Offsetting My Electricity With Wind Power Update
I just wanted to give a little update on what it was like this summer having switched over to 100% wind power. I wrote back in June a detailed post about how we decided that instead of paying just an extra $7.50/mo for buying a block of partial wind power (500 kWh) from our electric company, we chose to make the commitment for our environment and pay whatever the bill would be to totally offset all of our power. What I figured we would be paying from looking at past bills would be anywhere from $13-$20 extra each month. Well, for the past 3 months and with using our air conditioner very little this summer (a big improvement for us), here is what we paid for total wind power for a family of 3: June: $11.13 July:$13.64 August: $17.43.
We have also set a record in my state of Colorado this summer with many days being above 90 degrees and really it was more like close to 100 degrees everyday for several weeks. Certain evenings it got to be 95 degrees in our bedroom and that was with the windows and shades closed all day. We ran the a/c those evenings to cool down our upstairs for a few hours so we could all sleep – especially my son who complained bitterly about the heat. Once it cooled down a bit, we shut off the a/c and opened all the windows for the cool evening air to come in.
I feel ok with paying the extra amount in August because I think our bill the rest of the year will be more like the June bill – around $11 bucks extra a month to buy total wind power. Buying this wind power really helps me tune-in to what we are all doing everyday here and if we leave on any unnecessary lights or devices. It reminds me of the years we lived completely off the grid and how we had to be aware and check our meter everyday especially in the dead of winter when we would get less sun on our solar panels to generate our power. It was our goal to not have to use our back up gas generator but in the height of the winter, we needed to use the generator to juice up the bank of batteries at least once a week. I feel like we got a bit soft since moving to the ‘burbs and back on the grid and this is our good environmental kick in the butt that we needed.
I will say it once again, if you are employed and can pay your bills, this is one of the best “green” sustainable things you can do for your environment and many power companies offer this renewable energy option. If yours doesn’t, there are two other companies that you can buy certified renewable energy from anywhere in the country: Green-e and Village Green Energy.
If you can only afford $1.50 extra each month – the price of a cup of coffee – dedicated to buying a 100 kWh block of renewable energy on your monthly bill, that still will make a huge difference in our environment. Offsetting 100 kWh is equivalent to:
- Planting a half acre of trees
- Not driving a gasoline powered car 2,400 miles
For only $1.50 each month this is something you can feel really good about and all it takes is a phone call or signing up online. I know that I actually feel great when I see the extra added expense that I know is going towards helping our planet and all of her inhabitants. I really hope that if you can afford even the smallest amount every month that you will make the commitment to do so, too.
photo: Steve Roe
August 27 2008 06:13 pm | Home and activism and green living and society
August 27th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
[...] Go to the author’s original blog: Offsetting My Electricity With Wind Power Update [...]
August 27th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
[...] Original post by naturedeva [...]
August 27th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
[...] Original post by naturedeva [...]
August 28th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Awesome posts about using renewable energy certificates to cover your power consumption. It is really encouraging that more and more people are choosing to do this. The voluntary green power market has grown tremendously in the past few years!
This is great, because transitioning to renewable energy is the most effective way to reduce our carbon output. There are many carbon offsets available, including planting trees or forcing algae blooms, which help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but none are as effective as actually changing where we get our energy from. This is why supporting renewable energy is the way to go.
Just wanted to add another comment, as I have been a Policy Advisor for a renewable energy company for the past year. A key consideration with your purchase of RECs is where they are coming from. There are currently 26 states (www.dsireusa.org) with legally mandated renewable energy targets, which means that the utility companies in these states need to be a certain percentage renewable by a specified date. And to meet this target, the utility companies buy RECs.
So voluntary purchases of RECs, by people like you and me, from these 26 compliance states means that the utility companies need to invest in more renewable energy projects to meet their goal. The voluntary demand is essentially competing with the utilities for a limited number of RECs…which will lead to more renewable energy development, and the creation of more RECs for compliance.
The bottom line goal is to increase the amount of renewable energy flowing into the power grid. And your purchase can ensure this happens. Just choose a company that holds themselves to this standard and only sells RECs from compliance states.
August 28th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
We got on the Windsource program right away and switched to 100% as soon as we could. Our bills have been similar to yours. TOTALLY worth it!!!
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