From the CEO's Desk: by Doug Tracy

The holiday season is here! Festive music is flooding the airwaves, sparkling lights and decorations adorn homes and businesses, and good tidings abound. This season also brings a frenzy of decorating, cooking, and family gatherings, and amid this busy time, you may receive higher-than-usual energy bills. 

Considering this, it’s a good time to remind our members of a few programs and efficiency tips to help lower your monthly energy use. 

Programs designed to help you save.
Winter months typically bring some of the highest energy bills of the year. Making minor, low-cost improvements, like weatherstripping exterior doors and caulking around old, drafty windows can have a positive impact on energy bills.

CREC offers a number of different ways to help you with being energy efficient, such as MyPower. MyPower can help you manage your electricity expenses by allowing you to monitor daily energy use and cost, set your payment schedule, set energy use and account balance alerts (by phone, email, or text), and forego paying a deposit if one is required. CREC also offers rebates for energy-efficient appliances such as “smart” thermostats, electric vehicle charging stations, water heaters, and ground source heat pumps.

Call us to learn about specific programs and services that can lower your bills. 

Be festive without breaking the bank. 
If you haven’t already, make the switch to LEDs to save energy. LED holiday lights use 88% less energy than incandescent holiday lights. To put that into perspective, the Department of Energy estimates that with standard holiday decorations, LED lights typically increase energy bills by about $5 to $7. But with incandescent lights, energy bills will typically increase by $33 or more. For homes that go above and beyond with incandescent holiday lighting (think Clark Griswold), energy bills could increase by as much as $350. Beyond energy savings, LEDs provide additional benefits, such as being shock-resistant, shatterproof, and cool to the touch, making them safer for the home. 

You can also lower energy use by conveniently managing holiday lighting. Smart light timers can help you save energy by connecting to a smartphone app or voice assistant to program lights to turn on and off at set times. If you don’t use smart home technology, you can still save energy by using traditional timers. 

Additional easy ways to save during the holiday season include turning off overhead lights and using your Christmas tree to illuminate your home. If you have a fireplace, remember to close the flue when you’re not burning a fire to ensure heat doesn’t escape through the chimney. 

Cook up energy savings in the kitchen.
Use small countertop appliances like microwaves, air fryers, and slow cookers when possible, as they use much less energy than the stovetop or oven. 

When using the oven, bake multiple dishes at once for maximum efficiency. After all, it takes as much energy to cook one dish as it does to cook several. Turn the oven off a few minutes before the recipe’s end time and allow the residual heat to finish baking the dish. Once the food is done, leave the stove door ajar to allow the residual heat to warm the room. When using the stovetop, match the pan size to the burner to maximize the stovetop’s efficiency. 

We’re here to answer any questions you have about managing energy use or your monthly bills. With a little planning upfront, you can find efficient ways to save on everything from holiday décor to your favorite soup recipes. 
From your friends at CREC, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season.