Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the house of Windsor.

No, the British royal family isn’t stopping by for a visit. But for Longmont and the other Platte River Power Association communities, there have been some crowning achievements in energy efficiency.

That’s a big statement, but it’s backed by bigger numbers from our own Efficiency Works energy efficiency program. This week, Platte River announced that since the start of the Efficiency Works program in 2014, homes and businesses in Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins and Estes Park have saved a collective 178,253 megawatt-hours.

What’s that mean in English? That’s enough to power nearly 23,000 homes for a year … in other words, a community almost the size of Windsor, Colo.

Powerful strides indeed.

As I’ve mentioned before, big energy savings are often the result of smaller actions adding up bit by bit. Those decisions matter, especially saving energy means saving money as well. And this month, Efficiency Works has a lot of opportunities to save. For example, there’s:

• The Smarter Summer smart thermostat programfrom Longmont Power & Communications and ecobee, where up to 200 volunteer customers with an ecobee smart thermostat can have their air conditioning automatically adjusted during high demand periods and receive up to $75 of bill credit for participating. (Don’t have an ecobee smart thermostat? There’s a sale on at the Efficiency Works Store!)
• The refrigerator recycling program, which is doubling the reward during May – let Efficiency Works take your old fridge and receive $70 instead of the usual $35.
• And of course, there’s the year-round opportunities to have a live or virtual energy assessment done and receive rebates for energy-efficiency upgrades.

So take a look at the opportunities. You may be blown away at what it can mean for you and your community.

Yes, the answers are blowin’ in the Windsor.