Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Public Affairs
On Oct. 1, President Barack Obama declared October as National Energy Action Month. In this proclamation, he calls upon the citizens of the United States to recognize this month by working together to achieve greater energy security, a more robust economy, and a healthier environment for our children.
This campaign, formerly known as Energy Awareness Month, was renamed by the request of the Department of Energy (DOE) to spur action to save energy, water and money for American taxpayers.
In an effort to conserve energy, utility companies throughout the country are now reaching out to consumers through the use of social media.
Recently, Opower, an energy management software company, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) teamed up with Facebook to launch a ‘social energy app’ which uses information from your energy bill to compare how your energy consumption from your home ranks against the homes of your Facebook friends every month.
In addition, the ‘social energy app’ offers energy saving tips and allows Facebook users to create groups to add a fun way to compete with coworkers and neighbors to see who is the most energy efficient.
Currently, Opower’s ‘social energy app’ is in beta mode with 16 utility companies connected. The app automatically imports your energy report from your utility bill or, if your utility isn’t one of the 16 participating companies, you can enter in your information manually.
The app will expand with additional energy providers in the coming months, which may include Hawaii Energy, who is currently an Opower client according to http://opower.com/.
According to Opower.com, the use of the ‘social energy app’ helped people save tens of millions of dollars on their energy bills and in the process stopped more than a billion tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
To see how your energy use stacks up against your friends and similar homes across the country, learn more about this ‘social energy app’ by signing up at https://social.opower.com/