It feels like we just finished the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2018, yet, here we are almost half way through! But let’s back up for a second – if you have not yet had time to read about the DCSEU’s accomplishments during FY 2017, our annual report Building the Future of Energy in the District has just been released. Back to the second quarter: I am proud to announce that we are very far ahead on the way to exceeding our goals, even further ahead than we were at the end of the second quarter of FY 2017. Our goal is to exceed all of our maximum benchmarks and surpass our stunning results from last year.
For the next quarter, we are looking at a big seasonal change. As the cherry blossoms come and go, and temperatures go up outside – and we are finally able to turn off the heating – we are almost instantly turning on our air conditioning. But during the time in between, our HVAC systems, every spring and every fall, are having a downtime. This is the perfect time to either give them an annual check-up, ensuring that they are running as efficiently and safely as possible, or even replace them, if they are broken or outdated. As the average American family spends almost half of its energy bill on heating and cooling, upgrading to a newer model can result in lots of energy cost savings, enabling residents to spend less on their utility bills, and more on the things that matter most to them.
To make the transition easy and help residents with the cost involved, the DCSEU offers rebates for businesses and residents for equipment such as HVAC, water boilers, as well as air conditioners. Let’s take a residential air conditioning system: Not only does the DCSEU offer rebates up to $300, but at the same time, a typical household’s energy bill can go down by 10% to 18% through the efficiency of a new model - that’s a lot of savings! So here is my call to all of you to use this perfect season to inspect your HVAC and increase efficiency.
It continues to be an honor for me and the DCSEU’s staff to be able to serve the District of Columbia, its residents, businesses and institutions. Halfway through our FY 2018, the DCSEU looks forward to continuing its great work to bring energy savings to the District.