Income Eligible Energy Savings Kits (IE Kits)
The Energy Resources Center’s IE Kits program, sponsored by ComEd, has joined the premier regional electric utility to assist income-eligible residents in making strides in energy efficiency. Since 2016, the IE Kits program distributes kits comprised of LED bulbs, LED nightlight, advanced power strips, showerheads, aerators, and educational instructions in order to help residents make one money saving improvement at a time. The results have revealed $76/household in savings on electric bills yearly. Through growing teamwork with partner organizations, the IE Kits program has distributed over 176,000 kits since 2016, culminating in an estimated 58,096 MWH, 1,085,380 Therms, and 276,747,790 Gallons of Water, in savings. The IE Kits program is projected to reach 60,000 additional ComEd customers in 2021.
In addition to delivery of the physical kit, the IE Kits program boasts an educational component intended to share the value of energy efficiency with regional residents who’s incomes fall below the lower 80 percent of the Area Median Income for their ZIP code. This outreach to income-qualified residents is the result of unprecedented collaboration between utilities, Community Action Agencies, Community Based Organizations, and Public Housing Authorities. The ERC looks forward to the challenge to scale the program in the future in order to support the State of Illinois’ mandated goal of reducing energy consumption by 2% in 2021 alone.
