Adventures With BGE

This week has been a whirlwind of activity, between hosting our block meetings and trailing the BGE crew all over town as they install our participants' IHDs, my feet (and my car) are ready for a breather this weekend! But as the weather warms up (and cools down..and warms up...) everything seems to be coming together.

The IHD (if you remember, that stands for in-home display) installations have been very interesting, and our Challenge participants are excited to play around with the devices. From the moment we turn them on, the devices show how much energy the house is using and how much money that equates to...you can see how much you've spent daily, weekly, and monthly. One awesome feature is the messaging system; the device can remind residents of energy-saving tricks. As one resident told me, looking at the device made her want to go through the house unplugging everything, just to see how low she could get her numbers. This is EXACTLY the effect we want these devices to have. Muhammed and I are preparing some journals for our recipients so they can record how they're liking the device and which features are especially effective in helping them save. As one of the first studies of this kind in Baltimore City, it's important that the program is well documented--this way we can get a good idea of just how effective devices like the IHD are, especially in low-income neighborhoods.

In addition to running around with the installation crew, we hosted our second official block meeting last night between the 2500 and 2600 blocks of Robb Street in CHM (Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello). It was a great success; we got the community together for refreshments and a good discussion of Civic Works' programs, and recruited about six more families into the Project Lightbulb Challenge. We were also able to sign quite a few residents up for the Project Lightbulb home energy upgrade, and BNEC. One of the little girls on Robb Street told me that when she grows up, she wants to "do what I do", and that's what I love about Civic Works--the organization not only gets resources out to people in need, but also provides employment and job skills to Baltimore City youth. It's nice to know that when she's old enough, she can probably achieve that goal. Go Civic Works!