Look for the Simple Steps, Smart Savings sign when shopping for compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and low-flow showerheads at several local retailers. The sign indicates products that are discounted as part of a Chelan County PUD program to bring savings to consumers.

Customers will find prices already marked down on compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), indoor hard-wired fixtures and low-flow showerheads. Markdowns range from about 50 cents below suggested retail for general purpose CFLs to up to $7 on energy-saving showerheads.

Items available through the Simple Steps, Smart Savings program include:

• Twist CFLs – Regular Twists, Daylight Twists and A-Lamps
• Specialty CFLs – Reflectors, Globes, Candelabras, Torpedo Bulbs and Outdoor Lighting
• Fixtures – Indoor Hard-Wired Fixtures
• Showerheads – Those using 2.0 gallons per minute or less (showerhead discounts available at Costco and Fred Meyer only)

To find the store nearest you, visit the PUD website. Remember to recycle your used CFLS at any PUD office.

Bryce Newberry

Fourteen-year-old Bryce Newberry of Wenatchee has entered a national young reporters contest with a news clip about saving energy.

Newberry submitted the video for a chance to become a featured reporter for Teen Kids News, a national half-hour weekly program that focuses on events and issues affecting teens. The program airs Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. on KING-TV, Seattle. According to its website, Teen Kids News “highlights positive stories about kids doing amazing things and helping to make the world a better place.”

Newberry’s clip includes an interview with staff at Chelan County PUD, and reminds viewers to check insulation in their homes, switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, use the dishwasher instead of hand-washing dishes, and keep the thermostat at reasonable settings.

This is the second time Newberry has entered a Teen Kids News contest. Last year his clip on the future of newspapers made it to the contest’s top 10. Newberry also has been a special guest on KOMO News in Seattle after broadcasters there saw a videotape Newberry made of himself imitating the KOMO Morning News crew.

Newberry said he’s wanted to be a newscaster for several years. His career goal is to work for a major network.

Winners in the Teen Kids News contest are chosen by popular vote. Voting begins Sept. 12 on the Teen Kids News website. Viewers can vote once a day.

Watch Newberry’s video here.

Contest winners Shirley and Richard Ehrenberg of Wenatchee

Richard and Shirley Ehrenberg of Wenatchee are the winners of Chelan County PUD’s Reduce Your Use Contest, dropping their wintertime energy consumption by 35 percent compared to previous years.

Second place goes to Tony and Laura Thompson of Wenatchee, who cut their electrical use by 24 percent. Taking third place are Nick and Jenn Brunner of Cashmere, who reduced their use by 23 percent.

Nine contestants competed in the contest to see who could reduce home energy use by the greatest percentage during the winter heating season of Jan. 1- March 31, 2011. All contestants saved energy. Overall savings averaged 19 percent. Total savings over the three months came to just under 20,000 kilowatt hours – just about enough to power a typical Chelan County home for one year.

A chart showing results for all contestants  is available on the PUD website here.

Mark Wiser, conservation program manager, said the contest showed that simple things such as sealing air leaks, caulking around windows and adding insulation can go a long way toward improving energy efficiency and increasing comfort in Chelan County homes.

The Ehrenbergs received a $500 gift certificate donated by Walmart. The Thompsons received a $250 gift certificate from Community Glass. The Brunners won a $100 gift certificate donated by Stan’s Merry Mart.

Winners were determined by looking at who saved the greatest percentage of energy from Jan. 1 – March 31 compared to the winter heating seasons of 2008-09 and 2009-10. Data analysis accounted for variations in temperatures and in the number of days between meter reads. Staff engineer Jim White used a linear correlation of prior energy use and average monthly temperatures for past winter heating seasons to determine the energy saved by the contestants during the past three months.

Before the three-month contest period, each contestant received a detailed home energy analysis. Each homeowner received a report with energy-saving recommendations. It was up to individual homeowners to decide how much they would spend on energy-efficiency measures, whether to do the work themselves, or to take any recommended actions at all.

Complete contest results — including videos featuring Wiser and the first- and second-place winners — are available on the PUD website. Check out the contestants’ savings, then hunt down yours!

Chelan PUD customers: Bring your kids to the Wenatchee Valley Family Expo this weekend and pick up a free, energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb. Find us at the Rocky Reach Visitor Center booth, where kids can turn a hand-crank generator to make electricity and practice being a Conservation Detective. The booth is located next to the Pacific Science Center’s planetarium.

The Expo is a family-oriented event at the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee from noon to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26.

Can’t make it to the Expo? Twenty local retailers are offering discounted CFLs. Get the details on the PUD website here.

If you’re looking to reduce all the time and money spent trying to keep your lawn looking like a golf course, here’s some help to get started: Experts will discuss “Eco-Friendly Turfgrass and Turfgrass Alternatives” Thursday, Sept. 16 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the WSU Tree Fruit Research Center, 1100 N. Western Ave., Wenatchee. 

Chris Hilgert, urban horticulturist with WSU Spokane County Extension, will take on “Eco-Friendly Turf Management” at 9 a.m., looking at how we maintain our lawns and how all that mowing, fertilizing, watering, aerating, de-thatching and controlling of pests impacts growth. At 10 a.m., Hilgert moves to “Eco-Friendly Turfgrass and Turfgrass Alternatives,” focusing on 10 years of research on drought-tolerant and low-maintenance turf and alternative turf species such as yarrow and clover. This is not a traditional lawn mix but an alternative that saves time, money, and natural resources.

At 11 a.m., Dale Whaley, Integrated Pest Management specialist with WSU Douglas County Extension, will show how to calibrate equipment to deliver the accurate amount of chemicals to the target area for the job as specified on pesticide labels. After a break for lunch, he’ll follow up with a hands-on session at 1 p.m., using methods learned in the morning.

At 2 p.m., Paula Dinius, urban horticulturist with WSU Chelan County Extension, will work with participants on renovation of turf in plots at the WSU Master Gardener Community Education Garden, putting into practice what was discussed in the early-morning sessions.

The workshop is open to the public as well as landscape professionals. Cost is $10. Register online at www.ncw.wsu.edu/uh or call (509) 667-6540.