Jeff Barrie | 
Watch the video here:
May
29
May
21
Dear Friends, It has been an exhilarating adventure producing Kilowatt Ours and seeing it make such a broad, positive impact in the world. I write with a heartfelt thank you to the thousands of people who have taken its message, shared it in your communities and made energy saving changes in your lives. You have become the solution, and your stories continue to inspire me! I recently learned that government data indicate a 2.3% decline in coal consumption in the electric power sector in the near term (source: EIA.DOE.gov) — a sign that the vision portrayed in Kilowatt Ours is becoming a reality. We know that Kilowatt Ours has helped save untold millions of kilowatts. Now I ask you to help “Save Kilowatt Ours!”
This is an urgent appeal for your financial support to help us bridge a shortfall, and to reach continued greatness in changing the world. In two weeks, without your support, we are faced with the reality of cutting our staff, slashing our award-winning programs, and closing our office.
Please help us today by…
1) making a donation of $5 or more at http://www.KilowattOurs.org/SaveKilowattOurs (donations of $55 or more may choose to receive a gift copy of Nancy Sleeth’s wonderful, inspiring new book “Go Green, Save Green.”)
2) asking a friend or twelve to make a donation(s) (If you are with an organization — please forward to your listserves as appropriate)
3) thinking of people or companies that you feel will be interested in making larger financial contributions or sponsorships – please help us connect with them.
We have been running full-throttle for 5 years to get our message to the widest audience possible, with great success. Kilowatt Ours has now been broadcast more than 1200 times on 400+ public TV stations nationwide, reaching 75% of the public TV marketplace. Not bad for a shoestring film project produced in my basement apartment. Since all broadcasts are royalty-free, we must find other creative ways to finance our continued work, including asking all our friends, fans and collaborators, like you. We are actively seeking new grants, sponsorships, and Recovery Act dollars to broaden our work, and we foresee much prosperity moving forward. YOU can help us today by making a small contribution, and being as generous as you are able: http://www.KilowattOurs.org/SaveKilowattOurs
Our vision for the next few years includes:
- Delivering our award-winning youth initiative into every school in America, to build a young generation of energy conservation leaders. We have piloted this curriculum in many classrooms nationwide for three years, demonstrated results, and are ready to scale up!
- Expanding our neighborhoods program to every community in the nation. This program launched in Nashville this spring, when we knocked on 1000 doors in our pilot neighborhood and began the process of teaching households how to make energy savings stick and grow for the long haul.
- Enhancing our community screenings program to reach ever larger numbers of audiences nationwide, fueling the mantra of energy conservation, and mobilizing more and more people to hold the vision for a greater, greener world.
It has been proven that Kilowatt Ours results in significant energy and financial savings for participants and viewers, and we are committed to keeping this message alive during this crucial time in America and the world. Please help us share the message as widely as possible by making your donation and forwarding this message to your trusted friends. Donations of any size help.
Thank you for what you can do! Click here now: http://www.KilowattOurs.org/SaveKilowattOurs
All the best,
Jeff Barrie
Founder of Kilowatt Ours
PS: Did I mention you can make a donation today at: http://www.KilowattOurs.org/SaveKilowattOurs
PPS: Have you interacted with our website community? http://www.KilowattOursCommunity.org check it out to access the Kilowatt Counter, discussion forums, interactive script and free downloads! See also, http://www.KilowattOurs.org
May
21
This morning I am inspired to share with you some of the successes of Kilowatt Ours — a documentary film I produced on a shoestring budget (less than $25,000) in my basement apartment six years ago that has turned into a non-profit organization and an energy conservation movement.
Last year, I raised some money through sponsorships and grants, and released the updated national edition of Kilowatt Ours to public TV stations nationwide, with the challenging goal of reaching 50% of the public TV marketplace in America. We went on the air on October 1, 2008, and here are the results to-date:
- more than 1,200 airings
- more than 400 stations scheduling broadcasts
- 75% of the public TV marketplace has carried Kilowatt Ours
- more than 250,000 households tuning in
And, Kilowatt Ours — the organization — has achieved the following:
- developed an award-winning schools curriculum that has been adopted by more than 2,000 schools nationwide (great work sister!)
- thousands of fans have logged their energy saving changes on our Kilowatt Counter, saving an estimated 5,000,000 pounds of coal since the counter was launched two years ago
- launched our interactive online viewing tool where you can watch chapters from the film, read the script, and learn more about the issues, facts and figures in the movie
- launched KilowattOursCommunity.org — a place where you can join the discussion about the issues, share your energy saving success stories, and keep up to date with all things Kilowatt Ours.
- shared our energy saving tips with thousands of fans (you can save $1000 on your power bills every year with this free download)
We have big plans in the coming years — including getting our curriculum into every school in America, and developing our neighborhood energy conservation program. Please join our network so we can keep you updated as we continue to fuel America’s energy conservation craze. And as always, we love to hear from you… email us at info / at / KilowattOurs / dot / org
May
19
For the past several months Kilowatt Ours has been working with the Campaign for an Energy Efficient America to popularize the need for a National Energy Efficiency Resource Standard.
Here are just some of the benefits we will all enjoy if a national EERS is implemented to reduce electricity demand by 15 percent and natural gas demand by 10 percent by 2020*:
- $168 billion in utility bill savings for consumers and businesses
- 222,000 new permanent, high-quality jobs in construction and other fields
- 262 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions prevented in 2020 – like taking 48 million cars off the roads for that year
- 390 polluting power plants won’t need to be built
* Source: Campaign for an Energy Efficient Economy http://energyefficiencyworks.org
Businesses, industry groups and environmentalists all agree that EERS is smart energy policy that will make American businesses more competitive while protecting consumers and the environment. 19 states already have an EERS and have demonstrated promising results. EERS was included in the initial energy and climate draft in the House of Representatives, but in early May the House reached a compromise and the efficiency target was reduced to 5-8%.
It is now up to the Senate to recognize that energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest and cleanest way to meet our growing energy needs. Fifteen percent electric efficiency and 10 percent natural gas efficiency standards are achievable and will spur job growth and consumer savings. We believe both need to be included in any final bill sent to President Obama.
You can become a local leader in this effort in the following ways:
- We have opportunities for you to meet with your senators or their district office staff, host screenings of Kilowatt Ours in your community and enlist audience members to write letters to their Senators and letters to the editor, and/or you can write letters to the editor and help in other ways. Visit www.KilowattOurs.org/EERS.php to get started.
- Place calls to your Senators, letting them know you support an EERS. You can find your Senators by clicking here. Please let us know if you make the calls by emailing Gretchen /at/ KilowattOurs.org
- If your organization or business would like to be added to the position statement found at: http://energyefficiencyworks.org/about/position-statement please contact us at Gretchen /at/ KilowattOurs.org
Thank you for helping with this important work.