MASON - Students at Mason Junior High School are learning how making just a few simple changes in their families’ home energy habits can save money and natural resources. They recently participated in the PowerHouse ™ energy investigation program, which was sponsored by Central Texas Electric Co-op (CTEC) for 54 students in Beth Smith’s sixth-grade science class.

"I learned with PowerHouse that my house can be more energy efficient if we use day lighting when we can instead of turning on lights," said Kendra Klaerner. "We can also save money by unplugging devices when not using them."

"I liked the PowerHouse program because it taught me how to improve on using energy and water wisely," said Steeley Smith.

PowerHouse provides students the opportunity to learn hands-on about the impacts of energy consumption. Using a walk-through home energy audit guide, students and their parents investigate and record their households’ energy use by appliances and other features. The program teaches students about efficiency and conservation and how being energy smart at home can affect the environment and their families’ budgets through lower utility bills. Information the students gather is used to produce an energy audit report, which provides efficiency and conservation recommendations to be used in the home.

"Through PowerHouse, students learn about resources used to produce electricity and how that electricity gets to their homes," said Carlos Staudt, Member Services manager, CTEC. "The program also helps them understand how their households’ energy use can affect our environment. The icing on the cake is learning how simple changes can help save money on their families’ utility bills."

During the 2009-2010 school year, more than 7,100 students learned how to use less energy and save natural resources, thanks to PowerHouse presentations in 60 schools with 29 utility sponsors. LCRA developed the program and offers it to its wholesale electric customers.