Press Release:

Seattle City Light will expand its Powerful Neighborhoods program to install free compact fluorescent light bulbs in the areas of Burien, White Center, North Highlands, SeaTac Tukwila and Skyway served by Seattle City Light starting Jan. 3.

Powerful Neighborhoods started in South Seattle in April as a pilot program designed to reach out door-to-door to seniors, non-English speaking households, low-income residents and other customers who might not have participated in energy conservation programs.

“We want to remove any barriers that have kept people from taking steps to increase the energy efficiency of their homes so they can reduce their energy consumption and save money,” Interim Energy Conservation Director Glenn Atwood said.

Response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive with more than 96 percent of those who completed a satisfaction survey saying that they would definitely recommend the program to their neighbors and friends. According to one recent participant, "The representatives were courteous, considerate and very time efficient."

In 2010, installers worked with more than 7,000 families to install nearly 140,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs. The energy savings adds up to more than 24 million kilowatt-hours and will save customers roughly $2.2 million over the lifetime of the bulbs. That’s about $60 a year for the average household.

Seattle City Light is working with Ecos Consulting , Cascadia Consulting, the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS), and Working Green to hire and train installers, schedule home visits, and deliver and install the products.

All installers have undergone background checks and drug-screening. Installers fluent in Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Amharic, Cantonese and other languages will be available to visit homes where those languages are primarily spoken. All staff will carry Seattle City Light identification.

Installers canvass neighborhoods door-to-door. If an interested resident is home, they install the energy efficient light bulbs and provide low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators or schedule a more convenient time to visit. If the resident is not home, installers leave a notice regarding how to contact the program to arrange a visit.

To qualify, a resident must live in a single-family home or 2-to-4-unit apartment or condo. To make an appointment, call 206-449-1132 or send an email to SCL_install@seattle.gov.

Seattle City Light is the 10th largest public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to nearly 1 million Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.