JOHNSON CITY – BrightRidge was recognized as an EnergyRight Solutions Top Ten Performer in Total Program Savings and a Top Performer in the EnergyRight Solutions for Industry program by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Tuesday afternoon.

The awards recognize BrightRidge for providing opportunities for residential and business customers to lower their power bills by increasing energy efficiency in the home and workplace.

Collectively, TVA and its 154 local power companies including BrightRidge, exceeded energy efficiency goals for the tenth straight year. Valley-wide efforts over the decade saved 3,400+ GWh -- enough energy to power 230,000 homes for one year. Emissions reductions were equivalent to eliminating a full year of driving by 542,000 cars.

“BrightRidge provides the staffing, promotion and resources to ensure customers are aware of and can participate in energy efficiency opportunities to save on their monthly electric bills,” said Cindy Herron, vice president of EnergyRight Solutions for TVA. “We are very proud of this great accomplishment of 10 years of meeting and exceeding goals are excited about the future in this rapidly changing energy market.”

Chris Quillen, TVA Customer Service Manager Northeast Customer Delivery, presented TVA’s EnergyRight Solutions for Industry Award to BrightRidge Energy Services Advisor Keith Hoffman at the BrightRidge Board of Directors regular monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon.

BrightRidge cut 2.16 million kilowatt hours for industry and saved 6 million kilowatt hours overall, or 2.25 percent of the TVA EnergyRight Solutions program total for fiscal year 2017.

BrightRidge offers eScore to reduce residential home energy usage through simple, clear inhome recommendations offered by BrightRidge professionals; the New Homes Program, which encourages developers to build efficient new homes; the Heat Pump Program to assist homeowners in securing a Quality Contractor and financing; and EnergyRight Solutions for Business and EnergyRight Solutions for Industry which analyze and recommend energy saving opportunities for commercial customers.

BrightRidge also participates in load diversion through its water heater maintenance program that allows water heaters to be remotely disconnected during periods of high demand as well as Voltage Optimization, reducing energy consumption during periods of peak demand.

Further, BrightRidge and Silicon Ranch will unveil a Distributed Solar Solutions project that will add 5 MW of solar capacity to the region later this year.

“We are honored to continue to do our part as a public power provider to help residents, businesses and industries in our service area cut their electric power bills,” BrightRidge CEO Jeff Dykes said. “As many are now learning, as much as a third of power costs are generated by peak demand charges to the system. Everything we can do to lower peak demand and improve system efficiency saves our customers money.”

Dykes added that BrightRidge will continue to partner closely with TVA and the EnergyRight Solutions program as the company looks to save its customers money.

“BrightRidge is a non-profit public company founded in the 1940s to encourage growth and development,” Dykes said. “We do that in many ways, through providing reliable, affordable infrastructure that powers homes and businesses in our region while also partnering with the community to encourage job growth. These are missions that the Board and I take very seriously, and we thank TVA for its support in achieving these goals.”