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PECO's Deadline To Apply For Special Summer Savings Plan Looms

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)– PECO customers have a chance to save $120 on electric bills this summer, if they don't mind letting their homes get a little warmer than usual. But they have to apply for the special program by Monday.

PECO is offering homeowners $30 a month for the summer - June through September - to let them install a so-called "Smart A/C saver" on their central air compressor. The device has a radio-controlled switch which allows PECO to turn the compressor off remotely.

Spokeswoman Kathy Engel Menendez says the device allows PECO to lower demand for electricity during *peak* usage.

"Think of the times of the summer where there's extremely high temperatures, high heat, high humidity, PECO will call what's known as a 'conservation event' and then we will use those devices to cycle on and off a customer's air conditioning compressor for 15 minute intervals."

Menedez says PECO will continue to take applications but to get the full savings, customers should apply now. She says it may not be a good program for the elderly or others sensitive to heat.

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