BrightSave Home

A sustainable energy future requires more than flipping the switch to renewable energy. It’s also important to educate the public about how they consume electricity and ways they can reduce their carbon footprint through changes in behavior and other conservation measures.

Promoting energy efficiency is one tactic policymakers have used to help utilities postpone the need to build costly – both financially and environmentally – fossil-fueled power plants.

In response, I was part of the Tucson Electric Power team of engineers and marketers who developed the BrightSave Home energy efficiency (EE) programs, supported by the Arizona Corporate Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy.

TEP had already achieved nationally recognized success through its energy smart new homes through partnerships with local and national builders. The goal of BrightSave was to help homeowners learn how making low-cost to moderate upgrades to their existing homes could bring significant energy savings.

We developed an advertising campaign that included TV, print and radio spots. The campaign was themed around Gabe, a likeable energy expert who had some many bright ideas a light bulb hovered above his head. This off-putting visual element gave a little spunk to an otherwise pedestrian topic.

The campaign was themed around Gabe, a likeable energy expert who had some many bright ideas a light bulb hovered above his head. This off-putting visual element gave a little spunk to an otherwise pedestrian topic.