Texas State Energy Conservation Office
The mission of the State Energy Conservation Office is to maximize energy efficiency while protecting the environment.

SECO administers and delivers a variety of energy efficiency and renewable programs which significantly impact energy cost and consumption in the institutional, industrial, transportation and residential sectors. SECO funds the Watt Watchers of Texas program for K-12 schools.

Authority and Organization
Created in response to the Arab oil embargo of 1973 and the resulting national energy crisis, the Texas "energy office" has evolved from its original function of responding to state fuel shortage emergencies and administering federal energy conservation grants to its current role as a statewide promoter of energy efficiency and provider of energy management services which have a positive impact on state energy expenditures and local property tax rates.

Beneficiaries of SECO's services include state agencies, public schools, city and county governments, institutions of higher education, private industries, and residential energy consumers.

SECO's task is to enable Texans to enjoy the optimal benefit from the domestic energy we produce, to contribute to our state's growing economy through reducing a major operational cost of state government, school districts, municipal governments, hospitals, and small businesses, to promote those technologies and procedures which result in cost effective operation, and to show individual Texas residents how an energy efficient ethic can enhance their quality of life and that of future Texans.

Infinite Power of Texas
In 1997, SECO initiated the first phase of an educational campaign, the Infinite Power of Texas, to educate Texans about the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy resources and the technologies used in Texas by individuals, businesses and utilities.

Phase 2 of the campaign was launched on April 1, 2001 with additional fact sheets, a revised video and an improved, innovative, and interactive website. The materials are designed to communicate consumer information to both adults and children on a variety of renewable energy and sustainability topics in Texas.

For more information about the Infinite Power of Texas Curriculum please contact the Texas State Energy Conservation Office at 111 East 17th Street, #1114 Austin, Texas 78701 (512) 463-1931.
www.infinitepower.org

Alternative Transportation Fuels Curriculum and Teacher Training Program
The Alternative Transportation Fuels Curriculum Supplement was developed by the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) to integrate clean transportation fuels information into science courses for middle and high school students. The program has trained 937 Texas science teachers to teach over 103,000 students about energy and alternative fuels and the potential role of electricity and alternative fuels in global climate change.

Materials consist of an introductory 13-minute video (“Way Cool Fuels”), 22 hands-on classroom activities, full color posters and other resources. The activities were field tested by more than 50 Texas science teachers and reviewed for accuracy by 18 technical experts. The curriculum is being updated to include the results of recent research on global climate change and the benefits alternative fuels can provide in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

To the maximum extent practicable, workshops will be held in or near cities that have been designated as Clean Cities by the U. S. Department of Energy. The program will produce 600 copies of the revised edition of the Alternative Transportation Fuels Curriculum, as well as provide a written evaluation of the curriculum and the workshop series.

For more information about the Alternative Fuels Curriculum please contact the Texas State Energy Conservation Office at 111 East 17th Street, #1114 Austin, Texas 78701 (512) 463-1931.