More Electricity Providers Going Green

The world is changing around us, at a faster and faster rate each year. The advancements that we have made as a species are absolutely astounding. Discoveries from the depths of outer space and beyond, technology in our hands that not long ago was barely a thought in science fiction, developments in medicine and wellness. In 2013, electricity use in the United States was not double or triple the electricity use in 1950, but 13 times greater! Think of everything that you use on a daily basis that requires an electrical charge, then think of the billions of other devices just like yours around the planet. That's a lot of energy! Electricity providers are never left wanting, that's for sure. There have been significant advancements in conserving energy, even as the demand for it goes up. Take for example the refrigerators we use today. In the U.S., average refrigerators currently on the market are 20% larger than the average refrigerators in 1975, they cost 60% less, and they use three-quarters less energy! And yet even with that progress of learning to conserve, we are still struggling to keep up with the energy demands without draining our planet dry of all resources.

So What Do We Do Now?

The answer to that, and the energy solutions we need, come from several different directions but begin with being conscious of the issue and spreading awareness of the need for energy conservation. First and foremost we need to be conscientious with our energy use. In American homes the largest portion of electricity (19% of electricity use in the residential areas) goes to air conditioning, and one of the largest costs when looking at utility bills is the 14 to 18% spent on water heating. So the things we learned as children still ring true today in regards to energy savings: don't leave the water running, there's no need to leave the air on when we're gone, take quick showers.

Energy Suppliers Adapt To Demand.

Companies sell what consumers continue to buy. So if we change our habits as consumers, and seek out renewable energy and green energy companies, the market will begin to change to the benefit of our planet, and of course, to us. There are more electricity providers that are focused on the health of the earth and sustaining the only home we have. And with President Obama's focus on climate change and with the enforcement of the Clean Power Plan, electricity providers across the board may need to switch gears, so that renewable resources will be the main supply for producing electricity, as opposed to precious fossil fuels.

While there may always be debate in the political realm over such issues, we can make it our mission as inhabitants of this marvelous planet to take a stand.

10 Easy Ways You Can Conserve Energy Today

Feeling the heat of summer electricity costs every time you open a bill from the electric company? You’re not alone. Between the costs of electricity generation and growing environmental awareness, people all around the world are looking for ways to cut down on their usage and see some energy savings. Fortunately, energy conservation doesn’t have to mean giving up modern comforts. Here are 10 easy ways you can start reducing your energy usage today:

1. Get a Programmable Thermostat

Air conditioning actually accounts for the largest portion of U.S. residential electricity use at 19%. But you can use about 10% less energy for cooling (and heating) by controlling temperatures with a programmable thermostat.

2. Replace All Your HVAC Filters

Inefficient HVAC systems have to work harder to keep your home comfortable. Replacing filters is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to give your system a boost. You should also ask your electric company if it offers any incentives for putting in high-efficiency systems.

3. Don’t Let the Sunshine In

You might want to soak up the sun this summer, but the same doesn’t go for your house. Insulated drapes and blinds can keep the sun from heating up the interior of your home. Long term, you might consider painting your house a light color and planting shade trees in order to reduce energy spent on summer cooling.

4. Install Low-Flow Shower Heads

Water heating is another major energy expense in most homes, accounting for 14 to 18% of utility bills. Use less hot water by installing a low-flow showerhead -- it will take literally minutes to do.

5. Wash Your Clothes in Cold Water

For the same reason, you can save quite a bit of energy by washing your clothes in cold or warm, rather than hot, water. Even if you do only two loads of laundry per week, you can also save around 500 pounds of CO2 from being released each year by doing so (that’s if you have an electric water heater; the figure is about 150 pounds for a gas water heater).

6. Embrace Line-Dried Laundry

Especially in the summer, many light fabrics don’t need to go in the dryer. You can get a folding drying rack for clothes if you don’t have space for an outside line.

7. Fill the Dishwasher All the Way

Don’t run the dishwasher until it’s full -- it will use the same amount of resources whether it’s washing five plates or 50. You can also turn off the drying cycle and allow dishes to air dry, which can shave around 20% off your dishwasher’s electricity usage.

8. Seal Around Your Windows

Caulking costs less than $1 per window, and can make a big difference when it comes to energy losses.

9. Unplug Battery and Device Chargers

Many chargers continue to draw power even when not in use, so it’s best to only plug them in when you’re actually charging something.

10. Cook Dinner on the Grill

Instead of cooking inside during the summer -- which will produce extra heat that your air conditioning will need to tackle -- grill outside. It’s more fun anyway.

Want to do even more concerning electricity conservation? Ask your electric company about smart meters that can help you accurately track your usage.

20-Year Study Shows Benefits of Energy Deregulation

Given that U.S. electricity use had, by 2013, gone up by 13 times since 1950, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the average American household now uses 903 kilowatt hours of electricity each month -- and pays $107 to the electric company for each bill. And while there are some measures you can take to lower your bills (installing a programmable thermostat, for example, can help you save about 10% on heating and cooling costs), it may seem like the larger market that sets prices on electricity is out of your control. But that’s not precisely true: You can help yourself and other consumers in the long run by supporting deregulated energy markets.

New analysis of nearly 20 years’ worth of data has shown that consumers see benefits in price, investment and reliability when markets are deregulated, meaning that the method of power generation are separated from the companies that distribute that energy. Those benefits of energy deregulation are detailed in a study sponsored by the COMPETE Coalition and released in July.

“In a compelling example of what Justice Louis Brandeis termed states serving as laboratories of democracy, for nearly two decades, two retail electricity models, choice and monopoly, have operated in parallel allowing reliable comparison of the two models on key indicators,” COMPETE Counsel William Massey explained in a news release. “The data demonstrate that customer choice jurisdictions that steadily adapted and expanded retail choice out-perform, or at least compare favorably with, the states that have so far rejected broad-based customer market access.”

Here are some of the key points of the study, broken down:

- Between 1997 and 2014, prices in markets where consumers could choose their energy suppliers rose by 4.5% less than inflation; prices in monopoly states, on the other hand, rose by 8.4% more than inflation.

- In states with utility monopolies, electricity accounted for a bigger portion of consumer cost of living in 2014 than it did in 1997; the opposite was true for states where energy deregulation was implemented.

- Power generation in states offering customers energy choices produced energy more efficiently and at higher capacities than power generation monopoly states.

“It has been nearly two decades with workably competitive electricity markets in 13 states and the District of Columbia, and we can no longer ignore the facts,” commented Robert Powelson, commissioner and former chair of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. “Customer choice works for electricity consumers and businesses, helping to drive down prices and attract billions of dollars of investment in new, more efficient generation.”

The full study, “Evolution of the Revolution: The Sustained Success of Retail Electricity Competition,” is available for download by the public online. Did you know about the potential energy savings associated with energy deregulation? Share your reaction to the new study in the comments.

3 Steps to Conserve Energy in Your Home

It seems as if we see the terms 'green energy' and 'renewable energy' everywhere these days, but how much of a role can you play in those goals as a homeowner? The answer is, you can play a pretty sizable one! Not only would you be helping out the environment by following steps to minimize your Eco-footprint, but also you can actually benefit from it in terms of money saved. There are five main tips to follow when you decide that energy conservation is something you want to take part in:

Talk to your electricity provider.

Many energy suppliers and electricity providers now take their own measures to conserve energy, and you should first check to see if yours is one of them. If yours does not take action on their own, you can consider planning your own energy conservation accordingly.

Account for what you use.

Chances are, you aren't cataloging where you're using energy in a typical day. In order to figure out where you can conserve energy, you should first take a few days to a week and make a list of where you're using energy and for how long. You may be surprised to see how long you leave the TV on when you're not watching it, or how much energy you could save by shutting your computer down every once in a while.

Conserve!

Now you're ready to cut down on your energy use. Electricity providers say that you can save almost 10% on your heating and cooling just by using a programmable thermostat. Or, you can take shorter, cooler showers and save 14 to 18% on water heating costs. Throughout the summer, look for air conditioning alternatives -- it could save you about 19%.

Don't forget: even the smallest things add up! Start saving energy and money now!

7 Simple Strategies for Making Your Pool More Energy Efficient

With hot summer weather descending over most of the country, you’re probably feeling pretty grateful if you have a pool. But that feeling may be diminished every time you open up a bill from the electric company. The good news is that there are many energy solutions that can help you to reduce your pool’s energy usage and keep your electric company bills under control. Here are seven simple strategies for energy savings when it comes to your pool:

Get a Pool Cover

You might think that a pool cover only matters in the cooler months when you’re heating your pool (just as water heating is an expense inside your home, accounting for between 14% and 18% of your utility bills, heating water for the pool can be very expensive). But in addition to regulating temperature, pool covers help to reduce evaporation; because of all the energy that goes into cleaning and treating water, having to constantly top up your pool actually uses quite a bit of energy.

Install a Windbreak

Wind blowing over the surface of your pool can be a major cause of both evaporation and heat loss. By installing a fence that also provides a windbreak (either with screens between the posts or taller landscaping), you’ll achieve both safety and energy efficiency goals.

Schedule Your Pump

One of the easiest ways to see an energy reduction with your pool is to schedule your pump to make sure it runs for only as long as it needs. The amount of time will depend on the size of your pool, but the goal is to have all the water circulate once and only once daily.

Use LED Lighting

Make sure all the lighting in and around your pool uses LED bulbs. These last many times longer and draw far less electrical energy than traditional or CFL bulbs.

Turn Down the Temp

You know how you can save around 10% on heating and cooling costs in your house using a programmable thermostat? That goes for the pool, too. Make sure your pool temperature is set lower when you’re not using it so that the heater doesn’t work overtime.

Skim Regularly

The less debris that makes it to the filter, the less likely your filters are to get clogged and lower the efficiency of your system. Try to skim daily (and keep in mind that a cover will also keep leaves and dirt out of the pool).

Buy the Right Tech

Sometimes, energy efficiency simply comes down to newer, better technology. Having a high-efficiency pool pump can lead to savings you’ll notice on every single electric company bill, winter or summer.

Did you know that as of 2013, U.S. electricity usage had gone up by 13 times since 1950? Share your tips for reducing a pool’s energy usage in the comments.

Do You Know the Differences Between Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency?

On this blog, we frequently use the terms “energy conservation” and “energy efficiency.” What do those terms mean, exactly? When they get used in general speech, they’re often thought to be interchangeable, but they actually refer to two separate -- albeit closely related -- concepts. Here’s a simple rundown:

What Energy Conservation Is

Energy conservation simply refers to using less energy overall. In most cases, energy conservation involves behavioral changes. So if you see that your electric company bills are getting too high, you might decide to turn up the thermostat in the summer so that your air conditioning doesn’t come on as often (AC is quite an energy hog, accounting for about 19% of residential electrical energy use in the country). Other examples of habits that support conservation are keeping the refrigerator door closed until you know what you’re planning to get out and turning off the lights when you leave the room.

What Energy Efficiency Is

Energy efficiency refers more specifically to using less energy to perform the same functions. That means that, in most cases, energy efficiency is a matter of technology. We can compare some efficiency efforts to the conservation practices mentioned above. Whereas conservation would involve turning the thermostat up, efficiency would involve installing a new AC unit that uses less power to cool to the same temperature. Whereas conservation involves keeping the fridge door closed, efficiency might involve buying a newer, more efficient refrigerator (the average fridge sold today in the U.S. actually uses 75% less energy than ones sold in 1975, despite costing 60% less and being 20% larger). And whereas conservation might include turning off the lights, efficiency would involve switching out old-fashioned incandescent bulbs for CFLs or LEDs.

How They Work Together

There’s no question that we need to get a handle on our electricity usage as a country. In 2013, we collectively used 13 times more electricity than our counterparts did in 1950. So if you’re looking for energy savings, should you care more about conservation, or efficiency? The ideal solution is actually a both/and, not an either/or; they’re two sides of the same coin. We should all be striving to use responsible amounts of energy, and changed habits and improved technology can both support that goal while also allowing us to enjoy modern conveniences. If you want to look at the overall impact of energy usage, you can also think of conservation and efficiency as being two vertices of a triangle, the third being sustainable power generation. Then we’re being smart not just about how we’re using power -- we’re also being smart about how we’re creating it in the first place.

Where have you been focusing your habits, conservation or efficiency? Discuss in the comments.

5 Hidden Energy Eaters in Your Home

In the summer, opening up a bill from the electric company can come as a bit of a shock. But once you get over the initial disbelief, it’s time to start informing yourself about where all that electricity is going. By replacing energy hogs or being smarter about use, it’s possible to see lower electric company bills without much difference in your day-to-day life. Here are some big energy users that might surprise you:

Set-top Boxes

Set-top boxes often keep drawing their full power requirements even when they look as if they’re turned off, making them a big energy eater. The LA Times even reported last year that set-top boxes have become the second-largest energy user in many homes. Game consoles can use quite a bit of electricity as well, especially if they’re kept plugged in and on standby mode.

Furnace Fans 

Space heating/cooling has represented a big chunk of home energy use for a long time, generally floating in the range of 40% to 50% of total utility bills. And your system may be using more electrical energy than you expect. Even if you have a furnace or heat pump that runs on gas, it’s likely you have an electric-powered furnace fan that drives up utility costs. It may not be cost-effective to change your heating system, but you should at least consider a professional energy audit that can give you an idea of where heat/AC is escaping your home -- so you can keep the heat in and get the associated energy savings.

Water Heaters 

Heating water typically accounts for 14% to 18% of the average utility bill. A combination of installing efficient or tankless water heaters -- which heat only as much water as needed -- and taking shorter showers can tackle the problem. You might also consider using cold water for laundry.

Microwave Ovens 

You probably expect large kitchen appliances such as your fridge, freezer, range and dishwasher to draw a lot of power. But if they’re new and efficiency-rated, they probably use less electricity than you think: The average fridge bought today in the U.S. uses 75% less energy than an average 1975 fridge, despite being 60% cheaper and 20% bigger. The real drain in your kitchen is probably your microwave, which draws phantom power when you’re not using it. New standards that will come into effect next year will make microwave ovens less wasteful; in the meantime, you can choose to unplug yours if you use it rarely.

Device Chargers 

Personal devices that run on batteries, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, often have inefficient chargers. One report from the Digital Power Group recently claimed that an iPhone uses more power in battery charging, Wi-Fi connectivity and data use than a mid-sized efficient refrigerator. Unfortunately, there’s no clear way to reduce this cost, but you can research the efficiency of your particular devices and go from there.

 Did any of these surprise you? What other changes in the home can contribute to energy conservation? Discuss in the comments.