Sumner Shortcuts

Folks in Sumner County can now look forward to a 20% hike in electricity rates starting on October 1st. Yippee!

That was a sarcastic “yippee,” by the way.

So, if your typical bill is around $100.00, you can expect it to immediately jump up to about $120.00.

As if times weren’t hard enough.  I mean… we’re already paying so much more for gas that a lot of families in the county are struggling.

Oh… and the main reason for the hike in electricity?  Gas prices.  That’s right.  Since the meter-checking electric workers have to drive all over the place… they’re passing the cost on to the consumer.

Seriously, folks… we citizens are paying for the rise in the cost of oil about a hundred times over at this point.  We pay it at the pump.  We pay it in the rising cost of airline tickets.  All the groceries and items we buy at the store are shipped via truck, which costs gas, so we’re paying higher prices there too.  Now we’re paying more for our electricity.

I don’t know if any fancy Washington types have officially declared a recession… but to the average person out here in Middle Tennessee… it sure feels like one.

Some good electricity-saving tips that I read on a hundred other blogs and then paraphrased for my own:

• Unplug everything when not in use.  Yes, even your turned-off TV sucks a tiny amount of juice as long as it is plugged in.
• Turn off lights when not in use.
• Learn to live comfortably at a temperature one or two degrees higher. It’s barely noticeable to most people, yet the savings in energy consumption can be significant.
• Replace your AC filters every month on the nose.  A clean filter helps the unit run more efficiently.
• Take showers instead of baths–baths use 5 times more hot water, and it takes electricity to make hot water.
• Only do full loads of laundry.  Fewer loads means less energy usage.  Also, consider going back in time to 1825 and hanging your wet laundry on a clothes line.
• Use the microwave more and the oven less.  Microwaves use less electricity.
• Make paper mache voodoo dolls of electric company employees and poke them with toothpicks (admittedly, this won’t reduce your electric bill… but it will make you feel better.  Note:  this also works with employees of Big Oil companies).

Hopefully those tips help a bit.  I know they won’t make you feel any better about the upcoming hike on your bill.  Looks like we’re all in for a more expensive winter.