APS' ONLINE CALCULATORS INSTANTLY SHOW LIGHTING SAVINGS

For many homeowners, the holiday season means outdoor lighting.  The new light-emitting diode (LED) holiday lights provide vibrant colors and use as little as 10 percent of the energy compared to the traditional incandescent holiday lights.

To see just how much you can save by switching to LED holiday lights, APS, Arizona’s largest and longest-serving electricity utility, offers a free Holiday Light Calculator (www.aps.com/LED).

Compared to five 100-bulb strands of the large traditional style holiday light bulbs switching to LED lights can save $40 per month, according to APS.  This means the energy savings pay for the new lights in just a few weeks.

And, beyond lower electricity costs, the LED holiday lights last much longer than standard lights, they are much cooler to the touch, and they can be conveniently strung in longer strands since they use so little energy. 

But, even after the holidays are over, the lighting savings can continue.  While LED lighting technology continues to advance rapidly, the best bet for saving on general household lighting is by switching to ENERGY STAR-qualified compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).  These bulbs produce the same amount of light as an old-fashioned incandescent bulb while saving about 75 percent on energy costs.  So APS has introduced another easy-to-use lighting calculator to help customers find out how much they can save by switching to CFLs. 

The calculator allows a ‘walk-through’ of each room in the home, and recommends which type of CFL is best for each room and fixture.  That calculator can be found at www.aps.com/MyCFL.

Beginning in 2005, APS has worked with lighting manufacturers and retailers in Arizona to offer discounts on the purchase of energy efficient CFLs.  Through the program, CFLs are sold at discounted prices of less than $1 for a standard twist CFL.  Over the expected five-year life of each CFL, customers will see savings of about $40 in energy costs.

Since the program kicked off in October 2005, APS has provided discounts on more than 8.8 million CFLs sold through participating retailers.  These bulbs are expected to save APS customers more than $350 million in energy costs over the lifetime of the bulbs.

The APS Energy Efficient Lighting program is paid for by APS customers and approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission.

APS serves about 1.1 million customers in 11 of the state’s 15 counties.  With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the principal subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp.  For more information about energy savings programs and rebates available from APS and to try the new APS lighting calculators, go to www.aps.com

Arizona Public Service Earns Top Honors in Chartwell Best Practices Awards

Arizona Public Service (APS) produced the first sweep in the history of the Chartwell awards program, winning the Best Practices Award for Customer Service and sharing top honors with the Ameren Illinois Utilities in the Best Practices Award for Marketing.

The Chartwell Best Practices Awards are presented throughout the year in several categories, with its largest award program—The Chartwell Best Practices Awards for Marketing and Customer Service—held annually in conjunction with Chartwell’s Energy Marketing and Customer Service Conference (EMACS) – The Customer Experience Conference.

Phoenix-based APS is Arizona’s state’s largest and longest serving electric utility.  A subsidiary of the Pinnacle West Capital Corp., APS serves about 1.1 million customers in 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties.

APS’ Web site and the utility’s efforts to increase customer adoption of online services stood out among the customer service entries, according to Chartwell.   Chartwell received 56 entries—36 in marketing and 20 in customer service—for consideration this year.  A panel of Chartwell researchers, who are subject matter experts in the areas under consideration, judge the entries.  In particular, the judges felt that APS’ Web site’s level of customer service interactivity and functionality at was very impressive.

The Phoenix-based utility added 11 new functions on its Web site to attract customers and encourage them to use the Web site for their service needs.  In winning the Best Practices Award in Customer Service, the APS “Increasing Customer Site Usage through Interactivity” initiative launched features such as the rate wizard which allows customers to compare rate options online, an interactive bill, My Account Orientation and a carbon calculator. Web site traffic increased in both visits per user (up 16%) and pages per visit (up 47%).

In “A 2009 Green Success for APS!,” its award-winning entry for Best Practices in Marketing, APS enlisted the help of NBA and Phoenix Suns star Steve Nash to promote its energy efficiency home improvements and green energy purchases. APS used a mix of traditional—Nash starred in a series of commercials encouraging customers to adopt green methods—and non-traditional, such as social media, channels in the campaign.

Chartwell felt that this type of innovative approach was able to cut through the clutter and move people to action.  The APS initiative led to an increase in solar rebates, Green Choice Rate enrollment, renewable installations, duct test and repair rebates, and CFL sales.

For more information about Arizona Public Service and its award winning programs, please visit www.aps.com.

APS Ranks Second Among 100 Utility Web Sites in the United States and Canada

Making it easy for its customers to learn how to manage their electric bills and save energy were key reasons why APS’ Web site has been ranked second out of 100 utility Web sites throughout the United States and Canada, according to a survey conducted by E Source Customer Satisfaction Services.

Phoenix-based APS’ Web site stood out for its ease of navigation, and for making it simple for customers to learn about and use its services.  APS, Arizona’s largest and oldest electricity utility, serves about 1.1 million customers in 11 of the state’s 15 counties.

E Source considered the Web sites of the largest electric and gas companies in the United States and Canada, as well as a representative set of smaller and mid-sized utilities, to make its determination as to who has the best Web site.  Then, between December 2008 and May 2009, E Source had a team of residential customers review and rank all the Web sites.  According to E Source, its survey is the largest, most detailed benchmark of electric and gas Web sites.

One energy-saving feature in particular that stood out for the reviewers was APS’ “Phantom Energy” area (www.aps.com/phantom), which takes consumers on a tour of a typical home to show them just how much electricity common appliances consume even when they are turned are “off.”   For more information about APS and its award-winning Web site, please visit www.aps.com.