Con Edison: newsroom - news release - Con Edison Joins Earth Hour Movement

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Con Edison Media Relations
For Immediate Release: March 24, 2009
12:30 p.m.

CON EDISON JOINS EARTH HOUR MOVEMENT

Encourages its Customers to Participate

NEW YORK – Con Edison is joining forces with the World Wildlife Fund, a global, multinational conservation organization, to encourage New Yorkers to turn off non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on March 28, to send a powerful message about conservation and to raise awareness about climate change.

Con Edison is taking part in the global “Earth Hour” initiative and will power down the clock tower lights on its landmark headquarters building at 4 Irving Place during the event.

“All of us can do our part to help save the environment,” said Rebecca Craft, director of Energy Efficiency Programs at Con Edison. “For this special hour, we are asking our customers to join us and other notable New York institutions to promote actions for a cleaner planet.”

Among other suggestions, The World Wildlife Fund (www.worldwildlife.org) encourages individuals participating in “Earth Hour” to:

turn off the lights and power down the computer and cell phone;

use the hour for practical tasks for which you never seem to have time. Test essential items in your emergency preparedness kit like flashlights, radios, and cell phones. Change out all your light bulbs to energy-efficient CFLs. Change the batteries in your smoke detectors; and/or

update your status on social media networking sites to reflect that you will be taking part in “Earth Hour” and encourage friends to join the movement. Take photos of how you spent the hour and upload them to the “Earth Hour” pages on Facebook, Myspace and YouTube.

The organization has assembled an impressive roster of renowned structures throughout the world that will also join the effort to reduce climate change, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sears Tower in Chicago, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. [NYSE: ED], one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $14 billion in annual revenues and $33 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York. For additional financial, operations and customer service information, visit Con Edison’s Web site at www.conEd.com.

About World Wildlife Fund and Earth Hour
Earth Hour (www.EarthHourUS.org) is a global initiative of WWF in which millions of people around the world will cast a vote in favor of action on climate change by turning off their lights for one hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm local time. By voting with their light switches, Earth Hour participants will send a powerful, visual message to their leaders demanding immediate action on climate change. WWF is the world’s leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for nearly half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, stop the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more.

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