HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-05-16, Page 10Page 10 May 16, 2007 • The Huron Expositor
News
Power
consumption droppin
says Festival
Hydro
data from the utility. LED lights load will use 15 to 20 gallons per load,"
"I believe there is some relationship * 36 per cent replaced an old refrigera- Holman said.
to the conservation efforts," said Bill tor with a more efficient model Beginning May 1, Ontario homes
Zehr, president of Festival Hydro. * 16 per cent replaced on old freezer with "smart meters" were scheduled to
However, he cautioned the numbers with a more efficient model be charged a variable rate for the elec-
aren't adjusted for the influence of the * 30 per cent installed a programmable tricity. The smart meters encourage
weather. thermostat. conservation by showing people how
For example, 2005 — which had the But the No. 1 change households much their energy habits cost them.
highest consumption in the five-year reported was swapping their old incan- Under the variable pricing plan,
period — was warm and people ran air descent light bulbs for more efficient users will pay 7.2 cents per kWh week -
conditioning more often during the hot compact fluorescent bulbs. days from 7-11 a.m
Brian Shypula
GINIUMINEED
Messages and tips for conserving
electricity are getting through to
Festival Hydro customers, who used
less power on average in 2006 than in
each of the four previous years.
Average consumption for the utility's
17,000 residential customers in
Seaforth, Brussels, Dashwood, Hensall,
St. Marys, Stratford and Zurich was
703 kilowatt hours a month in 2006.
That kWh in 2005,
713 kWh in 2003
and in according to
was
kWh
730
down
in
kWh
from
2004,
2002,
738
7
16
summer.
Still, Zehr
declining
statistics jive
Respondents were also asked about From 11 a.m.-5 p.m., the peak period,
said he believes usage is the conservation steps they planned to electricity will cost them 9.2 cents per
and that the consumption make in the next 12 months. Again, kWh. From 5-10 p.m., the price falls
with a survey Festival switching to compact fluorescent bulbs back to 7.2 cents.
Hydro conducted was the most frequently listed mea- From 10 p.m. -7 a.m., the price is 3.2
sure. centskWh Th k
'The survey itself gave us some confi
dence that the consumers are thinkin
about conservation," Zehr said.
In Ontario, the average household
consumes about 800 kWh a month o
about 10,000 kWh, according to
Statistics Canada and the Ontario
Ministry of Energy.
Six of Ontario's largest electric utili-
ties recently said conservation pro-
grams saved enough power last year to
take nearly 34,000 homes off the grid.
The utilities -- Toronto Hydro, Hydro
Ottawa, Horizon Utilities, Veridian
Connections, PowerStream and
Enersource Hydro Mississauga -- rep-
resent 1.7 million customers in south-
ern and eastern Ontario.
The utilities collectively reduced
power consumption by 302.5 million
kilowatt-hours in 2006, a 274 per cent
increase over savings achieved in 2005.
Local retailers say consumer demand
and awareness of conservation is on
the rise.
Jim Sills, owner of Sills Home
Hardware in Seaforth, has seen an
increase in sales of compact flourescent
light bulbs recently.
"When they come in for bulbs, they
consider the compacts," he said.
Chris Holman, co-owner of Seaforth
Plumbing and Heating has also seen
an increase in demand for energy effi-
cient products.
He attributed the rise in demand to
high energy costs and a government
program that started a couple months
tWEECeadf
FARM EQUIPMENT
SEAFORTH
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519-235-2121
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CASE 1//
last year.
The utility
polled about 10 per
cent of its cus-
tomers to ask them
about what they
did to cut back elec-
tricity usage.
Briefly, the
survey found:
* 36 per cent
replaced old
Christmas lights
with more efficient
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per a price on wee ends
- and holidays is 3.2 cents per kWh.
g So running a washing machine or
dishwasher in the middle of the night
will cost just over one-third of the price
r of running it mid-afternoon.
Smart meters likely won't be
installed in this area until later this
year.
Festival Hydro is still waiting for
approval.
The provincial government's plan is
to have 800,000 customers on smart
meters by the end of 2007 but has set
2010 as the target for provincewide
smart metering for residential and
smaller general service customers.
In addition to smart meters, Festival
Hydro has other conservation initia-
tives planned.
The utility hopes to double the num-
ber of customers who allow their water
heaters and air conditioners to be con-
trolled by a wireless signal sent by the
utility.
Last summer, about 200 customers
signed up to have their air conditioners
turned on and off in 15 -minute cycles
through the controllers, which are
installed free of charge by the utility.
About 1,400 customers have their
water heaters controlled in a similar
manner. The signals run the water
heaters in off-peak times when there is
less demand for electricity.
Demand for a Kill -a -Watt appliance
tester Festival Hydro gave Stratford
Public Library to loan out was so high
the library ended up buying four of the
units on its own. The testers measure
how much energy an appliance uses.
"As a part of the community, we like
to consider ourselves doing our part for
the environment as much as we can.
We really felt we owed it to people to do
this," said Sally Hengeveld, public ser-
vices librarian.
Hengeveld, who is a member of the
environmental group CARE (Common
Action for the Restoration of the
Environment) Stratford, said she
thinks the conservation message is get-
ting through to people.
"I really think, personally, that the
tide has turned. I think the message
has got through between the publicity
of what it's doing to the Earth and the
cost, I think people really are paying
attention," she said.
With files frm Aaron Jacklin
ago.
"There's a rebate program where you
can get up to $800 back," Holman said.
"That's basically increased our sales on
higher efficiency products."
He named three types of products
that are selling well.
Air conditioners with a Seasonal
Energy Efficiency Ratio of 14 were one.
Holman explained that the higher the
SEER, the more energy efficient the
product. The highest is 21.
He said they've seen a lot of sales of
95 per cent efficient furnaces with vari-
able speed fans, which distribute heat
throughout a home more evenly.
Another type of appliance in high
demand is the front loading washing
machine, because it uses less Water.
"Where the top -load (machines) will
use 60 to 80 gallons per load, the front-