A campaign announced Wednesday will help Ontarians save money while they conserve energy.

Announced by Energy Minister Donna Cansfield and Chief Energy Conservation Officer Peter Love, the "Every Kilowatt Counts" campaign will allow consumers to save money when they purchase energy-saving light bulbs and other items.

They will get a $500 rebate when they replace an inefficient central air conditioner with a new ENERGYSTAR qualified system. There is a $50 rebate for those who have their central air conditioner tuned up by a registered participating contractor, and a $75 rebate

on the supply and installation of a programmable thermostat.

"It's cheaper to save a kilowatt than to generate a kilowatt," Ms. Cansfield said. "Conservation is an important component of our energy plan, and this program will help reduce peak electrical demand and save energy over the hot summer months, but more importantly save people money."

Other Every Kilowatt Counts elements, include:

 A province-wide educational and incentive program reaching 4.3 million households, which will provide every Ontarian the basic tools to help the province achieve a Culture of Conservation;

 A refrigerator retirement program, targeted at removing old, outdated and inefficient refrigerators.

To undertake its Cool Savings program, the Ontario Power Authority's Conservation Bureau has partnered with the Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Institute (HRAI) in designing a program that will help reduce peak demand for electricity this summer and reduce overall demand during cooling seasons for years to come.

The Every Kilowatt Counts program is in addition to a comprehensive energy conservation and education program for aboriginal communities, to be launched later this spring; the recently announced Social Housing program and the Conservation Fund, which to date has partnered with 31 organizations.

More than 2,000 Dufferin area students are getting ready to perform next week in the ninth annual Dufferin Youth Festival of the Arts at Orangeville Baptist Church.

For four mornings, Monday to Thursday, students will sing, play, dance and act. Several school bands will perform. There'll even been some comedy from the Orangeville District Secondary School improvisational team, as well as displays of student artwork.

In all, 22 public, separate and private elementary and secondary schools from Dufferin and Caledon are registered this year.

"We're really excited to welcome Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School for the first time," says Wendy Carter, the festival's founding coordinator, "and to welcome back Centre Dufferin District High School from Shelburne."

The festival is the fruit of a tremendous volunteer effort.

Parents, teachers, principals and community members worried about the de-emphasis on music and the arts in the schools decided to do something about it. Nine years ago, they came together and the rest, as they say, is history.

Parents are invited to attend, but they must register in advance with their school principal, as space is limited.

For more information on the festival, go to www.dyfa.com. Youth festival next week