"I want to come in and get a feel of how companies make decisions about energy efficiency," Anderson said.

The EDF program seems likely to grow, with some companies already in line for next year.

Nathan Rhoner, a GlaxoSmithKline environmental health safety and sustainability manager, said the EDF contacted him several months ago to see if he would want an intern this summer. At the time, the company, which is based in Britain but has major operations in the Philadelphia area, was considering interns for other roles, so it declined. But Rhoner thought the EDF's program was attractive.

"If the opportunity comes around again," he said, "we'll definitely jump."

Host Companies

A partial list of companies using interns this summer to find ways to conserve energy:

Advanced Micro Devices

Cisco Systems

Dell

eBay

Hewlett-Packard

Intuit

Raytheon

Sony Pictures

SunGard Data Systems

TXU Energy

SOURCE: Environmental Defense Fund

Seeing Green

Suggested energy-savings steps

for businesses: