Getting into a Groove...

Here at Civic Works, Baltimore's Service Corps, the Project Lightbulb Challenge (PLC) is well underway and the crew is gettin' into a groove! What exactly is the PLC? Well...it's a lot of things...but the short of it is, it's a friendly competition among neighbors to see if comparing the number of kilowatt hours (kWh's) each household uses and displaying that number publicly on yard signs can help residents reduce the amount of energy they use.

Have you ever wondered if you're paying too much for your monthly utilities? Ever wondered if you could do something to lower your bill? If you have, you're not alone. But the real question is, have you ever actually sat down with your BGE bill and looked at it? I mean REALLY looked at it...because if you have, you've probably also wondered...what the heck are kilowatt hours? Therms? What's the difference between gas supply and gas commodity? What exactly am I paying for here!?

Here at Project Lightbulb, we're not only trying to reduce energy consumption and help folks lower their bills, but understand exactly what affects the cost of their utilities. The number of kilowatt hours that a house uses each month reflects the amount of used electricity, which affects the amount you pay. The kWh numbers are what we're trying to get Baltimore City residents to start thinking and talking about. We thought...what if we gave Challenge participants a yard or window sign reflecting the number of kWh's they used the previous month. What would happen? What we HOPE will happen is this: neighbors driving and walking by the house (or just lookin' out the window) will notice the sign and think "what's that number?" "what are kWh's?" "how many do I use"? Hopefully this will spark enough curiosity that they actually walk over and talk to their neighbors...and voila! The dialogue has begun.

The really cool thing about this project--there are lots of cool parts--but I really love that this program fosters conversation and collaboration among neighborhood blocks. The fact that this conversation regards energy conservation is the icing on the cake. Once Muhammed and I recruit Challenge participants (through canvassing, community meetings, tabling, etc), we schedule a home visit with them to look at their BGE bills and see how many kWh's their household uses. We also tell them about habit changes they can make to save energy, and hook them up with the Project Lightbulb free home energy upgrade. The upgrade, simply put, is awesome. Each household that takes the Challenge qualifies to receive:

*15 free CFL lightbulbs
*a low-flow shower head and faucet aerators
*hot water heater insulating wrap
*insulation on up to 6 feet of piping
*a free carbon monoxide/smoke detector

WOW!!!

I have a lot of these devices in my own apartment, and they are fantastic.

But, back to the Challenge.

We now have about 20 households spanning eight different blocks involved in the Challenge, but we are aiming for 10 solid blocks, or roughly 200 homes. Most of our concentration is currently on the East Side, in Belair-Edison, Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello, South Clifton, and HEBCAC. We are looking to expand into the West side, and have a few home visits in that region next week. We are trying to locate ten solid blocks where most of the residents will want to participate in the Challenge. So far, reception has been great! But the real "challenge" is finding whole blocks of interested people. We hope that as we start installing the yard signs displaying kWh's next week, curiosity and participation will increase in our chosen blocks. At the end of the summer, whichever block has used the fewest kWh's will receive a free block party funded by Civic Works!! Yay!! I think this is going to be a great way to get the kids involved in energy savings.

So that's the Project Lightbulb Challenge, in brief. More to come later...stay tuned for updates!