Electricity-use monitor could save homeowners money

SALISBURY — A town resident wondered aloud recently why his electric bill went up this summer, even when he was spending a substantial amount of time away from home. A device that monitors the energy usage of individual appliances can help solve the mystery, and lead consumers to more informed choices about energy use.

Roger Liddell, an energy expert and Salisbury resident, said the electricity usage monitor is a tool  “to help deconstruct the electric bill.

“It’s a huge empowerment tool. It’s an overworked term, but I mean it in this case.�

Armed with the monitor, a consumer can figure out how much electricity is used,  “and not have to rely on someone else’s word.â€�

Electric billing statements are complex and confusing, Liddell said. “It totally clouds and frustrates informed debate in the community.�

“Everybody knows the price of gas within a penny or two, but we’re clueless about the cost of electricity,� he said.

Salisbury residents can now borrow from the Scoville Library a usage monitor called the “Watts Up,� which is pre-programmed with the correct usage formula for Salisbury and Lakeville. The monitor is there thanks to an initiative of the Salisbury Clean Energy Committee’s Power Smart project.

The goal of Power Smart is two-fold. First, it encourages Salisbury residents, businesses and public facilities to obtain electrical power generated from renewable sources via CL&P’s Clean Energy Options program. The second goal is to encourage residents to reduce their energy use through greater efficiency.

Easy fixes, big savings

Antiquated or malfunctioning refrigerators are often behind higher than necessary electric bills, for example. Liddell told of one homeowner who, using the meter, realized his malfunctioning unit was adding an extra $60 per month to his bill.

Liddell said that a pre-2001 refrigerator, even with the Energy Star label, is about 40 percent less efficient than a newer model.

And a real antique, defined here as pre-1996, is around 70 percent below par.

Liddell believes that educated consumers making better choices will result in a triple-win situation, with more consistent if not lower household expenditures, less strain on the utility company’s resources and less impact on the environment.

But making greener choices is not always an easy sell. Compact fluorescent bulbs — the “corkscrew� type — were considerably more expensive than standard incandescents just a few years ago.

But that has changed, with the bulbs costing about $4 at big retail outfits such as Home Depot, and as little as a dollar or two at energy fairs.

In any event, the decision to switch shouldn’t be hard, Liddell said, pointing out that the  incandescent bulb (invented in 1883) loses 90 to 95 percent of its energy through the heat it generates.

“We are lighting our homes with toasters.�

Liddell sketched out this scenario: If a 100-watt incandescent is replaced by a 27-watt compact fluorescent, the consumer gets a little more light, and with a bulb life of between 18 months and five years, at CL&P’s residential rates, a savings of as much as $150 (over the life of the bulb).

“Think of it in terms of a stock,� said Liddell. “If you are offered a risk-free buy at $4 a share that will return $150 in a period between one and a half and five years, would you be interested?

“These are returns that would make a venture capitalist’s eyes water!�

Choosing the green energy option

CL&P customers have the option of signing up for what the company calls Clean Energy Options, allowing rate payers the opportunity to choose renewable energy providers, including wind and hydro, as the source for either 50 percent or 100 percent of their electricity.

Receiving power  from Clean Energy Options does not affect a customer’s delivery of electricity, and presents no interruption or change in their CL&P service.

The electricity provided is the same. Mike Carella of Sterling Planet, one of the companies customers can choose through the CL&P program, said, “Unfortunately, there is no way for a residential customer to use electrons produced utilizing renewable resources, unless they have solar panels on the their roof or a wind turbine in their backyard.  The reason for this is electricity looks and acts the same once it is produced.

“There is no way to distinguish ‘green energy’ from energy produced by burning fossil fuels once it is on the electrical grid. It is mixed together and the end user is delivered electrons at random.

“Sterling’s Connecticut Choice supports 50-percent regional sources and 50-percent national sources.  This means that 50 percent is generated from regional facilities. However, these facilities are not necessarily hooked up to the CL&P electrical grid.  At the same time, it doesn’t mean that they are not; it just means that the facility is located in the New England region.â€�

Sterling Planet “is a renewable energy marketer,� said Carella. “Basically, we connect the eco-friendly consumer with clean energy or carbon mitigation projects to support.

“A consumer cannot control what type of electron (clean or dirty) they receive, but they can control which type of production they want to support.  When signing up for our program, the consumer is sending a signal to the market that there is a demand for clean, renewable energy.â€�