kent escalate: AEP launches $10M ad campaign encouraging energy conservation

Thursday, August 30, 2012

AEP launches $10M ad campaign encouraging energy conservation

American Electric Power Company Inc. has been promoting smart-meter technology with its mobile GridSmart Demonstration Project.?

American Electric Power Company Inc. (NYSE:AEP) plans to spend nearly $10 million over the next three years on an advertising campaign aimed at getting its customers in Ohio to cut their energy use.

That may sound counterintuitive for a company whose profits are driven in part by electricity sales, but that is the reality for power companies in Ohio because of energy efficiency standards approved by state legislators in 2008.

The new campaign, dubbed ?Energy is Precious. Let?s Not Waste It,? features advertising in the all the markets served by AEP Ohio, including Columbus, said spokeswoman Terri Flora. The ads have started running in newspapers and magazines and appearing on television, radio, billboards and digital media.

Created by Engauge Columbus, the ads talk about wasted energy in what an AEP release describes as ?humorous style.? They feature icons that show wasted energy in everyday scenarios.

?We continue to try find ways to educate customers about energy efficiency programs to help them save money,? Flora told me.

She said AEP Ohio?s appliance rebate program will be at the center of the advertising campaign. It provides rebates to customers for buying Energy Star-certified clothes washers, refrigerators, freezers, dehumidifiers and compact fluorescent light bulbs. The company also is continuing to pay customers for having their old, inefficient refrigerators or freezers picked up and recycled.

Ohio utility regulators allow AEP to recover the cost of educational and outreach efforts on its energy efficiency programs through a rider on customers? bills. It works out to less than $2 a month for an average residential customer, Flora said.

Also as part of the ?Energy is Precious? effort, AEP has developed a mobile interactive exhibit in conjunction with Event Marketing Strategies. The custom coach and has been making the rounds at county fairs and other events this summer, showing off ways for consumers to save money by conserving energy. It?s scheduled to make stops at the Columbus Italian Festival from Oct. 5-7 and the Circleville Pumpkin Festival Oct. 17-20.

AEP also has a custom coach to promote smart-meter technology with a mobile GridSmart Demonstration Project.