Glendale Water & Power Wins Award for Vending Machine Program

Glendale Water & Power has garnered a California Municipal Utilities Association Award for its Vending Miser program that reduces energy to vending machines. This award is the fifth time that the city-owned utility has won for their public benefits programs. Glendale Water & Power is the first utility in Southern California to use the EnergyMiser technology on the 150 city-owned machines and 200 independently owned and operated machines receiving the program from the city at no charge. The Vending Miser program will save an estimated $670,000 and eliminates 2,400 tons of carbon dioxide, according to the utility. EnergyMisers uses infrared technology to temporarily shut down vending machine electricity to coolers or snack machines if there is 15 minutes of inactivity around the machine. When someone walks by again power is sent to the machine and the product is kept cold. “Programs like these not only help our customers save money, it helps the utility reduce costs and we help the environment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions,” GWP General Manager Glenn Steiger said.