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By Kris Harrell

Multiple organizations and businesses in Butler County collaborated recently to educate community members on energy efficiency and how usage impacts their utility bills. 

The Home Energy Workshop was a collaboration between the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Pioneer Electric Cooperative and the Organized Community Action Program (OCAP).

“This is our first time and Pioneer’s first time we have events like this all the time [sponsoring this event] for seniors,” said Sharlean Briggs the County Extension Coordinator for Butler County. “We do a lot of things with seniors in our community. For the first one, I think it went very well.

“A size like this in Butler County – 40 to 50 people – is a plus. We wanted to make sure that we brought every angle to this so saving money, managing money and OCAP has some funding that might be available for those that qualify for it. So, we wanted to make sure there was something for everyone.”

During the workshop last Wednesday, Christi Scruggs, the vice president of marketing and communications at Pioneer Electric, talked about how to manage energy expenditures and how weather impacts the power bill due to heating and cooling. 

Additionally, Scruggs provided visual representation for some of the points discussed, including a wattage comparison that showed how different items used different watt power and how weather strips cut down on air blowing into the home. 

Scruggs also highlighted how to manage energy expenditures.

“Education is one of our founding principles, and it’s important to us that our members are educated in how they use energy in their homes,” Scruggs said. “Ultimately, we would like for people to use energy wisely in a way that fits their budget. We’d like to avoid those high power bills, just like our members do, so we thought this would be a good way to bring people in, give them some easy ways they could save energy and save money in their homes. “

Alabama Extension agents also discussed with attendees about how to manage their money if they saw savings with some of the tips and tricks taught during the workshop. 

To help with this, the extension office gave away and promoted their 2025 WISE Money Management Calendar which provides a guide to manage weekly income, savings and expenses. 

“We understand that paying power bills and making sure you can pay the power bills sometimes comes down to how you manage your money,” Briggs said. “Christi Scruggs wanted to provide the part about how to save money, and we wanted to provide the part about how to manage your money once you have these savings. We’re all about the person as a whole, so your finances as well as anything in your home, those things we think came together.”

Applications for OCAP’s weatherization program, which helps homeowners improve the energy efficiency of their house, were available along with information about OCAP’s other programs, including Early Head Start and Head Start, Pre-K programs, a father and motherhood program and the Lockheed Program / low-income energy assistance program.  

Isaiah Scott planner for the organized community action program (OCAP) 

“OCAP has a plethora of programs that are all targeted to improve the livelihood of the low-income population that we serve; that’s the whole premise of OCAP and other community action programs,” Scott said.

For questions related to power bills or energy usage, Scruggs urges people to call Pioneer Electric for assistance.