Energy savings at home is something we should all aim to achieve.
If we are efficient and smart with out energy use at home it will have two positive effects. Firstly, it will reduce our energy consumption which will help reduce our monthly utility bills. Secondly, it will have a positive environmental effect because less demand on the electricity grid means less coal burned to service that electricity demand. Less coal burned means less pollution in our air.
If you are a Park Power customer then luckily you are paying lower rates for your electricity than customers of the big corporate energy retailers, but you can save even more money by reducing your consumption. FortisAlberta, is one of the electricity distribution companies in Alberta and through their Energy Your Way program provides some great information for consumers on reducing their consumption, monitoring their usage, and increasing the energy efficiency in their home. Below you can see one of their YouTube videos on how to save money in your kitchen, one of the most energy intensive areas of our homes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFArjfWSgoQ
Also as part of the Energy Your Way program FortisAlberta has teamed up with Home Hardware Stores to provide customers with a free 10 watt LED lightbulb (a $14 value and the equivalent of a 60 watt incandescant) on Saturday Oct 18, 2014 at participating Home Hardware locations in the Fortis territory.
The reduction of air pollution that comes from reducing our energy usage at home will have a the positive effect of reducing electricity demand on the grid in Alberta. According to Charting Alberta, of the 9343 MW of electricity being generated on Sept 30, 2014, 5143 MW or 55% is from coal fired generation. If you thought that the oil sands were the largest industrial emitter of greenhouse gases in our province you might consider watching this news story recently aired on CTV regarding coal fired generation in Alberta.
