Peco contest has Eagles touting energy savings

Peco Energy Co. - and the Eagles! - are touting energy conservation.

That's the idea behind the utility's latest promotion, which kicks off Saturday in South Philadelphia, though not at the Linc.

Instead, courtesy of Peco, fans will be able to visit with one of today's favorite Eagles, tight end Brent Celek; two stars from yesteryear, Troy Vincent and Mike Quick; and the voice of the Eagles, Merrill Reese, from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Home Depot store, 1651 S. Columbus Blvd.

The meet-and-greet will launch a raffle, which customers can also enter online or by mail. Five winners, one each in five Philadelphia-area counties, will receive a free $400 energy audit, an autographed Celek jersey, and an autographed football signed by all four members of what Peco has dubbed its "Smart Ideas Go Green Team."

The contest runs till Dec. 17, and similar events will be held around the region on three Saturdays in November and one in December. For the schedule or an online entry form, go to Peco's Smart Ideas page at http://go.philly.com/peco.

To enter by mail, send your name, address, phone number, and Peco account number or service address to: Peco Smart Ideas Go Green Team, 400 Market St., Philadelphia 19106.

Peco spokeswoman Cathy Engel Menendez said Peco was trying to draw new attention to its two-year-old program's underlying goal: talking up the value of cutting homeowners' energy bills while reducing overall energy consumption, which Peco is required to do under state law.

The Smart Ideas site includes tips, calculators, and discounted products that can help Peco and its customers. Since October 2009, Peco says the program has saved customers more than $142 million in energy costs via energy efficiency and demand response, in which customers enable the utility to cycle off their air conditioners on peak-demand days.

"This is in addition to more than $50 million in Peco rebates and financial incentives received by customers for their energy-saving actions," Peco said, adding that the overall reduction "has the same environmental impact as removing more than 88,000 cars from road or planting more than one million trees.