands of times on local Hispanic media websites.