Some of our energy experts answer some common questions...
If I turn my heat or air off or down while I'm gone, does it use more energy to heat it up or cool it down when I get home than it would if I left it running the whole day?
If you are going to be away for more than four hours, it is beneficial to turn your HVAC system off or set the thermostat back. If the system is working properly, it will not work any harder re-cooling the home. We recommend 78 degrees in the summertime and 68 degrees in the wintertime when the home is occupied.
Does a computer use energy when it is in the sleep mode?
There are 4 basic types of computer power management, or "sleep" features on Windows PCs:
"System standby"
Drops monitor and computer power use down to 1-3 watts each
Wakes up in seconds
Saves $25-75 per PC annually
"System hibernates"
Drops monitor and computer power use down to 1-3 watts each
Wakes up in 20+ seconds
Saves work in the event of power loss
Saves $25-75 per PC annually
"Turn off monitor"
Drops monitor power use down to 1-3 W
Wakes in seconds or less
Saves half as much as system standby or hibernate: about $10-40
"Turn off hard disks"
Saves very little energy
Do appliances use energy when they are plugged in?
The U.S. Department of Energy tells us that not only do appliances continue to draw electricity while the products are turned off, but in the average home nearly 75% of all electricity used to power electronics is consumed by products that are switched off.
VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances all use energy while not in use. You may have noticed how a cell phone recharger can be warm even when not attached to a phone. The best way to prevent unnecessary energy expenditures is to do a clean sweep of your home. Here at the office, weve gotten into the routine of unplugging our water cooler at night. The process is a bit of a hassle at first, but hassle quickly turns into painless habit.
Tips for saving:
Use power strips to turn off TVs and stereos. Youll save the energy equivalent of a 100-watt light bulb that is always on.
Unplug chargers (think cell phones and iPods) when not in use. Only 5% of the power drawn by a cell phone charger is used to charge the phone. The other 95% is wasted when it is left plugged into the wall.
Which uses more energy, a microwave or conventional oven? How much more or less?
Microwave ovens use much less energy than conventional ovens, so they can save you some pocket change. Lets assume you are paying 8 cents a kilowatt-hour for your electricity. If you run a medium-size (1,000-watt) microwave at high power for 15 minutes, you'd spend 2 cents. A typical electric oven run at 350 degrees for one hour would cost you 18 cents. Do that every day, and you save yourself $60 a year with the microwave. More significantly, by keeping the kitchen cool in summer, a microwave may reduce your air conditioning costs.
How much energy does an electric car use and how much does it cost, generally, to run them?
In layman's terms, an electric car is like running an electric clothes dyer. Typically it will cost about a dollar a day or more specifically about $.02 (cents) per mile in equivalent fuel cost compared to $.20 (cents) per mile for a gas vehicle getting 20 mpg and fuel costing $4.00 per gallon. Additional benefit is that we have very few cost and generally minimal adjustments for electricity, so you can be assured that you wont have to deal with wild, weekly fluctuations in your fuel cost for the vehicle.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Ones really add up
One seems like a pretty small number. But we all know that ones add up. When the temperature soars during a sweltering Memphis summer, doesn’t 101° seem much hotter than 100°? And what about 102°, 103°, 104°?
Many of our neighbors have no defense against these rising temperatures—in fact, the number of people seeking assistance at MIFA has risen 32% since last month, and their total debt is up 9% per person.
But Plus-1 is here to help.
Plus-1 is a partnership between MIFA and Memphis Light, Gas & Water that provides utility assistance to eligible individuals and families in financial crisis. MIFA screens clients for eligibility and authorizes partial payments from the Plus-1 fund to their accounts. Clients are then referred to MLGW to arrange payment plans for their remaining balances.
Plus-1 depends entirely on contributions from the community. Many people give just $ 1 per month, and those ones add up.
So if it seems that $ 1 doesn’t amount to much, just think of all the clients whose lives have been changed by Plus-1. Can’t you give one too?
Two easy ways to give:
1. Add a donation to your MLGW bill. The most common way to support Plus-1 is to add a dollar (or two, or five!) to your monthly MLGW bill, and MLGW will pass it to MIFA. Use the online sign-up form here.
2. Make an online donation directly to MIFA. You can make a one-time gift directly to MIFA here.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Let There Be Light
The Memphis Daily News ran a story this weekend about Smart Grid. MLGW's Becky Williamson was interviewed for the story.
Let There Be Light
MLGW turns up the power on smart grid project
Memphis Daily News: By Bill Dries
VOL. 126 | NO. 168 | Monday, August 29, 2011
This fall, a group of 1,000 Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division customers move deeper into a three-year, futuristic-sounding "Smart Grid" test project that began this past January.
The lights of Downtown Memphis as seen from the corner of Monroe Avenue and Front Street. The city's utility company, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, is working to make the transfer of electricity throughout town more efficient through its smart grid project.
They volunteered last year to get new automated meters for their homes, and half of them got a wireless digital counter top readout for inside their homes that allows them to watch their electricity usage. With a computer dashboard readout they can also follow trends for energy usage over time, and the device even suggests scenarios for cutting costs.
Smart grid technology, which optimizes the delivery of electricity to end-users, doesn't involve installing new wires, transformers or substations that someone can point to and say, "That is the smart grid."
It tends to be software and, at least for now, is built around the belief that the more utility customers know about their energy usage, the more they will tweak it, control it and ultimately use it in a more efficient way.
But starting Oct. 1, those in the test group can opt to pay "time of use" rates for electricity rather than a general rate based on usage that is a constant base rate no matter the time of day.
"It will allow customers to pay the lower cost of electricity used during the lower cost, lower demand period," said MLGW spokeswoman Becky Williamson. "They'll pay a higher cost for electricity used during the higher cost, higher demand period when it costs more for TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) to generate that electricity or (TVA) has to buy it on the market for higher prices."
With 430,000 electric customers, MLGW is TVA's largest customer, accounting for 11 percent of TVA's total load, according to the MLGW website.
The base rate for summer months is 6 cents per kilowatt hour plus a fuel cost adjuster calculated each month based on what it cost TVA to either generate or buy the electricity used is added to that.
But the time of use summer rate for electricity ranges from 4 cents in off-peak hours to 13 cents during peak hours.
"It is going from the assumption that the cost for the electricity I use is the same 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to the electricity I use at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday in August is more expensive that what I use at 2 p.m. on a Sunday in December," Williamson said.
MLGW had even bigger plans for a smart grid transition when federal stimulus money was still plentiful. The utility got $5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for its phase one proposal and had plans for a larger scale deployment in phase two. That was canceled when federal officials awarded all of the money they had for the phase one applications across the country. MLGW adjusted with a smaller scale test project.
And the utility didn't get as many volunteers as they had thought - slightly less than 2,000 for 1,000 slots.
"It represents every ZIP code in Shelby County," Williamson said. "We had volunteers from all across the county. It covers all the demographics. It skews a little bit higher income, higher education. We have homeowners. We have renters. We have people with master's degrees and people who didn't finish elementary school. We have the gamut."
Other cities have made trial steps with smart grid technology in specific areas instead of a scattered use of the technology.
Austin Energy in Austin, Texas, is involved, along with the University of Texas at Austin and several technology companies, in a grant-driven demonstration area called the Pecan Street Project.
"They have home area networks. They would have solar panels and they might have plug-in electric cars," said Austin Energy spokesman Carlos Cordova. "All of these things are being experimented with and tested in this neighborhood. It all relates to the smart grid. They want to test how can your car talk to your house and your house talk to your appliances and all of this talks to the grid."
Austin has been experimenting with smart grid technology since 2003. Almost all of Austin Energy's 400,000 customers have smart meters but Cordova describes the pace of the utility's work as slow.
"We're working on several different fronts and taking it slowly where there is still work and research that needs to be done," he said. "Much of this equipment is expensive. That has to be put into budgets. A lot of this is developing slowly and we are testing it as we go along."
In a lot of ways, the smart grid technology is about changing decades of reality when it comes to the public's use of utilities and what the public expects in those transactions.
There is the monthly bill that even with the knowledge that the hottest and coldest months will involve more energy usage can come as an economic wallop to even the most conscientious consumer.
Starting in February, those with smart meters got more information when they logged onto their account information on the MLGW dashboard. Their usage is broken down to every 15 minutes of the billing period and has graphs for every day of the period as well as projections about what the bill will be like based on current usage levels.
Memphis resident Denise Watts shows the home display for her MLGW Smart Meter that shows peak energy usage, projected electricity cost and daily usage.
"I was totally amazed," said MLGW president Jerry Collins of his own household usage levels, which spiked between 5:30 and 6:30 on weekday mornings. "It was the hot water heater running because we're taking showers. Now, we're taking shorter showers."
Collins' decision is what utility executives experimenting with the smart grid technology see as the ultimate goal.
"That's the short- and long-term goal," said Cordova, "to raise everyone's awareness about how much electricity they use, when they use it, how they want to use it. Those are the ultimate goals of all of the smart grid projects."
And Williamson said in that direct pocketbook application is a direct path to broader goals.
"When the community uses more power, it costs more to generate that power. Everybody's costs go up," she said. "If TVA has to generate less power overall or buy less power overall then everyone's rates are held down because that fuel cost adjustment portion of the rate would be lower."
Outside the general definition of the project are other efforts lumped in with smart grid efforts. Those include MLGW's involvement in installing electric vehicle charging stations as well as small amounts of solar energy sold back to TVA and MLGW by Sharp Manufacturing Co., which makes solar panels, and a handful of private homes with solar panels.
Cordova said the smart grid technology through meters that is the most specific definition of the concept was unimaginable 10 years ago for even the limited use that is emerging now.
Austin Energy is automating all of its 70,000 street lights with smart grid computer technology that is aimed at replacing the old photo cells that turned lights on and off at the preset hours for dusk and dawn.
"We can time them to where some are coming on late and some are turning off later than they should," Cordova said of the project he estimates will pay for itself in just a few years. "We can cut off a minute here, a minute there - before dawn or before dusk - and you can save electricity that way without making a big difference in the lighting quality."
There are also some other possibilities that are aimed at long-standing practices and technological limitations utilities have.
Despite all of the technological advances, MLGW, Austin Energy and other utilities still rely on customers to call and tell them specifically where power is out. The smart meters include in them software that could notify the utility when there is an outage.
A group of 40 automated switches are to be installed by MLGW to automatically redirect power to areas with an outage. Those areas that have the longest average restoration times are being targeted by MLGW for the switches.
"You don't have to call on us," Collins said. "We will dispatch a crew within a few minutes. If you are at work, you will never know your power was out unless you see the clock blinking."
Austin Energy's use of similar technology attached to power lines has been in one part of the city and limited to six circuits out of 400. But Cordova notes that for a business running a fleet of trucks using $3.50-$4 a gallon gasoline, the savings are obvious.
"We don't roll a truck all the way to your house to find out if you have an outage. . Right now, our call center calls our customers back and asks if their power is back on," he said. "Once utilities start doing this, their efficiency is just going to improve so much and their costs are going to go down as well. Utilities haven't been able to do it until they installed these smart meters."
The smart meters have been talked about theoretically for years. And they have been one of the perennial points of contention in MLGW's relationship with some members of the Memphis City Council.
Council member Joe Brown has grilled Collins and his predecessors about the use of the technology, even in its infancy. Brown is adamantly opposed to the meters because using them will eventually lead to putting meter readers out of work.
Meter readers still read smart meters, even though they send the data automatically to the utility. But the utility says since meter readers will be reading the other kinds of meters in the same areas, they will continue to read the smart meters manually as well.
Let There Be Light
MLGW turns up the power on smart grid project
Memphis Daily News: By Bill Dries
VOL. 126 | NO. 168 | Monday, August 29, 2011
This fall, a group of 1,000 Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division customers move deeper into a three-year, futuristic-sounding "Smart Grid" test project that began this past January.
The lights of Downtown Memphis as seen from the corner of Monroe Avenue and Front Street. The city's utility company, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, is working to make the transfer of electricity throughout town more efficient through its smart grid project.
They volunteered last year to get new automated meters for their homes, and half of them got a wireless digital counter top readout for inside their homes that allows them to watch their electricity usage. With a computer dashboard readout they can also follow trends for energy usage over time, and the device even suggests scenarios for cutting costs.
Smart grid technology, which optimizes the delivery of electricity to end-users, doesn't involve installing new wires, transformers or substations that someone can point to and say, "That is the smart grid."
It tends to be software and, at least for now, is built around the belief that the more utility customers know about their energy usage, the more they will tweak it, control it and ultimately use it in a more efficient way.
But starting Oct. 1, those in the test group can opt to pay "time of use" rates for electricity rather than a general rate based on usage that is a constant base rate no matter the time of day.
"It will allow customers to pay the lower cost of electricity used during the lower cost, lower demand period," said MLGW spokeswoman Becky Williamson. "They'll pay a higher cost for electricity used during the higher cost, higher demand period when it costs more for TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) to generate that electricity or (TVA) has to buy it on the market for higher prices."
With 430,000 electric customers, MLGW is TVA's largest customer, accounting for 11 percent of TVA's total load, according to the MLGW website.
The base rate for summer months is 6 cents per kilowatt hour plus a fuel cost adjuster calculated each month based on what it cost TVA to either generate or buy the electricity used is added to that.
But the time of use summer rate for electricity ranges from 4 cents in off-peak hours to 13 cents during peak hours.
"It is going from the assumption that the cost for the electricity I use is the same 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to the electricity I use at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday in August is more expensive that what I use at 2 p.m. on a Sunday in December," Williamson said.
MLGW had even bigger plans for a smart grid transition when federal stimulus money was still plentiful. The utility got $5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for its phase one proposal and had plans for a larger scale deployment in phase two. That was canceled when federal officials awarded all of the money they had for the phase one applications across the country. MLGW adjusted with a smaller scale test project.
And the utility didn't get as many volunteers as they had thought - slightly less than 2,000 for 1,000 slots.
"It represents every ZIP code in Shelby County," Williamson said. "We had volunteers from all across the county. It covers all the demographics. It skews a little bit higher income, higher education. We have homeowners. We have renters. We have people with master's degrees and people who didn't finish elementary school. We have the gamut."
Other cities have made trial steps with smart grid technology in specific areas instead of a scattered use of the technology.
Austin Energy in Austin, Texas, is involved, along with the University of Texas at Austin and several technology companies, in a grant-driven demonstration area called the Pecan Street Project.
"They have home area networks. They would have solar panels and they might have plug-in electric cars," said Austin Energy spokesman Carlos Cordova. "All of these things are being experimented with and tested in this neighborhood. It all relates to the smart grid. They want to test how can your car talk to your house and your house talk to your appliances and all of this talks to the grid."
Austin has been experimenting with smart grid technology since 2003. Almost all of Austin Energy's 400,000 customers have smart meters but Cordova describes the pace of the utility's work as slow.
"We're working on several different fronts and taking it slowly where there is still work and research that needs to be done," he said. "Much of this equipment is expensive. That has to be put into budgets. A lot of this is developing slowly and we are testing it as we go along."
In a lot of ways, the smart grid technology is about changing decades of reality when it comes to the public's use of utilities and what the public expects in those transactions.
There is the monthly bill that even with the knowledge that the hottest and coldest months will involve more energy usage can come as an economic wallop to even the most conscientious consumer.
Starting in February, those with smart meters got more information when they logged onto their account information on the MLGW dashboard. Their usage is broken down to every 15 minutes of the billing period and has graphs for every day of the period as well as projections about what the bill will be like based on current usage levels.
Memphis resident Denise Watts shows the home display for her MLGW Smart Meter that shows peak energy usage, projected electricity cost and daily usage.
"I was totally amazed," said MLGW president Jerry Collins of his own household usage levels, which spiked between 5:30 and 6:30 on weekday mornings. "It was the hot water heater running because we're taking showers. Now, we're taking shorter showers."
Collins' decision is what utility executives experimenting with the smart grid technology see as the ultimate goal.
"That's the short- and long-term goal," said Cordova, "to raise everyone's awareness about how much electricity they use, when they use it, how they want to use it. Those are the ultimate goals of all of the smart grid projects."
And Williamson said in that direct pocketbook application is a direct path to broader goals.
"When the community uses more power, it costs more to generate that power. Everybody's costs go up," she said. "If TVA has to generate less power overall or buy less power overall then everyone's rates are held down because that fuel cost adjustment portion of the rate would be lower."
Outside the general definition of the project are other efforts lumped in with smart grid efforts. Those include MLGW's involvement in installing electric vehicle charging stations as well as small amounts of solar energy sold back to TVA and MLGW by Sharp Manufacturing Co., which makes solar panels, and a handful of private homes with solar panels.
Cordova said the smart grid technology through meters that is the most specific definition of the concept was unimaginable 10 years ago for even the limited use that is emerging now.
Austin Energy is automating all of its 70,000 street lights with smart grid computer technology that is aimed at replacing the old photo cells that turned lights on and off at the preset hours for dusk and dawn.
"We can time them to where some are coming on late and some are turning off later than they should," Cordova said of the project he estimates will pay for itself in just a few years. "We can cut off a minute here, a minute there - before dawn or before dusk - and you can save electricity that way without making a big difference in the lighting quality."
There are also some other possibilities that are aimed at long-standing practices and technological limitations utilities have.
Despite all of the technological advances, MLGW, Austin Energy and other utilities still rely on customers to call and tell them specifically where power is out. The smart meters include in them software that could notify the utility when there is an outage.
A group of 40 automated switches are to be installed by MLGW to automatically redirect power to areas with an outage. Those areas that have the longest average restoration times are being targeted by MLGW for the switches.
"You don't have to call on us," Collins said. "We will dispatch a crew within a few minutes. If you are at work, you will never know your power was out unless you see the clock blinking."
Austin Energy's use of similar technology attached to power lines has been in one part of the city and limited to six circuits out of 400. But Cordova notes that for a business running a fleet of trucks using $3.50-$4 a gallon gasoline, the savings are obvious.
"We don't roll a truck all the way to your house to find out if you have an outage. . Right now, our call center calls our customers back and asks if their power is back on," he said. "Once utilities start doing this, their efficiency is just going to improve so much and their costs are going to go down as well. Utilities haven't been able to do it until they installed these smart meters."
The smart meters have been talked about theoretically for years. And they have been one of the perennial points of contention in MLGW's relationship with some members of the Memphis City Council.
Council member Joe Brown has grilled Collins and his predecessors about the use of the technology, even in its infancy. Brown is adamantly opposed to the meters because using them will eventually lead to putting meter readers out of work.
Meter readers still read smart meters, even though they send the data automatically to the utility. But the utility says since meter readers will be reading the other kinds of meters in the same areas, they will continue to read the smart meters manually as well.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Call for your Pilot Safety Inspection
MLGW’s Pilot Safety Inspection program begins September 6 and will run through February 29, 2012. If you’re one of our many customers who take advantage of this program, you can schedule an appointment now.
Appointments scheduled between September 6 and October 3 are free. Appointments scheduled between October 4 and December 31 will incur a $36 fee. The fee will be billed to your account and covers up to three gas heating appliances. Each additional appliance over three will incur an additional $14 fee. The service is free to customers 60 years and older, the disabled and handicapped.
To schedule an appointment, please call 820-7878 to choose a date and time convenient for you. You may also use our Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) to schedule an appointment. You will need your 16-digit account number when using this system. You may schedule an appointment for a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Saturday for one of the following time slots:
• 8 a.m. - noon • noon - 4 p.m. • 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.
• Saturday appointments are either 8 a.m. - noon or noon - 4 p.m.
For the best selection of dates and times, please call as soon as possible. MLGW Customer Care Center is open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday - Friday.
Appointments scheduled between September 6 and October 3 are free. Appointments scheduled between October 4 and December 31 will incur a $36 fee. The fee will be billed to your account and covers up to three gas heating appliances. Each additional appliance over three will incur an additional $14 fee. The service is free to customers 60 years and older, the disabled and handicapped.
To schedule an appointment, please call 820-7878 to choose a date and time convenient for you. You may also use our Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) to schedule an appointment. You will need your 16-digit account number when using this system. You may schedule an appointment for a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Saturday for one of the following time slots:
• 8 a.m. - noon • noon - 4 p.m. • 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.
• Saturday appointments are either 8 a.m. - noon or noon - 4 p.m.
For the best selection of dates and times, please call as soon as possible. MLGW Customer Care Center is open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday - Friday.
Monday, August 22, 2011
TVPPA appoints President and CEO, Jerry Collins Jr.
MLGW President and CEO Jerry R. Collins Jr. was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association (TVPPA).
The Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, Inc. (TVPPA) is the nonprofit, regional service organization that represents the interests of consumer-owned electric utilities operating within the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) service area. TVPPA members include both municipal and electric cooperatives, and they serve more than nine million customers in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia. MLGW is a member utility.
“TVPPA is the voice of the distributors that are served by TVA and it’s important that MLGW plays an important role in making sure our voice is heard along with the 158 other distributors in the valley,” said Collins. “Memphis represents 10 percent of the power generated by TVA. It’s important that we take a leadership role in helping TVA set policies and rates that are in the best interests of our customers.”
Collins, a native Memphian, received a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering in 1975 and a Master of Science in civil engineering in 1976 from the University of Memphis’s Herff College of Engineering. He has served as president and CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division since 2007. He is the 10th person to lead the utility.
Prior to MLGW, Collins, a registered Professional Engineer, led the City of Memphis Public Works Division. He has received numerous awards for operational excellence and efficiency in the field of wastewater management, and under his leadership the City of Memphis went 22 years without a sewer rate increase.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Identification rules loosened
The MLGW Board voted yesterday to revise MLGW’s ID requirements for customers to establish service. The changes came after Memphis Mayor A C Wharton requested that MLGW review its identification requirements for establishing service. The new language:
1) Provides additional forms of acceptable forms of ID.
2) Outlines a process for customers who are unable to present photo ID to obtain conditional service.
3) Outlines an escalation process for customers who present a form of ID that is not on the acceptable list to get their presented ID approved.
4) Provides a mechanism for an employee of a governmental agency to submit an Affidavit of Identification in a form to be provided by MLGW.
5) Provides information that directs customers to other agencies to assist them in obtaining proper ID.
Read the Commercial Appeal story here: Identification rules loosened
1) Provides additional forms of acceptable forms of ID.
2) Outlines a process for customers who are unable to present photo ID to obtain conditional service.
3) Outlines an escalation process for customers who present a form of ID that is not on the acceptable list to get their presented ID approved.
4) Provides a mechanism for an employee of a governmental agency to submit an Affidavit of Identification in a form to be provided by MLGW.
5) Provides information that directs customers to other agencies to assist them in obtaining proper ID.
Read the Commercial Appeal story here: Identification rules loosened
Offices Back to Normal Hours
The Customer Care Center and all Community Offices are resuming normal hours of operation on Monday, Aug. 22. MLGW had expanded hours last week in order to accommodate customers coming out of the long stretch of hot weather during which MLGW’s heat-related moratorium was in effect nearly every day. Community offices will be open 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday-Friday, with the exception of the Millington office, which is open from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The Customer Care Center is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program
The State of TN received $5,963,000 under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act for the State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program (SEEARP or TEEARP). The State's program provides rebates for four types of Energy Star® appliances:
(1) Air source heat pumps - $250 rebate
(2) Central air conditioners - $250 rebate
(3) Room air conditioners - $40 rebate
(4) Gas furnaces - $150 rebate
The State has contracted with Conservation Services Group to process the rebate applications and issue the rebates to Tennessee residents.
Special notes:
- Purchases made on or after April 22, 2010 are eligible for the rebates.
- Rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Only one rebate per household will be accepted.
- Appliance rebates will be available to Tennessee citizens only.
- Rebates will be distributed as a prepaid Citibank® MasterCard® and will take approximately 6-8 weeks to receive.
(1) Air source heat pumps - $250 rebate
(2) Central air conditioners - $250 rebate
(3) Room air conditioners - $40 rebate
(4) Gas furnaces - $150 rebate
The State has contracted with Conservation Services Group to process the rebate applications and issue the rebates to Tennessee residents.
Special notes:
- Purchases made on or after April 22, 2010 are eligible for the rebates.
- Rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Only one rebate per household will be accepted.
- Appliance rebates will be available to Tennessee citizens only.
- Rebates will be distributed as a prepaid Citibank® MasterCard® and will take approximately 6-8 weeks to receive.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Green News
Our Commercial and Lighting Services is currently assisting the Memphis Zoo in prioritizing their facilities for efficiency improvement opportunities. The department will soon use TVA's Energy Right Solutions for business programs to provide the zoo with technical advice and financial assistance that will help them reach their goal of "going green."
The Commercial Appeal covered this and more in today's Green section: Recycling, cutting energy waste, educating public among Memphis Zoo's green efforts.
Also of note, there is a nice piece called What to do with stuff that doesn't go in recycling bin. I have pasted below. I'm especially glad to know about the tattered clothes.
What to do with stuff that doesn't go in recycling bin
Stumped on what to do with stuff you can't toss in the recycling bin? Here are my top 5 solutions to your recycling problems.
Lightbulbs: CFLs -- or compact fluorescent light bulbs -- should never be thrown away because they contain a small amount of mercury.
There are several big companies that have convenient drop-off sites and will recycle them responsibly. Lowe's, Home Depot and Ikea stores have in-store recycling bins for unbroken CFLs, and many full service-recycling centers also accept them.
Plastic bags: The last thing you should do with plastic bags and baggies is throw them away. They take thousands of years -- if not more -- to break down in a landfill. Instead, reuse them first. Even the smallest plastic baggies can be rinsed out and used again.
You can return most plastic shopping bags for recycling at almost all grocery stores. And those stores (along with Wal-Mart and Target) also accept newspaper bags, plastic wraps and plastic sandwich bags labeled with a 4 plastic resin code. Just check with your local store for details.
Batteries: They should never be thrown away because they contain heavy metals that can contaminate land and water. Instead, recycle those prized materials responsibly.
Only a handful of curbside recycling programs accept batteries, but there are many retailers and full-service recycling centers that will take your old batteries.
Earth911.org and the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp. both provide online directories to help you find battery recyclers near where you live.
Tattered clothing: Most of us have given away boxes of good clothing to Goodwill or other charitable organizations. But what about old clothing or things like rags, bedding or towels that are too worn out to be reused?
Well, Goodwill wants them, too, so long as the material is not wet or contaminated with chemicals. These items are sorted and sold for recycling or other uses, such as sofa stuffing.
Ink and toner cartridges: Every year, hundreds of millions of ink and toner cartridges are used in this country. And 70 percent of those end up in our landfills. Printer cartridges are easily refilled and recycled.
You can also get paid to turn in your old cartridges. You can earn anywhere from a few cents to $20 or more per cartridge.
There are a number of online sources that will supply a prepaid shipping label to mail accepted cartridges in exchange for cash. Or you can turn in your used cartridges for recycling at Office Max, Staples and Office Depot and earn a few dollars of store credit.
The Commercial Appeal covered this and more in today's Green section: Recycling, cutting energy waste, educating public among Memphis Zoo's green efforts.
Also of note, there is a nice piece called What to do with stuff that doesn't go in recycling bin. I have pasted below. I'm especially glad to know about the tattered clothes.
What to do with stuff that doesn't go in recycling bin
Stumped on what to do with stuff you can't toss in the recycling bin? Here are my top 5 solutions to your recycling problems.
Lightbulbs: CFLs -- or compact fluorescent light bulbs -- should never be thrown away because they contain a small amount of mercury.
There are several big companies that have convenient drop-off sites and will recycle them responsibly. Lowe's, Home Depot and Ikea stores have in-store recycling bins for unbroken CFLs, and many full service-recycling centers also accept them.
Plastic bags: The last thing you should do with plastic bags and baggies is throw them away. They take thousands of years -- if not more -- to break down in a landfill. Instead, reuse them first. Even the smallest plastic baggies can be rinsed out and used again.
You can return most plastic shopping bags for recycling at almost all grocery stores. And those stores (along with Wal-Mart and Target) also accept newspaper bags, plastic wraps and plastic sandwich bags labeled with a 4 plastic resin code. Just check with your local store for details.
Batteries: They should never be thrown away because they contain heavy metals that can contaminate land and water. Instead, recycle those prized materials responsibly.
Only a handful of curbside recycling programs accept batteries, but there are many retailers and full-service recycling centers that will take your old batteries.
Earth911.org and the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp. both provide online directories to help you find battery recyclers near where you live.
Tattered clothing: Most of us have given away boxes of good clothing to Goodwill or other charitable organizations. But what about old clothing or things like rags, bedding or towels that are too worn out to be reused?
Well, Goodwill wants them, too, so long as the material is not wet or contaminated with chemicals. These items are sorted and sold for recycling or other uses, such as sofa stuffing.
Ink and toner cartridges: Every year, hundreds of millions of ink and toner cartridges are used in this country. And 70 percent of those end up in our landfills. Printer cartridges are easily refilled and recycled.
You can also get paid to turn in your old cartridges. You can earn anywhere from a few cents to $20 or more per cartridge.
There are a number of online sources that will supply a prepaid shipping label to mail accepted cartridges in exchange for cash. Or you can turn in your used cartridges for recycling at Office Max, Staples and Office Depot and earn a few dollars of store credit.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Gas Credits
Have you received your credit yet?
Most of our natural gas customers will notice credits on their August bills. The adjustment is the result of a billing error that was discovered and reported by MLGW staff earlier this summer.
An itemized statement is being included with the bills to show customers how their credit was calculated. The average credit will be about $38 per residential customer and will be reflected in customers' gas charges. This is only an average. Some will receive more and some will receive less. The credit also includes interest. The actual amount of these credits is based on each customer's actual gas usage between late December 2007 and June 1, 2011. The $38 average credit is based on a customer who had usage over the entire Dec. 2007 - June 2011 period.
"We regret that this error occurred," said Jerry Collins Jr., MLGW President and CEO. "However, we are making it right in the form of this credit to our customers and hope that it will provide some relief for their August utility costs."
The PGA is a cost-recovery mechanism. Monthly gas bills reflect the cost of the natural gas MLGW purchases, as well as the cost of gas storage, transportation and delivery.
These costs fluctuate due to the deregulated, competitive natural gas marketplace. Like virtually all natural gas utilities, MLGW uses a PGA to pass along these increases and decreases in gas costs to its customers.
Most of our natural gas customers will notice credits on their August bills. The adjustment is the result of a billing error that was discovered and reported by MLGW staff earlier this summer.
An itemized statement is being included with the bills to show customers how their credit was calculated. The average credit will be about $38 per residential customer and will be reflected in customers' gas charges. This is only an average. Some will receive more and some will receive less. The credit also includes interest. The actual amount of these credits is based on each customer's actual gas usage between late December 2007 and June 1, 2011. The $38 average credit is based on a customer who had usage over the entire Dec. 2007 - June 2011 period.
"We regret that this error occurred," said Jerry Collins Jr., MLGW President and CEO. "However, we are making it right in the form of this credit to our customers and hope that it will provide some relief for their August utility costs."
The PGA is a cost-recovery mechanism. Monthly gas bills reflect the cost of the natural gas MLGW purchases, as well as the cost of gas storage, transportation and delivery.
These costs fluctuate due to the deregulated, competitive natural gas marketplace. Like virtually all natural gas utilities, MLGW uses a PGA to pass along these increases and decreases in gas costs to its customers.
Back to Normal Today
With lower temperatures this week, MLGW will return to normal business operations as it relates to cut-offs today. The forecasted lower temperatures mean that MLGW's heat-related moratorium, which suspends cutoffs when the heat index is forecast to be 100 or more (or 95 degrees for senior, physically challenged, and customers certified as dependent on life-sustaining equipment), will likely not be in effect. To assist customers coming out of this heat wave, MLGW will expand its hours of operation at its community offices. Most MLGW community offices will be open Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the exception of the Millington office, which will open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MLGW's Customer Care Center will operate from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m
The heat related moratorium is determined on a daily basis, but is unlikely to be in effect in the near future due to lower forecasted temps:
Weather-Related Moratorium Policy
It is the policy of MLGW to not disconnect any residential accounts for non-payment whenever the following conditions exist:
(a) The forecast wind chill factor will be 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below (freezing) for a period of 24 hours or more.
(b) The forecast heat index will be 100 degrees Fahrenheit or above at any time during a 24-hour period.
(c) The forecast heat index will be 95 degrees Fahrenheit or above at any time in a 24-hour period for customers 60 years of ago or older, physically challenged, or customers certified as life-support dependent.
The heat related moratorium is determined on a daily basis, but is unlikely to be in effect in the near future due to lower forecasted temps:
Weather-Related Moratorium Policy
It is the policy of MLGW to not disconnect any residential accounts for non-payment whenever the following conditions exist:
(a) The forecast wind chill factor will be 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below (freezing) for a period of 24 hours or more.
(b) The forecast heat index will be 100 degrees Fahrenheit or above at any time during a 24-hour period.
(c) The forecast heat index will be 95 degrees Fahrenheit or above at any time in a 24-hour period for customers 60 years of ago or older, physically challenged, or customers certified as life-support dependent.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
MLGW Launches Web Chat Feature
We've launched a Web Chat feature for residential customers on our homepage.
MLGW Web Chat has been in the pilot stage since January 2011 and more than 100,000 My Account customers have had access via a link in their electronic bills. Today’s launch opens MLGW Web Chat for all residential customers from 9 a.m.to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For customers who find it more convenient to type than talk, MLGW Web Chat provides a full range of service options, including payment arrangements.
However, outage reporting should still be reported at 544-6500 and emergency calls for situations such as gas leaks and downed power lines should still be reported at 528-4465.
MLGW Web Chat is our latest customer service offering for residential customers. Customers can also interact with MLGW on Twitter and Facebook. In addition, MLGW's online MyAccount feature provides detailed information about utility usage. As always, customers can send questions and feedback to mlgwcustomercare@mlgw.org.
MLGW Web Chat will be available in Spanish in the near future. An MLGW Web Chat for commercial customers will be offered at a later date.
MLGW Web Chat has been in the pilot stage since January 2011 and more than 100,000 My Account customers have had access via a link in their electronic bills. Today’s launch opens MLGW Web Chat for all residential customers from 9 a.m.to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For customers who find it more convenient to type than talk, MLGW Web Chat provides a full range of service options, including payment arrangements.
However, outage reporting should still be reported at 544-6500 and emergency calls for situations such as gas leaks and downed power lines should still be reported at 528-4465.
MLGW Web Chat is our latest customer service offering for residential customers. Customers can also interact with MLGW on Twitter and Facebook. In addition, MLGW's online MyAccount feature provides detailed information about utility usage. As always, customers can send questions and feedback to mlgwcustomercare@mlgw.org.
MLGW Web Chat will be available in Spanish in the near future. An MLGW Web Chat for commercial customers will be offered at a later date.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Mega Watt
What do you think of Reliant Energy's rapper, Mega Watt?
I think with a house that large, he might have addressed keeping the thermostat at 78 or higher in the summer, and adding some curtains to those nice, big windows!
In general though, it's pretty clever.
I'm also a fan of their other videos in their "Ask Jack" campaign. The videos don't seem to have a point other than to be funny, but after watching a few, I was convinced to click a link leading to their website with energy saving tips. And surely, that's the point. Well played, Reliant!
I think with a house that large, he might have addressed keeping the thermostat at 78 or higher in the summer, and adding some curtains to those nice, big windows!
In general though, it's pretty clever.
I'm also a fan of their other videos in their "Ask Jack" campaign. The videos don't seem to have a point other than to be funny, but after watching a few, I was convinced to click a link leading to their website with energy saving tips. And surely, that's the point. Well played, Reliant!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Check on 4 Door to Door
We love the Mayor's idea to check on at least four people during while the temperature is extremely high. Please make a point of knocking on your neighbors' doors and checking on any elderly people in the area.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
New Vampires in Your House
Anything you can plug in that still sucks energy when it’s supposedly turned off is called a Vampire appliance. Some are pretty obvious. The clocks on microwaves and VCR/DVD players burn all day, everyday. We know they’re not “off” because we can see their LED lights glow. Even electronics like televisions and cell phone chargers draw power when they’re plugged in but not in use.
Some vampires are more powerful than others. Did you know that your cable box might be using more electricity than your refrigerator?
"The average energy consumption of a typical household setup – one high-definition digital video recorder (HD-DVR) and one high-definition set-top box – is 446 kilowatt hours/year. A 21-cubic-foot Energy Star top-freezer refrigerator, on the other hand, uses 415 kilowatt hours/year."
Read the full article here: Study: Cable Boxes Use More Power Than Refrigerators.
Some vampires are more powerful than others. Did you know that your cable box might be using more electricity than your refrigerator?
"The average energy consumption of a typical household setup – one high-definition digital video recorder (HD-DVR) and one high-definition set-top box – is 446 kilowatt hours/year. A 21-cubic-foot Energy Star top-freezer refrigerator, on the other hand, uses 415 kilowatt hours/year."
Read the full article here: Study: Cable Boxes Use More Power Than Refrigerators.
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