Oct 29 2007
Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest not-for-profit health plan, will today celebrate significant energy efficiency upgrades and solar installations the healthcare provider has implemented across Northern and Central California to reduce its energy use at a check presentation event in Redwood City.
The improvements will not only dramatically cut the Kaiser Permanente's operating costs, they will also earn the healthcare provider $1.6 million in rebates this year. The rebates are part of PG&E's industry-leading energy efficiency programs, which have helped to save its customers nearly $10 billion over the past three decades.
"The combination of energy efficiency and solar power provides our customers with an effective way to reduce green house gas emissions and minimize their energy costs," said Brad Whitcomb, vice president of customer products and services for PG&E. "By creating successful partnerships like the one we have today with Kaiser Permanente, we're demonstrating the very real and positive impact that PG&E's smart energy solutions can have on our customers' businesses and homes."
Working closely with Kaiser Permanente, PG&E helped the healthcare provider's facilities identify ways they could benefit financially from energy efficiency investments. For example, following an extensive energy audit at the Redwood City facility, PG&E made recommendations on energy efficiency measures and solar installations that not only generated the one-time rebate check of $92,518 presented at today's event, but will continue to save the facility 734,354 kWh/year, adding up to an annual energy savings of $95,466. This is the equivalent of powering 107 homes for a year, or taking 56 cars off the road for a year, while preventing 403 tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted into the atmosphere.
"Just as we are totally committed to the health and safety of our members, we are equally committed to the health and safety of our environment," said Linda Jensen, senior vice president and area manager, Kaiser Permanente San Mateo area. "Kaiser Permanente has a long and proud history of being a careful steward of the environment, and we are pleased to share and celebrate this tradition with PG&E today."
PG&E is a national leader in helping its customers use energy efficiency as a cost-effective way of reducing their energy bills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past three decades, PG&E's 85 distinct residential and commercial energy efficiency programs have helped its customers save more than 118 million megawatt-hours of electricity and 10.7 billion therms of natural gas. These joint efforts have resulted in enough saved electricity to power over 18 million homes and enough annual natural gas to heat 15 million homes, while preventing over 125 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
Kaiser Permanente, founded in 1945, is a non-profit integrated health care organization, with physicians, nurses and staff working in collaboration to provide high quality care to patients and address the health care needs of communities served by the organization. The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region serves almost 3.2 million members. It includes 5,000 physicians in The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) and about 54,000 employees. The region has 19 major medical centers. Each year, Kaiser Permanente donates about $300 million to a variety of community programs and agencies in Northern California.
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