Customer Newsletters
Customer Connection
View articles below from recent versions of the Customer Connection newsletter from Dominion Energy.
December 2018
- Power the Future: One Hundred and Twenty Students. Twenty-four Hours. One Dominion Energy.
- EnergyShare to Weatherize 100 Homes for 100 Veterans
- Small Changes, Big Difference: Prepping Your Home for the Cold Winter Ahead
Power the Future: One Hundred and Twenty Students. Twenty-four Hours. One Dominion Energy.
Recently, Dominion Energy partnered with Virginia Commonwealth University for “Power the Future,” a twenty-four hour design-a-thon. The challenge brought together students from across the country to test their problem solving skills and collaboration while designing an innovative solution.
The students were shown a short video with a simple call to action: Design a technological solution for Dominion Energy. The purpose of the solution was then entirely up to the students to decide, and then create.
Dominion Energy employees – from branding teams to information technology specialists – were available to help the students throughout the challenge. Human Resources was also on hand to locate potential new hires and intern candidates. After twenty-four hours of brainstorming, designing, and building nearly complete prototypes, the teams were then judged by Dominion Energy employees in a science-fair format. To determine the most innovative and valuable solutions, the top teams then went to a second round of “Shark Tank” style judging with Dominion Energy executives.
The winning team created an app that enables customers to report an outage, monitor energy usage and take steps to reduce their carbon footprint.
EnergyShare to Weatherize 100 Homes for 100 Veterans
Dominion Energy will provide energy efficiency upgrades to at least 100 homes of Virginia veterans between now and Veterans Day 2019 under a new “100 Homes for 100 Veterans” project.
In partnership with the Department of Veterans Services, the company will offer free upgrades and education to reduce energy usage and save money on energy bills. The projects may also include other home repairs and special needs to improve safety and comfort in the home.
The EnergyShare program was further expanded by the Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018. The expansion included a $130 million commitment through 2028 to reach and help more Virginians through bill assistance, free weatherization and educational outreach.
To kick off “100 Homes for 100 Veterans,” Dominion Energy volunteers recently joined experts from project:Homes to weatherize the home of a Chesterfield County Navy veteran. The weatherization efforts by the volunteers included: sealing air leaks in the attic, ductwork, walls, windows and adding insulation, new outlets, CO2 and smoke detectors and more.
Small Changes, Big Difference: Prepping Your Home for the Cold Winter Ahead
Take these 10 simple steps now to make your home more comfortable, all while saving energy and money.
- Lower your thermostat to 68 degrees.
- Seal all holes from pipes and wires that enter/exit the living space including entrances, pull-downs and attic stair openings, light fixtures, pipes and wires.
- Make sure that all duct work is sealed at joints and intersections with duct sealer or silicone caulk. Ducts can be sealed using foil-backed tape or silicon caulking.
- Lower your water heater to 120-125 degrees to reduce the amount of fuel needed to heat the water.
- Change your furnace filters every month to prevent furnace breakdowns. Have a professional check and clean furnaces once a year.
- Inspect windows and doors for air leaks. Use weatherstripping or caulking to seal air leaks.
- Insulate the first 3- to 6-feet of cold and hot water pipes near the water heater.
- Wrap your water heater with an insulation blanket to slow the drop in temperature from the hot water tank as it sits unused.
- Add insulation to your attic.
Decorating your house for the holidays? Use light-emitting diode (LED) holiday lights to cut down on the cost of energy usage. LED lights not only save energy but also last longer, and are more durable than other types of bulbs. View our holiday lighting calculator to see how much energy you’re using for your holiday lighting.
