Survey Shows Many Consumers Willing to Conserve Electricity During Heat Waves; Only Small Percentage Say They Already Do

WASHINGTON -- - If asked to do so, many consumers say they are willing to make a few adjustments to conserve electricity during a heat wave, according to the results of a national survey by Edison Electric Institute. However, only a small percentage of consumers say they already are taking these steps.

The following percentages of consumers said they are already taking these steps to conserve electricity:

If asked to do so by their electric company, an additional percentage of those polled say they are very likely to take the above steps:

"Its encouraging to know that consumers are willing to take action to conserve energy during a heat wave," said EEI's Sam Tornabene, Director of Communication Services, "We hope more will take these actions to lower their electric bill this summer. Consumers will find that they won't be sacrificing comfort. They'll also be contributing to a more reliable electric system during heat waves."

In addition to these short term efforts to improve the reliability of the electricity system, Tornabene noted that long term solutions will require new transmission and generation facilities, as well as the improvement of existing facilities.

The survey was conducted by Research International/Cambridge of 1,000 adult Americans from May 26-June 22, 2000. The margin of error for the full sample is 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence interval.

The Edison Electric Institute is the association of shareholder-owned electric utilities, international affiliates and associate members. Its domestic members produce more than three-quarters of the nation's electricity.