North Carolina appliance retailers must register by the close of business April 13 to participate in the state’s Energy Star Appliance Replacement and Rebate Program. Registration is available through a link on the N.C. Energy Office’s Web site. The program will offer North Carolina residents a 15 percent rebate when they buy certain Energy Star-rated appliances over a four-day period beginning on Earth Day in April. The N.C. Energy Office is also encouraging retailers to offer additional sales and discounts during the program.
Representatives of chain and independent appliance stores and the N.C. Retail Merchants Association gathered at the N.C. Energy Office Thursday to urge other stores to get involved in this program. A link to the retailer Web site is available on the N.C. Energy Office’s site, www.energync.net. Retailers should look for the blue Energy Star logo beside the words “Retailer Information Here” for the forms and procedures to participate.
“We know, from the volume of calls the Energy Office has been receiving, that there is very strong interest from consumers who want to take advantage of these discounts to save on appliances and save energy,” said Ward Lenz, director of Commerce’s N.C. Energy Office.
As of Wednesday, 340 stores across the state have signed up to participate in the Energy Star Appliance Replacement and Rebate program. The program, offered by the N.C. Energy Office through the U.S. Department of Energy and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, allows consumers to replace older refrigerators, freezers, washing machines and dishwashers with similar new Energy Star-rated items purchased between April 22 and April 25.
The individual energy savings for households can be significant. For example, a new Energy Star-rated refrigerator uses half the electricity as the same-size refrigerator built before 1995. By replacing older appliances with the 49,960 Energy Star items expected to be purchased during the program period, enough electricity will be saved to power 536 homes for a year. Natural gas savings would serve 390 homes for a year.
North Carolina received $8.8 million through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to participate in the Energy Star Appliance Replacement and Rebate program. The distribution of the money for the program was based on state population. The Energy Star Rebate program will be conducted in two phases. The first offers a 15 percent at-the-store rebate during the upcoming Earth Day weekend.