Energy Conservation
Energy Expo Makes Friends
Any Beatles fan knows you get by with a little help from your friends. That’s exactly what a Missouri electric cooperative did for the 2011 Energy Efficiency Expo it co-hosted.
Boone EC used a recent energy efficiency expo to show members ways to save energy and money. (Photo By: Boone EC)
Boone Electric Cooperative saw more than 500 people attend the Oct. 29 event, which was truly a cooperative effort.
One friend that helped out is the neighboring municipal utility, Columbia Water & Light.
“When we approached them on this it seemed like a good match because we’re both on the same page as far as energy efficiency measures go,” said Jim Robertson, communications specialist at Columbia-based Boone EC.
Knowing the expo was likely to attract non-members, “We just figured it’s a better idea to share resources and get the message to everybody,” Robertson said. The area is also transient, so someone “may not be a member now, but they could be in a year.”
Two of Boone EC’s other friends are local media players. The Columbia Daily Tribune ran a mini-magazine with a map and program that expo attendees could bring with them.
Robertson’s regular contact at the paper left for a job at KMIZ-TV, the local ABC affiliate.
“I was just kidding with her and said, ‘What do you think about them being a media sponsor?’” he recalled. The friend mentioned it to her boss, who welcomed the idea. The expo wound up receiving about $30,000 worth of station advertising on KMIZ and its sister stations—versus zero TV advertising last year.
And there were eight other friends—seven neighboring distribution co-ops and their G&T, Associated Electric Cooperative—which joined in.
Robertson said most of the people who attended the 2011 Energy Efficiency Expo were “focused on the topic.”
“They were there for a reason,” he said. Do-it-yourself projects were popular, particularly insulation.
And the nearly 30 vendors were happy, with many attracting new business.
“We’re helping the local economy,” Robertson said. “We’re getting people jobs.”
Tags: Consumer Outreach, Efficiency and Conservation, Energy Conservation, Energy Efficiency