First Choice Power received the Best in Show Award from the Lewisville Showcase. The award is decided by votes from attendees of the annual event.

First Choice Power had representatives at the booth to sign new customers up for electricity service and to answer customer service questions about customers’ bills.

Because the event was held on Halloween, First Choice Power employees also gave out candy to Lewisville kids who came by the booth.

Visitors to the First Choice Power booth also entered to win a solar-powered brief case. A doctor in Lewisville won the prize.

For more information on First Choice Power’s community work in Lewisville, visit www.FirstChoicePower.com/Lewisville.

Today, First Choice Power employees delivered First Choice Power Classroom Energy Innovation Grant checks to Adam Small of Northbrook Elementary School in Saginaw and Lauran McDaniels of R.F. Patterson Elementary School in Arlington.

Classroom Energy Innovation Grants providing funding for teachers to purchase tools to teach energy and energy-efficiency in their classrooms. First Choice Power awarded more than 20 grants to Texas teachers this fall.

Small’s third-graders will use new laptop computers, stop-motion cameras and video-editing software to create a series of short movies about energy and conservation of natural resources. These film formats will range from humorous public service announcements to interesting and dramatic interpretation videos. The films will be produced on a weekly basis and will be shared within the school district.

McDaniels is taking a more direct approach reducing her energy usage by avoiding overhead projectors, boom boxes and copy machines.  Students will be learning to effectively research the Internet for important events in music history, discover various types and genres of music, discuss music and form knowledgeable opinions using musical vocabulary and then create their very own composition.

Congratulations to Small and McDaniels.

Decomposing trash at a Lewisville landfill is being turned into power, according to a story in the Dallas Morning News.

Waste Management Inc. in Lewisville is turning the methane from the decomposing trash to generate electricity.

Methane, a greenhouse gas, is one of the main components of natural gas.

Wells at the landfill collect the methane to fuel the turbines at an on-site power plant to produce electricity.

According to the article, Lewisville is adding enough power to the grid to power 5,000 homes each year.

The El Paso Times did an editorial this week about a report by Environment Texas that ranks Texas No. 1 in the country for pollution, but improving thanks to Texas wind energy.

According to the Environment Texas report Texas was the nation’s No. 1 one emitter of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use in 2007.

Texas’ global warming pollution declined by 2 percent since 2004, the report said.

First Choice Power customers helped plant 3,000 new trees and will save several hundred more by signing up for paperless billing and automatic payments. For each customer who signed up for paperless billing in August-October, First Choice Power donated to the Arbor Day Foundation to plant a new tree.

“The commitment by First Choice Power and its customers to plant trees in our nation’s forests will positively impact our world,” said John Rosenow, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Trees clean the air and waterways and provide habitat for wildlife. We are grateful for First Choice Power’s commitment to improving the environment by planting trees.”

First Choice Power’s ongoing partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation this year has led to 8,000 new trees being planted and protecting 500,000 square feet of rain forest.

Learn more.

Daylight savings has come and gone.  This twice yearly ritual of changing your clocks is also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.

By now you’ve changed your clocks, but have you changed the batteries in your smoke detectors?

According to the Red Cross, almost one-fourth of all installed smoke detectors in the United States do not work because of dead or missing batteries.

Checking and changing the batteries could save you and your family in case of a fire.

October was Fire Prevention Month, click for more safety tips from the Dallas Red Cross.

PNM Resources, First Choice Power’s parent company, has helped found a new national business coalition to support congressional action on clean energy and climate change legislation. Learn more about what PNM Resources is doing with companies such as Gap. Learn more in the New Mexico Business Weekly.

First Choice Power is helping Texans go green by offering a green energy price plan for the price of regular*. 

“Now anybody can take advantage of green, renewable energy for the same price as regular by simply making the switch to First Choice Power,” said Brian Hayduk, president of First Choice Power. “Choosing renewable energy is a personal choice, and First Choice Power makes it easy and affordable for our customers.”

Sign Up Online, By Text Or By Phone
To sign up or learn more, visit www.FirstChoicePower.com  and enter promotion code “GREEN”; text “GREEN” to 474992; or call (866) 838-1535. Customers who sign up online also are eligible for a $25 VISA gift card.**

“Helping the environment is now something we can all afford,” Hayduk said.

Read the press release for more information.

First Choice Power is a proud supporter of Camp Summit and a gold buckle sponsor of Camp Summit’s Boots, Bandanas: B’dazzled event in Dallas tonight.

Josh Coleman, vice president of operations for First Choice Power, is on the Camp Summit board of directors. He and a group of First Choice Power employees will be at the fund-raiser tonight to support Camp Summit.  

Another way First Choice Power is supporting Camp Summit is by making a donation to Camp Summit for every new customer who enrolls via the Camp Summit Web site.

Learn more about Camp Summit and the Boots, Bandanas: B’dazzled event.

Supporting our employees who are engaged in the community is one way First Choice Power gives back.

First Choice Power offers Volunteer and Matching grants for its employees. That means the company puts its community dollars where First Choice Power employees spend their time and money.

Employees can apply for a Volunteer Grant for the nonprofit where they volunteer their time. If an employee volunteers at least 12 hours, that’s a $100 grant. If an employee volunteers at least 25 hours, that’s a $200 grant. Service on a board? That’s $500.

Employees can apply for Matching Grants for the nonprofit where they donate their money. Employees can match any donation $25 to a total of $1,000 each year.

The First Choice Power Fund, a division of the PNM Resources Foundation, awards Volunteer and Matching grants. Learn more about First Choice Power’s community programs.