On Friday, the Eastern Sierra Council of Governments met to discuss issues that concern Inyo County, Mono County, the Town of Mammoth and the City of Bishop.

The big news from the meeting was the expansion of the High Sierra Energy Foundation, which has now increased energy saving efforts beyond the Town of Mammoth Lakes with the new High Sierra Energy Initiative. In partnership with the California Public Utilities Commission and Southern California Edison, the High Sierra Energy Foundation has pursued energy efficiency, a reduction in greenhouse gases, and an improvement in air quality.

This new High Sierra Energy Initiative starts January 1. The goal is to save 1.8 million kilowatt-hours or $300,000 in government facilities in Inyo-Mono by 2012. For Southern California Edison, the goal is to save 4.7 billion KW hours for Edison customers over the next three years.

While our primary goal is working with our local governments to save energy in their facilities, our secondary goal is helping residents and businesses to save even more energy in the Eastern Sierra, Rick Phelps, Executive Director of the High Sierra Energy Foundation, added. Phelps says Southern California Edison has an extensive offering of energy efficiency programs for residential, business and multi-family customers, and we will promote and assist Edison customers with these programs in hopes of capturing even more energy efficiency.

For more information, visit the website at http://www.highsierraenergy.org/.