Madison, Wisconsin, – Bayfield County and the City of Lodi are the first two communities in Wisconsin to participate in the FOCUS ON ENERGY® Save to Give Challenge initiative. Officially launching in 2021, the Save to Give Challenge will offer Lodi Electric Utility customers and Xcel Energy electric customers in Bayfield County a new way to save energy, save money and make a difference in their communities. The challenge will engage residents in fun, community-building activities that conserve energy in their homes while supporting a local charity of the community’s choice.

The Save to Give Challenge is the latest community offering from Focus on Energy, available exclusively to rural communities. The challenge will leverage residents’ existing motivation to support a local charity by encouraging them incorporate energy efficiency in their own homes.

In Bayfield County, any customer of Xcel Energy will be eligible to participate in the challenge. The same is true of Lodi Electric Utility customers in the City of Lodi. Participating residents will learn and adopt no- and low-cost energy actions and track their progress through a web portal on their phone or desktop. Each time they track the energy actions they’ve taken, they will earn points toward the community charity. When enough residents participate and accrue points by saving energy, the community’s favorite organization can earn a donation of up to $25,000 from Focus on Energy.

Participants will also have easy access to energy-saving tips and information about other offerings from Focus on Energy and their utility to help them save even more. Through time-limited campaigns – coupled with longer-term strategies – the pilot will engage rural households to implement both behavior-based energy savings and greater participation in Focus on Energy programs.

“Save to Give is an innovative idea that’s right in line with our goals,” said Focus on Energy Director Erinn Monroe-Nye. “We’re hoping that the extra motivation to help a local organization will inspire some easy, lasting changes in energy usage that will benefit residents financially, reduce waste and benefit the organizations that mean so much to rural Wisconsin.”
For communities like Bayfield County, the Save to Give Challenge also aligns with its goals to save energy and support local organizations. In the last five years, the community has rallied around renewable energy. Solar electric generation across the region’s homes, businesses and government entities has increased tenfold during this time.

“Residential energy conservation is a natural first step for the region to encourage,” wrote Mark Abeles-Allison in the county’s community application. “As residential best practices are implemented, spinoff effects will be noticed as workplaces and the larger general community are impacted by the new behavioral practices.”

The Save to Give Challenge also fits in with the City of Lodi’s goals – energy and otherwise. “There couldn’t be a more perfect fit than the Save to Give Challenge in Lodi,” said Mayor Ann Groves Lloyd. “The residents in Lodi are environmentally conscious and this gives them an opportunity to save energy and money in their own homes while generating donations to a vital community resource: Reach out Lodi.”

For more information about the Save to Give Challenge, visit Focus on Energy’s website at www.focusonenergy.com/savetogive.

About Focus on Energy
Focus on Energy empowers the people and businesses of Wisconsin to make smart energy decisions with enduring economic benefits. Since 2001, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable resource program has stayed true to that mission statement. On behalf of 107 Wisconsin electric and natural gas utilities, Focus on Energy’s information, resources and financial incentives benefit all Wisconsinites by implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that otherwise wouldn’t happen, or in some cases years sooner than scheduled.