Tuesday, February 17, 2009

$500 Dollar Per Month Electric Bills, What's Next??

Could the $150 cable Bill be right behind it??

Yes it's true, some people in Covered Bridge received $500 Electric Bills for the month of January. Now there is some good news here. Next month's bills should definitely be lower. JCP&L decided to change the billing cycle in Covered bridge. The January bills were for a period of 36 days. Next months bills will be lower. However, it will not ease the pain much.

What should be done in CB to ease the pain? One thing for sure, Solar Energy is not the immediate answer. Yes, Solar Energy is on everyone's mind, but to make Solar Energy effective, we need to cut consumption first. We have this bad habit in America of trying to get everything as cheap as possible without compromising our needs first.

What can we do to cut Electric consumption? The group that makes up TheUncovered Bridge has created a plan. By utilizing the latest in heating and cooling technology and some of the old tried and true techniques, we can cut consumption by 40%. And if the plan works, it may even allow us to qualify for a 33% rate cut during the cooling season. And that's not a mistake.

The plan includes the following items:

1. Install triple pane windows.

2. Install R30 insulation in the Attics.

3. Insulate outer walls to R33 and make them LEEDS compliant.

4. Install the latest Heating/Cooling technology. Some of the cooling technology has a SEER of 20. And the electric based heating technology has a COP over 3. Our existing air conditioners are lucky to have a SEER greater than 10. And the COP for Electric baseboard heat is 1.

5. Install Point of use water heaters.

6. Install the new high efficiency washers and dryers.

What will all of it cost up front? We believe it it can be accomplished with NO upfront costs. In other words, the changes will be financed solely by the savings we incur. In fact, if we qualify, everyone should receive a check for $300 courtesy of good old George the II. And finally, if all goes as planned, we'd plan to use some of the savings to finance a NEW CLUBHOUSE. Yes, you read it here first. We can finance a new clubhouse by combining a small part of these savings and the Energy and Maintenance Savings a new clubhouse would bring us.

What are we waiting for? You tell us!!! We decided to keep the politics out of this issue. Maybe it will bring us all together to build a better Covered Bridge.



And that's the truth................