Nothing changes lifestyles and behaviors more than the start of a new year…at least for a while, anyhow. One of the holiday conversations I had with my mom was about losing weight as one of my New Year’s resolutions. I dumped it, because after being honest with myself, I decided that I needed resolutions were attainable…and giving up chocolate, and cheese and crackers made no sense at all. So, I created a different set of resolutions that did make sense, and I also reflected on my ongoing resolution, which is being good to my environment.
One of my newest environmentally-friendly endeavors is to be an energy saver and to teach my kids how to do it too. I attended a luncheon (at Alana’s – only my fave restaurant) recently that taught me all about AEP’s smartGrid technology. smartGrid is basically a wireless meter reader that enables consumers to track the energy they use anytime they want. You want to use electricity during “off-peak” times because the demand for electricity is lower; hence, saving money and energy. If you do your laundry during “on-peak” times, meaning when everyone else is, you’ll pay more. More information can be found here: AEP Ohio smartGrid.
AEP wants consumers to understand they can be in charge of their own energy destiny, or bill. Use less energy, pay less money a month for it (think of the potential savings for prom dresses and marching band uniforms!). AEP is making it easy by offering this new smartGrid technology which will allow consumers to have immediate round-the-clock access to their account and detailed information
on power usage. You will know when the best time is to turn up the heat, run the dishwasher, bake bread, or whatever it is that you do that uses electricity (swing!).
Be sure to check your meter to see if you have a new smartGrid meter – my friend’s mom had one and didn’t even know it! The new technology is being tested in Northeast Central Ohio in the following areas: Blendon Township, New Albany, Mifflin Township, Clinton Township, Pataskala, Minerva Park, parts of Columbus, Plain Township, parts of Worthington, Gahanna, Reynoldsburg, Johnstown, Jefferson Township, Sharon Township, Westerville.
Not all of Central Ohio has the smartGrid meters yet, but you can still work on being an energy saver like me. Here are a few simple suggestions:
- Turn down your heat and wear a sweater.
- Turn off the lights if you aren’t using them.
- Take cooler or shorter showers.
- Unplug appliances, phone/camera/other device chargers, etc. when you are finished using them.
- If you have an old second fridge (say, in the garage) consider recycling it and getting money back! Lookie: https://www.aepohio.com/save/programs/ApplianceRecycling.aspx
- Don’t keep nightlights plugged in all day…oops.
Thank you Mom Central Consulting for the Silver Spring Network Smart Grid Luncheon at Alana’s and the goody bag! Also, after this post went live I received an Amazon gift card, which was very much appreciated.
Did you agree to write this post in return for the free lunch, gift card and goody bag? I seem to remember that some of the other attendees being much more upfront about being paid to blog on a subject.
It would be nice if AEP managed to spend some money doing basic upgrades of their power grid, especially in parts of Columbus like Clintonville that haven’t had any upgrades since the power lines were put in place. When we had our week-long outage during the windstorm a few years back, the visiting AEP crews from West Virginia were appalled by the primitive nature of the area’s power grid. The state of AEP’s grid contributed directly to the ridiculous amount of time it took to restore our power.
Unfortunately, AEP’s only action to improve our uptime has been to systematically destroy the trees in our neighborhood, with no appreciable affect beyond having fewer trees.
Because of the poor state of our electrical monopoly’s infrastructure, improvements like net metering, and even the “Smart Grid” that you describe are nearly impossible to implement.
Bob – Yes, I did receive an Amazon gift card after I posted – I actually need to include that in the post. I didn’t put it in there originally because I hadn’t received it, and frankly forgot about it…my bad!
I would have posted this without the promise of a gift card, though. The idea is interesting and I really hope it is successful.
If you haven’t already written to AEP, you should. You make very valid points. Generally, I am on the side of the Lorax as well. 🙂