Efforts to conserve energy and protect the environment are growing locally with help from Power Up in Nevada City.

The new group, led by Reinette Senum and Kelly Casterson, is meeting with downtown business people and city officials today to present their plans for making the city a "model for energy efficiency and independence."

The pair will be pitching its ideas about how to make public and private buildings more energy efficient from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. today at Nevada City City Hall on Broad Street.

Television producer Travis Shakespeare is filming Power Up's efforts in the hope of making a documentary series about a small town in America "as it moves towards sustainability," he said.

The footage Shakespeare took in the area for the past week and a half will be used to pitch a television series. Shakespeare said he partnered with a New York company, Zeropointzero, for production.

Power Up's focus is energy conservation and increasing residents' choices for renewable energy, Casterson said. Some strategies that will be presented today include sealing and caulking windows, replacing old windows with thermal windows (they now are available in the proportions of the historic wooden windows), adding insulation to walls and in the roof, and using alternative energy sources such as solar panels, Casterson said.

She works part-time installing solar power systems, and said she wants to see Nevada City "doing its part for global cooling."

One of the organization's first projects is to help residents switch to energy-saving Christmas lights. Illuminated by diodes, the new Christmas lights save energy by an estimated 90 percent.

Senum is working to start a car-sharing program to further cut down on energy use. The group has acquired the vehicles needed, and now is working with computer software to coordinate users' schedules. Parking spaces for the program will likely be near the Miners Foundry.

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To reach Staff Writer Josh Singer, e-mail joshs@theunion.com or call 477-4234.