I disagree with this rate hike idea completely. Another example of corporate welfare, combined with taking the public down the wrong path. The consumer will get the idea on their own once utility costs become high enough to attract their attention, like gas prices finally did. The LAST place we should be going for energy savings is to a utility that sells it. It's like asking the fox to guard the henhouse. Utilities don't make money by selling less energy, so why would you expect them to willingly participate in shooting themselves in the foot? Of course they will seek to get someone else to pay for this program, YOU! Additionally, as the previous consumer pointed out, you are paying more in the long haul for something you should be doing yourself. There's no free lunch here, except for the utility. Keep your money at home. You don't need a utility to redistribute your cash into what amounts to a consumer lottery, where the utility is the bank.
On the other hand, we ALL should be more pro-active on helping ourselves (and each other), by reducing WASTED, as well as USED energy. Don't buy into the same old habit of griping, "why don't THEY do something?" YOU do something. After all, It's YOUR home that wastes a ton of energy, and the worst of it is, most of us are unaware of how much is lost and where. You never see someone opening a window in your house and throwing buckets of dollar bills out on the street, so you don't really notice - but that's what it amounts to in reality. Don't feel singled out here. Americans use AND waste a lot more energy per capita than virtually any other developed nation. Not exactly leading by a good example.
Start by reading "The Home Energy Diet" and educate and empower yourself. This kind of information should be required reading in homeowner school. That $20 investment will pay you back in no time, provided you DO something with the information. Nobody will ever know as much about your house and how you use energy than you, once you know what to look for. Just don't expect some utility to tell you what you need to know, let alone "give" you something for nothing.
If even a few people lead by example here, the awareness and the things we do for ourselves will reduce the energy demand, and force the utilities to lower rates, or at least, hold the line. It's supply and demand, the only thing that a business can understand. And then, do the next best thing for everyone (including yourself) - pass on what you learn to someone else. The more people who get the idea, the better for everyone.
Posted on July 1 at 1:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I disagree with this rate hike idea completely. Another example of corporate welfare, combined with taking the public down the wrong path. The consumer will get the idea on their own once utility costs become high enough to attract their attention, like gas prices finally did. The LAST place we should be going for energy savings is to a utility that sells it. It's like asking the fox to guard the henhouse. Utilities don't make money by selling less energy, so why would you expect them to willingly participate in shooting themselves in the foot? Of course they will seek to get someone else to pay for this program, YOU! Additionally, as the previous consumer pointed out, you are paying more in the long haul for something you should be doing yourself. There's no free lunch here, except for the utility. Keep your money at home. You don't need a utility to redistribute your cash into what amounts to a consumer lottery, where the utility is the bank.
On the other hand, we ALL should be more pro-active on helping ourselves (and each other), by reducing WASTED, as well as USED energy. Don't buy into the same old habit of griping, "why don't THEY do something?" YOU do something. After all, It's YOUR home that wastes a ton of energy, and the worst of it is, most of us are unaware of how much is lost and where. You never see someone opening a window in your house and throwing buckets of dollar bills out on the street, so you don't really notice - but that's what it amounts to in reality. Don't feel singled out here. Americans use AND waste a lot more energy per capita than virtually any other developed nation. Not exactly leading by a good example.
Start by reading "The Home Energy Diet" and educate and empower yourself. This kind of information should be required reading in homeowner school. That $20 investment will pay you back in no time, provided you DO something with the information. Nobody will ever know as much about your house and how you use energy than you, once you know what to look for. Just don't expect some utility to tell you what you need to know, let alone "give" you something for nothing.
If even a few people lead by example here, the awareness and the things we do for ourselves will reduce the energy demand, and force the utilities to lower rates, or at least, hold the line. It's supply and demand, the only thing that a business can understand. And then, do the next best thing for everyone (including yourself) - pass on what you learn to someone else. The more people who get the idea, the better for everyone.
On Utility pushes energy savings effort