Got this in the mail the other day. I am invited to participate in a program where "Your neighbor is already helping." Nothing like pushing me to keep up with the Jones family. AND the Jones family is "helping" give "energy" a break, so should not I? I actually think I may have one of their recycle gizmos on the electric box outside, but since it is early in the morning and still dark, I will have to wait to see!
Written so that we feel concern for the poor electric company (!). As global warming (climate change), whatever, is making summers hotter and longer, the consumer's demand for energy is not being met (?). I live within a few miles of a nuclear power plant and a liquid energy depot and they want me to accept automatic brown outs because the county and state taxes I pay and the monthly electric bill that I pay are not enough of a subsidy to provide energy for all of us. I can do this by giving my AC/heat pump a "rest." The euphemisms abound. So, if I think I may be having a hot flash, it is just my equipment being cycled.
I am almost old enough to remember the days when electric companies wanted me to use MORE electricity so that my life would be more modern and comfortable, but that is when "housewives" wore pears and high heels and not tanks tops and shorts. When a company wants you to buy less of their product, it is time to take notice. Things are never as simple as they seem. I am expecting a rise in taxes and electric bills as the strain on the utility system grows.
We pay a lot for electricity here, and they have this program as well. We desist because we are already fairly careful about the temperature that we choose and don't want them overriding our choice.
ReplyDeleteI also pay way too much for heat in the winter here, but during the summer when we use fans to cool ourselves (we don't have A/C) it goes way down. Electricity is inevitably going to cost more as you said. How could it be otherwise? There are too many people and our resources are finite. :-(
ReplyDeleteWe are overjoyed to have heat for the first time in 33 years. Tho we also have air, we rarely use it. Still we got a notice from the electricity company that we used vastly more power than all our other neighbors. Where I wonder....must be the computers. LOL
ReplyDeleteWow, I haven't seen anything like that but we don't have a/c in Oregon other than a room unit where if we need it, we plug it in and push its hose out the window to push the hot hair out. Mostly being on a creek, it gets cool enough at night that sleeping is good and it'd be the only issue. There are though a lot of heat pumps in newer homes; so this could come to us, I guess also.
ReplyDeleteWe've had solar hot water and photovoltaics for ten years. We broke even on the hot water in about three years and on the photovoltaics after seven years. Solar hot water is mandated for all new construction. This is Hawaii! Here on the Big Island, we generate about 40% renewables, in spite of the obstructionism and desire for easy profits on the part of the usual suspect, the energy company. We're on the grid, but lots of people are off grid with batteries. That is a lot of maintenance but necessary for some people, who live in remote areas where there are no power lines.
ReplyDeleteWe have among the highest electricity rates in Canada. This past year we installed two heat pumps in our house and saw a great saving on our electric heat costs. In the summer our costs go down because we rarely need a fan. The breeze and the screened windows and doors do the trick though this year we can use AC if we wish. It will occur rarely if we can manage it.
ReplyDeletethe main problem is over-population.
ReplyDeleteThey tell you to use less electricity and then the electric company gets a sunsidy to cover the decrease in usage--- and then they raise the prices anyway.
ReplyDeleteSo this is how it works...I was trying to figure out the catch.
DeleteI get letters every month from the power co. telling me how much more electricity I use than my neighbors. I wonder how much that slick paper and color print costs them? I've used less each month than the same time last year for the last two years and pay more of course. I don't really believe their stats about the neighbors. I do agree with Ellen, too many people.
ReplyDeleteI get an occasional newsletter from the Florida electric company letting me know what a great deal they are providing. Well, my electric bills are not bad so I won't complain.
ReplyDeleteI would refuse to have anything to do with their silly scheme purely because of how they went about selling the idea. I've been known to cut off my nose to spite my face before and would do it again. I bet it cost many times $75 for someone to come up with that ridiculous logo and spiel and the marketing of it. Let us know when your rise in taxes and electricity bills come through.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't gotten these here that i know of, but it may be because i signed up for paperless and only open the bill each month, ignoring the other junk emails they send. We keep our A/C set at around 80 degrees, and use lots of fans, and i know every other house i go into is cooler than ours so we are already doing what we can short of not using it at all.
ReplyDeleteI am with Pauline -- just keep on doing what you do and ignore the marketing letters. If you really want to know what is going on attend one of their board meetings -- they can be eye-openers. -- barbara
ReplyDeleteI recognize that technique. Saw a write up on it several months ago -- people tend to respond when they think that their neighbor is already do something. Could it be that this massive organization is (gasp) lying?
ReplyDeleteBy the way - housewife wore pears? Perhaps you meant pearls?
ReplyDeleteYep, never got around to changing it!
DeleteThere are a lot of disadvantages to living in the country but I have to admit that rural electric is much cheaper than city. I wonder why that is? Guess I have a new question to survey on google.
ReplyDeleteI think we slave away to make utilities money-
ReplyDeleteI think we slave away to make all the rich people richer.
DeleteAn energy management program, eh? So if everyone participated ALL energy using devices would be turned off? Would you all then be reimbursed for all that saved energy?
ReplyDeleteHousewives sometimes wear apricots here, I guess we are, as ever, behind the times and need to switch to pears.
ReplyDeleteWe live were it gets very hot in the summertime, but if we are careful... run the whole house fan in the early morning, and close up the house for the rest of the day, we get by with using very little a/c. Our bill has not risen it quite some time, not the norm for Kalifornia, I assure you.
They are really pushing solar here, I penciled it out and it doesn't work for us, way too expensive.