Utilities offer ways to trim electrical bills

MOORHEAD – The July swelter may have retreated for now, but a stark reminder of just how bad you sweated it out will be unavoidable when the energy bill comes due.

Officials at local utilities say you shouldn’t have to choose – you can have your cool and afford it, too. Cass County Electric, Xcel Energy and Moorhead Public Service all have energy-saving programs.

MPS started their program, Thrifty Watts, this year. The utility installs a switch outside your home, connected to your central air, and in times of higher citywide electric use, MPS can cycle air conditioning units off and on during the day to save energy.

“It’s no cost to them,” said Dennis Eisenbraun, energy services manager for MPS, who called it “a complete no-brainer.”

Eisenbraun said it benefits all customers because it helps keeps rates down.

“This is a capital investment from our part,” Eisenbraun said.

If you sign up in Moorhead, you’ll see a $9 credit on your monthly electric bill during the summer months.

It’s available in Fargo, too. Xcel has offered its Saver Switch program for around 20 years, said Mark Nisbet, Xcel’s North Dakota principal manager. Cass County Electric has a similar program that’s about 12 years old, said Marshal Albright, vice president of member and energy services at Cass County Electric.

“While they’re at work, we’ll cycle that air conditioner off for 15 minutes at a time,” Nisbet said. “You really don’t lose the cooling over that time.”

Xcel offers a 15 percent bill reduction in the summer months for those who use their Saver Switch program. Cass County consumers get a $7 flat credit or a discounted bill.

Eisenbraun said due to costs, they can’t put everyone on the program. Right now, about 270 Moorhead residents are on the program, and they’re hoping for 400 more next year.

“It’s been well received,” Eisenbraun said. “We’ve already got a waiting list for next year.”

It doesn’t work for every home, though – central air is required and some homeowners are in and out too often, so their homes require constant cooling.

The heat this month has definitely provided a reason to consider energy saving options. Electric use in both cities peaked last week to their highest summer levels ever, utility officials said.

Fargo’s highest summer energy peak ever happened July 20, Albright said, when temps touched 100 degrees, tying a record for that date. But he warned that “ever” is not too hard to beat.

“One thing to keep in mind is we grow every year, too. So ‘ever’ is pretty easy to do year by year,” Albright said.

Across the river in Moorhead, the energy usage record was broken July 16, Eisenbraun said. It was 92 degrees that day.

AC all day has its price

Eisenbraun estimates that keeping a window unit running in an apartment 24 hours a day could cost more than $80 by the end of a month. The cost is more than $230 for a single-family home.

But Albright advised that it might be cheaper to keep the AC running. He said turning the system off and opening a window is OK if the temps and humidity are low outside.

“If (humidity) is not low enough, you’re actually going to bring all that humidity back in the house, and you have to take it all out again the next day,” he said.

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Readers can reach Forum reporter Erik Burgess at (701) 241-5518

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