members to turn down their thermostats and save energy to preserve electric grid stability. The incentive
drawing was released on Friday evening on social media, SECOEnergy.com and distributed to local media
outlets. More than 50,000 members read the communications about the thermostat incentive drawing
and submitted nearly 10,000 photos of their thermostats with the settings turned down to 65 degrees
or less.
SECO’s service area experienced early morning temperatures that plunged into the low 20s in some
portions of the Central Florida SECO service area and the low 30s in other parts. SECO and its wholesale
power provider, Seminole Electric, Inc. (SECI), proactively took action to ensure grid stability and system
reliability.
SECO Energy asked members to assist the cooperative with ensuring grid stability during this past
weekend’s cold temperatures by lowering their thermostats to 65 degrees from Friday evening to
Sunday evening. Lowering the thermostat for the duration of the event helped members save money
and energy, while helping SECO and SECI preserve grid stability. ENERGY STAR recommends a setting of
68 degrees in the winter, so the three-degree adjustment was minimal. Members also helped conserve
energy by lowering their water heater temperature below 120 degrees and curtailing household tasks
like doing laundry and running the dishwasher.
The coldest temperatures blanketed the area on Sunday morning. Ocala was 22 degrees, Leesburg was
32 degrees, Clermont was 39 degrees and Inverness 27. At 8 a.m., SECO had an instantaneous load of
929MW (megawatts) and SECI’s load was 3,998MW. SECO experienced only four outages systemwide
that affected 160 members. There were reports of flickering in the Marion Oaks area in Ocala but overall,
the SECO Energy and Seminole electric systems held up extraordinarily well. Historically, the SECO
system has experienced similar extremely cold temperatures but with higher kWh usage. It’s clear that
SECO members stepped up and conserved when asked.
Over 8,200 members sent in photos of their thermostat set at 65 degrees in an effort to conserve energy
during the cold weather event. Members who sent a photo of their thermostat set at 65 degrees during
the weekend event via email, text or social media were entered to win great prizes.
Random drawing prize winners are:
• Three $500 SECO Energy bill credits: Rory Davis, Wildwood; Charles Perry, Astatula; and William
Westmoreland, Inverness
• Three NEST Learning Thermostats: Mark Piazza, The Villages; Dawn Finney, Umatilla; and Carolyn
Clement, Inverness.
• Three HoneyWell Wi-Fi thermostats: Victoria Pierce, Minneola; Bryce Lemke, Clermont; and
Marla Feichtenbiner, Ocala
• Three Apple TV boxes: Yushica Vaughns Johnson, The Villages; Krystal O’Brien, Eustis; and Vicky
Mikrut, Belleview
• Three iPad’s (9th Generation): Henry Frick, Tavares; Clint Louton, Mount Dora; and Troy Davidson,
Groveland
CEO Curtis Wynn stated, “Thank you to members who made a critical difference for SECO Energy and
Seminole in reducing our overall load during critical peak events this past weekend. We are grateful for
your actions to reduce energy use by lowering your thermostat and curtailing household activities
involving electric usage. You did your part to ensure statewide grid stability last weekend. By reducing
energy usage during an extremely cold weather event, you also helped to keep your bill lower and save
money.”
Learn more about saving energy at SECOEnergy.com>Energy Solutions>Energy Efficiency and access our
online tools such as the Energy Estimator, the Home Energy Assessment and the Solar Estimator. SECO
employs a team of Energy Services Specialists (ESS) and operates an Energy Services help resource at
ESS@SECOEnergy.com. Visit the website today about saving energy and money on your bill.
“Like” SECO on Facebook and “follow” @SECOEnergy on Twitter for news releases and cooperative
updates. SECO Energy is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
