Published: October 26, 2009 08:02 pm         

Dixie Bee students learn about energy efficiency

TERRE HAUTE — Vectren partnered with the National Energy Foundation to bring Think! Energy Indiana, an energy efficiency education program, to Terre Haute’s Dixie Bee Elementary school on Oct. 20.

Part of Vectren’s Conservation Connection initiative, which provides tools and resources to help consumers lower energy bills, the program brought interactive, hands-on classroom presentations and take-home conservation kits to fifth-grade classrooms at the school. The program teaches the importance of energy, natural resources and environmental issues and gives each participating student’s family the technologies to start making a difference at home.

“Through this program, we hope to get kids thinking about energy efficiency at an early age,” said Doug Petitt, Vectren’s vice president of marketing and conservation. “Kids’ involvement in conservation and using energy wisely can translate to parental involvement in the home and long-term improvements/reductions in energy consumption.”

The conservation kit includes simple measures to reduce energy usage such as a high-efficiency showerhead, which help consumers reduce water heating costs, and a filter tone alarm, which tells homeowners when its time to change the furnace filter. The kit also includes key information on natural gas safety such as scratch-n-sniff cards, which help students detect a natural gas leak, and tips on how to recognize and avoid underground gas lines.

More than 110 students participated in the program at Dixie Bee. In total, Vectren’s Think! Energy program will reach more than 1,000 students through 13 schools throughout Indiana this October, which is National Energy Awareness Month.