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ELECTRIC NOTES
HELP COOPERATIVES KEEP ELECTRIC BILLS AFFORDABLE
America’s families are facing tough economic times. Many struggle to afford the basics: food, housing and energy. In fact, the cost of residential electricity in the United States climbed an average of 26 percent between 2002 and 2007, and it is projected to go even higher. As if that wasn’t bad enough, some predict today’s electricity supplies won’t be able to keep pace with future demand.
Now, elected officials in Washington, D.C., are poised to make important policy decisions that will determine our nation’s energy future. To guide lawmakers in a sound direction, electric cooperatives are making sure that your voice—the voice of the consumer—gets heard during legislative debates.
Through the “Our Energy, Our Future” grassroots awareness campaign, hundreds of thousands of electric cooperative consumers have sent more than 1.5 million messages to their members of Congress.
Through this outreach, co-ops have shared our insight drawn from decades of offering safe and reliable electricity at affordable rates; service that always makes consumers—not the bottom line—priority one.
If you haven’t already done so, please get involved in the campaign by asking your representatives on Capitol Hill one important question: Are you willing to work with your electric cooperative to ensure that our nation has reliable power at a price consumers can afford? The stakes are too high to miss this opportunity to help secure YOUR energy future.
To learn more about how you can begin a dialogue with your elected officials, please visit www.ourenergy.coop. Together we can keep electric bills affordable.
Today is the time to act. Tomorrow might be too late.
LIGHTEN YOUR COOKING LOAD
You’ll lighten the load on your electric bill if you conserve energy while cooking. Here are several quick and easy steps you can take to reduce energy use when cooking:
• Leave oven and burners off when not in use.
• Cook oven items simultaneously when possible.
• Leave the oven door closed as much as possible while cooking.
• Use self-cleaning features after you cook—when oven is already hot.
• Thaw frozen foods before cooking.
• Double your recipe—and freeze half for later.
• Match pan size to burner.
• Cook with less water—you’ll save energy and keep nutrients in food.
• Once water reaches a boil, lower burner setting.
• Foods cooked in pots and pans with tight-fitting lids cook faster, using less energy.
• Don’t preheat oven any sooner than necessary.
• When possible, preheat food in microwave—then finish in conventional oven.
• Dust off the Crock-Pot. Slow cooking in a Crock-Pot uses a lot less energy than simmering on the stove.
• Keep the reflector pans under your range-top heating elements bright and clean.
• Don’t line your oven with aluminum foil. It can reduce your oven’s efficiency by interfering with heat circulation.
SPRING HAS SPRUNG
Warmer Weather Ushers in Storm Season
Spring storms in Texas often pack a wicked punch and can leave your house without electricity. Are you
prepared?
Here are some things to keep in mind:
• Keep your electric cooperative’s outage number handy. If the lights go off during a storm, or anytime, call us to report it.
• If you have a special medical condition that requires electrically powered equipment, it is essential that you inform your cooperative so we can add you to our registry. We will make every effort to restore your power quickly.
• Remember, if you have cordless telephones, they will not work without power. Have at least one phone that plugs directly into a wall outlet so you can call for help.
• Turn off all electrical appliances except a porch light. That way, when the power is restored, a power surge won’t trip your breakers or damage your items. The porch light is an easy signal for co-op linemen that your power is back on.
• Use caution if employing candles or lanterns for light. You don’t want to start a fire. Your best bet is to have a
flashlight or electric lamp and a supply of fresh batteries handy.
• If you have a portable generator and feel the need to use it, please be careful. Only use the generator outdoors in a well-ventilated area. Never hook the generator directly to your home’s wiring. Doing so could cause a “backfeed” onto power lines that could injure or even kill a line worker.
• Stash away emergency supplies including a flashlight and batteries, a supply of drinking water and canned food, a battery-operated portable radio and a first-aid kit.
• If your power goes out, do not open your refrigerator or freezer. Food in a packed freezer can remain good for at least a day without electricity if the door is not opened; refrigerated foods can last 4 to 6 hours. If there is a long outage and you are in doubt, cook food immediately or throw it away.
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU PLANT
April 24 is Arbor Day in Texas. Your electric cooperative encourages you to plant a tree—or an entire grove. Trees add beauty to your yard, help clean the air, and provide welcome shade in the summer.
If you decide to celebrate the day by planting a tree, make sure you keep a few things in mind:
• Think about the mature height of the tree. That sapling you are putting in the ground today will become taller and broader before you know it. Make sure its limbs, trunk or roots will not interfere with roofs or damage foundations.
• Look up before you plant. If you see electric lines overhead, think about another planting spot. Trees that grow close to power lines can lead to outages and line loss, which costs your co-op—and you by extension—money. Remember to allow for at least 10 feet of clearance around power lines.
• Call before you dig. Don’t stick a shovel into the ground until you dial 811, the national clearinghouse for underground utility lines. Even a simple digging job such as tree planting can damage utility line, disrupt vital services to an entire neighborhood or cause injuries. Not to mention, if your digging damages underground utility lines, it could result in expensive fines and repair costs that you would have to bear. There is no charge for the 811 service.
• Plant deciduous trees (ones that lose their leaves in the fall) on the south and west sides of your home. That will let in the winter sunlight that helps warm your house on cold days and block the sun in the summer that can make your cooling system work overtime.
• If you have a mature tree that has grown too close to power lines, don’t try to trim it yourself. Please call your cooperative and let us know. Our tree experts know how to work safely around electric lines and they have the specialized equipment that will help keep them safe.
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