Focus on Energy - The power is within you.

In this Issue:

Five Home Improvements That Save You Money

Harnessing the Wind's Energy

Nine Wisconsin Businesses Honored with the Governor's Award for Excellence in Energy Efficiency

Have a Question? Focus on Energy has the Answer

We're on the Web:

5 Tips for Kids to Save Energy at School

Talking to your kids about how they can save energy and help protect the environment is easier than you think. And now that school is back in session, it's a great time to offer them some simple tips to reduce their carbon footprint.

1. Encourage your kids to carry lunches in reusable lunch boxes/ bags rather than disposable bags to cut down on the amount of trash that ends up in landfills.

2. Biking or walking to school contributes to cutting down on the carbon emissions of cars and buses.

3. When doing homework, kids can write on both sides of paper to reduce the amount of paper that is used.

4. Kids can remind their teachers to turn off lights when exiting a room for more than five minutes. In addition, on sunny days kids can recommend utilizing natural daylight to their teachers by turning off classroom lights to save electricity.

5. If a recycling program does not exist, kids can ask their teachers to start one.

Events You Don't Want
to Miss

Looking to learn more about energy efficiency or renewable energy? Look for Focus on Energy at the following events coming up this fall:

World Dairy Expo in Madison – September 29 - October 3

Solar Decade Conference in Milwaukee – October 2

Wisconsin's Solar Tour (statewide) – October 2 - 3

2009 BioCycle Renewable Energy Conference in Minneapolis – October 19 - 21

To find more events in your area click here.

Have comments or questions? Need more information? Visit focusonenergy.com, call 800.762.7077, or email Focusinfo@focusonenergy.com.


Five Home Improvements That Save You Money – tips for keeping energy bills from rising, as the temperatures drop Considering the economic climate, you're probably looking to save money anyway you can. And as the temperatures drop you may be especially disheartened to see your energy bills rise. Thankfully, Focus on Energy offers the following home improvement tips to help you control those high energy bills and save you money: 1. Install a Programmable Thermostat. These help save money and keep your home comfortable by automatically adjusting temperature settings while you are asleep or away. When properly used you can save as much as $100 per year. Plus, a good tip is to remember to keep the fan setting to "auto" not "on". 2. Replace current bulbs with CFLs. Compared to incandescent light bulbs, ENERGY STAR^® qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) use 75 percent less energy and last about 10 times longer. In fact, replacing five incandescent light bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs can save at least $35 a year...

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Harnessing the Wind's Energy – small wind turbines provide an attainable way to generate renewable energy For more than a thousand years we have been harnessing the power of wind to sail boats, pump water, and grind grain. As time passed, new uses for wind power evolved and today it is used to generate clean renewable power for homes, businesses, farms, and schools. And demand for this clean power is growing as Focus on Energy co-funded small wind turbine installations are expected to more than double in 2009 compared to 2008...

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Nine Wisconsin Businesses Honored with the Governor's Award for Excellence in Energy Efficiency – with the help of Focus on Energy companies exemplify best practices and proven strategies to improve their bottom lines While hundreds of representatives from a breadth of industries across the state gathered at the recent Energy and the Bottom Line Conference & Expo in Wisconsin Dells, nine Wisconsin businesses were commended for going above and beyond with their energy efficiency efforts...

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Have a Question? Focus on Energy has the Answer If you have an energy question, ask the team with energy in its name – Focus on Energy. Focus' new interactive Web site, AskFocusonEnergy.com , is an easy and accessible resource where you can get your energy questions answered. From finding out how to reduce electricity costs, to learning what tax credits are available for renewable energy projects, you can get the answer to your specific question fast, without having to sift through a mountain of information. And to stay even more connected, you can now find Focus on Energy on Facebook and Twitter. These communities allow you to stay up-to-date on the questions and answers being added to the new Web site, as well as get regular energy saving tips. Want to learn more about energy? Ask Focus on Energy's team of energy experts at AskFocusonEnergy.com.

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