What sacrifices have you made to cope with Juneau’s energy crisis?
Disclaimer: VoxBox is a forum for Juneau Empire readers to share their opinions on topics that matter to Juneau. These comments do not represent the Juneau Empire's views.
Warning: Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions at our user agreement page. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 4:38 am and is filed under Energy.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 am
little to no TV, and reducing our cable from premium to basic, lights on only if you are in a room, using a flashlight at night instead of turning on a light, NO eatting out, ride sharing, turning off and unplugging computers or appliances when not in use. turning down the water heater, anything and everything I can think of and more, even if it seems like a small thing it should help.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 am
I gave up my electric nose hair trimmer.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:14 am
I gave up smoking for two days so I could buy an extension cord that reaches to my neighbor’s house
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:26 am
Already had extension cords lying around.
We unplugged all appliances unless needed. All electronics are on power strips which are switched off unless needed.
No lights. We use battery operated camping lanterns and hand crank flashlights. Thermostats on my ALL electric home are turned WAY down. Use wood stove for heat. Added 9 inches of insulation to attic last fall.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:23 am
Heater is down, curtains are open, cooking quick meals (not all day long roasts), tho my kids aren’t happy elec dishwasher is off limits – now the only dishwasher in my house is human. Plus everything everyone else said, reduce TV and PC usage. No more leaving the TV on all night for music in the bedrooms. 10min showers!! On the upside to all this hopefully our habits will change and when we get back to regular power/rates we will all conserve more.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:31 am
turned off all breakers not needed during day( range, dryer, washer) turned heat off [put on extra bedclothes and blankets] opened blinds until dark for light and warmth. hang clothes on hangers and clothesline. use night lights (1 to 4 watts each) only 1 tv limited time as well as pcs. reading a lot more and playing alot of board games.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:49 am
Can someone tell me if turning the electric hot water heater off from bedtime to late afternoon the next day makes sense? I don’t know if it is energy saving or not as the water does cool some and has to be reheated.
What we are doing:
no lights on if not absolutely necessary
using CFC bulbs, and small cfc reading lamps instead of incandescent or halogen
turned heat down
turned water heater off evening to late afternoon (so it’s off for 19 of 24 hours)
making sure laundry is truly dirty – ie wearing clothes a couple times and using towels 2-3 times
have high efficiency w/d
At work: lights off, window shades open, turn off all monitors, CPUs, printers, copiers when not used
Wishing there was advice on what else we could do and more feedback on how well we are doing. A daily summary of energy use/savings and tips on how to do better would be welcome.
And stop griping about AEL&P – what’s done is done and now we learn from it and make the best.
being grateful that this is happening during a sunny period
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:07 am
i’ve made sacrifices… the hard part is getting the roommates to do the same!!!
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:14 am
We replaced our dishwasher a couple of years ago. And the paperwork with the new, more efficient machine, talked about the machine being more efficient than hand washing dishes. According to this paperwork, dishes just need to be free of large debris, essentially scrapped off.
Anybody know which is better?
We’re spending this weekend emptying one of our 5 cubic feet freezers, consolidating to one and the other will be unplugged.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:58 am
I no longer live in Juneau but can offer ideas to help since I now live in a village and have lived in various remote communities throughout the last 34+ years. Not to mention that I grew up with a two seater outhouse with a well as our only source of water (in a family of eight).
For conserving hot water; wash dishes in a stopped up sink or tub. Try to not overload with detergent. To rinse your dishes; have another stopped up sink or tub full of hot water. Dip each washed item in the hot water and set on a dish rack to air dry. If you have a fairly large amount of dishes to clean, you may have to refresh the rinse water. This method helps avoid the running of hot water down the drain. My family used this method of dishwashing for years. There were times when we didn’t have a water heater (had to heat water on the woodstove). Hope this very simple method helps.
Once a week baths were also a way to conserve but these days most folks just can’t imagine doing that. Use a water or juice pitcher to pour water over your head and body while sitting in shallow, warm water. Soap up, rinse with water pitcher; quite simple. Between baths use the spit bath method which involves wiping strategic areas of the body with a wet cloth or rag. Good old fashioned conservation. To think that this use to be the norm a generation or so ago. Also, we still use one bath towel every seven to ten days depending on how often we bathe. There you have it. It just takes some adjustment and getting use to. Our affluent society has become so consumptive. Our mentality of limitlessness has got to change. Juneau, you just may be on the forefront of a new conservationist, minimalist trend! Now go out there and do what you must. You can do it!!
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
My family seems to be doing about the same as the rest- Cutting back wherever we can!
Doing less laundry.
Taking less and shorter showers.
hand wash dishes.
Energy effecient bulbs, which are off unless necessary to use.
EVERYTHING is unplugged, except washer/dryer, stove and fridge.
Computers and TV’s on power strips that are off unless in use. (and the coffee pot and microwave too).
Using the old wind-up alarm clock vs. the plug in model.
Using the woodstove as much as possible.
Not turning on porch lights. (thank goodness for the added day light!)
Using the BBQ grill and gas range and avoiding the microwave.
Candles and flashlights are wonderfull!!!
I am also considering dropping the cable TV for the summer. Who needs it in the summer anyway?
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I counted the state and city buildings with lights on at 3:30AM. All of them.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Turned off inactive VCR/DVDs. Turned down fridge and freezer so they are barely on. Made sure that computers and copiers are turned off at work at the end of the day.
Only cook on the stove top (no roasts for now). Having BBQ outside 3/4 of the nights. More microwave foods.
Manually turning off the hot water heater and timing it for showers, laundry and dishes….
sing the miser lights.
Hanging clothes in the living room where they are dired by the wood stove.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
~ no computer until weekend for 30 min.
~ Board and card games have been wonderful with kids! LOTS of reading
~ unplugged everything that was not essential (microwave, coffee pot, message machine, washer when not in use, lamps, misc. cords, tv, vcr, x-box etc)
~ removed 1/2 the light bulbs in overhead lights
~ no tv until weekend for NASCAR
~ hang clothes to dry ~ have rack in living room where woodstove is at
~ wash essential clothing in cold water, hanging towels and re-using for a couple of days
~ burn candles and hurricane lamps at night
~ flashlights for going from bedroom to bathroom
~ BBQ’ing all meals and making salads (fruit, veggie)
~ unplugging deep freezers for a day or two before plugging in for a few hours
~ monitoring meter for consumption
~ extra blankets/quilts on beds for evening
~ washing dishes by hand…basically out of a family of 8 we’re doing everything that was suggested the day the avalanche story hit!
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I can’t speak for all state buildings, but I am a state worker and we have turned all the cealing lights off since monday, offices and hallways. My office has no window and my eyes are starting to go batty from staring at the only light in my office (my computer screen). I feel like I am working in a coal mine, oh well just another few months.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
So far I’ve unplugged everything in the house unless needed.
I think the only thing that doesn’t need power to be made is tunafish and juice…
Turned off all the breakers that we don’t need unless we need them.
Use the sunlight instead of the lights.
Take 5-10 minute showers.
Keep meals small… but I wish all our food didn’t have to be cooked.
To save money for this, I’ve stopped driving everywhere. Only from home to work and work to home… which makes it to where I only have to spend 20 on gas every month or so…
I can’t think of anything else we do..
..but after reading all these I’ve realised that watching tv while falling asleep isn’t a good idea at all.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Changed out all incondescent lights to energy saver bulbs. Went from a total of 3,322.5 watts to a new total of 477.5 watts on lights. Cost $135.00 Shut furnace down all day. Turned down hot water heater form 140 to 110 degrees. No lights or tv during day. Heat down to 62 day and night. Only one light on in evening after dark and that is a 13 watt bulb. Turned off one refer. Only one laptop on for 30 minutes three times a day. Conserve on showers. Turn water off while soaping and washing. Use paper plates and wife cooks. About ready to use plastic utinsils. Only wash cloths every two weeks. Make washing machne and dryer full now. No extra rinse. I lived in a logging camp when young and know how to conserve electricity. They did not have watt saver bulbs back in the 50′s and 60′s. Oh, what fun we are having now. Memories are wonderful.
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I turned off all our electric wall heaters and we are operating on our oil heater only. It hasn’t been bad, actually good. I feel for those who have only electric heat, they are who the state needs to subsidize and help. We also turned offer our wireless router, unplugged various appliances and cell phone chargers. Its been good, but still think AL&P is going to abscond with our money.
ZRJ
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I hand wash dishes, usually by the light of a little battery powered LED; I air dry most of our clothes; we live a lot in the dark….but are at least thankful for the sunshine we’ve had this past week! And we try not to use the oven much. It’s sort of a mini adventure for now, but probably not for long!
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Never realized how nice it is to work nights.
come home at midnight, turn 1 light on less than 10 min then bed.
Up at 6, open curtains for light / heat.
Heat been off since avalanche, no backup heat saving on elec. and fuel oil.
Dryer off, use micro to cook, breakfast only. Lunch/dinner heated at work in micro.
Water heater on 1 hour to heat up tank, take shower, water heater off. On 1 hour a day (thinking maybe a shower every other day thus water heater on 1 hr every two days)
No lights.
In fact ONLY thing running for more than the 1 hour water heater, 10 min light (1) at night and 2 min. microwave for breakfast is the aquarium heater. And those 12 little goldfish are looking tasty =)
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Sooooo glad to read that everyone is conserving what they can. This in respone to JUAMES. I too saw city and state building lights on late at night and it aggravated the crap out of me! Then I looked at all the gift shops downtown with their lights on to shine on their signs. Just imagine how much electricity all the jewelry shops are going to use when the first ship arrives next week! They have TONS of lights and I highly doubt the summer workers and owners of the jewelry and gift shops are going to give one flying frick about conserving. They don’t want to lose their precious lighting of the the glass cases because that might mean they’ll lose the 500% profit on a piece of crap stone. GRRRRR!!!!!!! Keep up all the great work Juneau!
Report this comment
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Handwashing dishes, air drying as many clothes as I can on my little wrack, vacumed my refrige coils and turned down the temp. Shut off the oven breaker and put away the toaster. The house is at 60 degrees. Dug out an old wind-up alarm clock.
Not using the computer much ( don’t have TV). Decreased the wattage in all the lights, unscrewed many bulbs and not turning on any if it’s daylight out. I’m considering getting up at 5 or 6 instead of staying up until 10 or 12. Using our corded phone.
I put our WIFI on a timer several months ago so I knew it would be off midnight to 4pm even if my Hubby stayed up later than I did. It made a several dollars difference in the bill even then. I was happy to find a few weeks ago that I can turn off our cable modem without cutting off our GCI local phone service that comes through the cable too. Now I’m considering even shutting off the GCI phone box while we are away at work and just letting the voice mail get any calls.
The kill a watt monitor? AELP has one you can borrow for free.
I see these”charging stations” for all your gadgets. Are there “smart” ones that will turn off once your laptop/phone or whatever is charged? Or have a timer on each outlet of a power strip?
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 4:40 am
heat is off
lights are off
unloaded and unplugged extra fridge in garage
quick showers 3 times a week
laundry once a week using cold water
all electrical applicances turned off that arent absolutely necessary
microwaving meals
wearing clothes and using towels etc many times before washing
using every bit of food in house, no trips to grocery store unless absolutely needed (to save money to pay elect bil when it arrives)
we are considering looking at a new energy star freezer to replace the old 1980′s one we have, the problem being probably cant afford to put the money out for that right now with the cost of oil and gas and thesoon to come huge electric bill.
For those that are turning off electric and going to oil heat, if you havent been on oil heat in awhile be prepared. We were just filled up, 120 gallons with a $585.00 oil bill. Its not cheap.
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 4:51 am
http://11thhouraction.com
Lots of ideas on reducing power usage there.
I found googling KwH calculators helpful. They usually assume an average energy cost of 10 cents per KwH and ours was about that before. My 10-minute shower used to cost about 60 cents and now it will cost at least $3.00. This means I will be taking less showers and will be more motivated to use that gym membership. If anyone’s been making money hand over fist for years and can afford to pay for my showers for a few months, it’s them. Hot water is one of the biggest home electricity expenses, unless you were fool enough to move in to an all electric heated home in Juneau, in which case that decision you made, knowing it would cost you more but you thought you could afford it–yeah, you were wrong.
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 5:39 am
Also, we went to store this weekend and bought 7 small items and paid $50.00. So from what I can see the stores are already passing their increased oil and electric costs to us, the consumer. We have resorted to not driving anywhere to save fuel costs, not going to stores to save money for the upcoming electric bill, etc. I hope the City is ready for a huge economic crash in Juneau because if everyone else is doing like we are, it will be just around the corner if not already here. And who is going to pay the increased costs of electricity use by tourists who dont care if they conserve or not? We will. So between oil, electric, and increased food costs, it is rather frightening to say the least. Its going to be bad for our family, how are the elderly and the young kids going to handle it?
Im wondering if it would help if AEL&P starts initiating rolling power outages to force those that arent conserving to help out? I also still see lots of lights on in State and Federal office buildings, Walmart had no lights off that I could tell, etc. I dont know about the local hotels, etc.
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I immediately ceased all unnessary expenses. I quit making political donations, raffle ticket purchases for school projects, no support donations to non-profit organizations, theatres or arts & humanities groups. (I’m saving a small fortune on these alone!) I coordinate trips to the market with commutes to or from work to save fuel. Cable TV discontinued, and I sit home alone every night in a cold dark room waiting for Andrea Doll or Kim Elton to come up with an answer to all our problems.
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 9:11 am
~washing clothes in cold water and line drying
~using towels for several days before washing (that alone has cut wash loads in half!)
~unplugged 1 fridge
~monitor heater at 60 for 1 hour in morning and between 5pm til bedtime – down to 54 at night and off during the day
~switched lights to energy efficient ones and only 1 bulb per fixture (sit in the dark a lot though)
~tv, vcr, cable box, pc, printer all on power strips that are turned off when not in use
~unplugged all electric items not used including nightlights and battery chargers (amazing how much was plugged in and not used)
I know there is more but thats all I can think of now
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I’m interested in setting up a carpool website so commuters can cut the cost of gas in half. As of Sunday it cost me $40 to fill up my Subaru. That’s $200 a month. It would be great to cut that in half.
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Dennis Egan made this available on KINY – Thanks Dennis
WATTS kW MO. AVG HRS. AVG kwH COST/kwH COST/kwH COST/kwH
$0.50 $0.30 $0.11
Fridge
Side by Side 600.00 0.600 250.00 150.00 75.00 45.00 16.50
Freezer
Manual 300.00 0.300 200.00 60.00 30.00 18.00 6.60
Self-defrost 400.00 0.400 250.00 100.00 50.00 30.00 11.00
Range
8″ burner 2500.00 2.500 8.00 20.00 10.00 6.00 2.20
6″ burner 1400.00 1.400 8.00 11.20 5.60 3.36 1.23
oven bake 3200.00 3.200 8.00 25.60 12.80 7.68 2.82
Microwave 1000.00 1.000 6.00 6.00 3.00 1.80 0.66
Coffee maker 1100.00 1.100 20.00 22.00 11.00 6.60 2.42
Water heater 80 gal. 5000.00 5.000 75.00 375.00 187.50 112.50 41.25
Water heater 80 gal. 5000.00 5.000 30.00 150.00 75.00 45.00 16.50
Dishwasher 200.00 0.200 25.00 5.00 2.50 1.50 0.55
heated dry 1200.00 1.200 25.00 30.00 15.00 9.00 3.30
Washer cold 550.00 0.550 20.00 11.00 5.50 3.30 1.21
Dryer 5000.00 5.000 30.00 150.00 75.00 45.00 16.50
Septic pump 700.00 0.700 30.00 21.00 10.50 6.30 2.31
Monitor htr. 100.00 0.075 200.00 15.00 7.50 4.50 1.65
Furnace forced air 600.00 0.600 30.00 18.00 9.00 5.40 1.98
furn blower 500.00 0.500 30.00 15.00 7.50 4.50 1.65
Lighting
kitchen overhead 240.00 0.240 100.00 24.00 12.00 7.20 2.64
garage 60.00 0.060 50.00 3.00 1.50 0.90 0.33
main bath inc 7×40 280.00 0.280 60.00 16.80 8.40 5.04 1.85
main bath cfl 7×15 105.00 0.105 60.00 6.30 3.15 1.89 0.69
60 watt cfl 14.00 0.014 100.00 1.40 0.70 0.42 0.15
60 watt cfl 14.00 0.014 60.00 0.84 0.42 0.25 0.09
100 watt cfl 23.00 0.023 100.00 2.30 1.15 0.69 0.25
60 watt inc 60.00 0.060 100.00 6.00 3.00 1.80 0.66
40 watt inc 40.00 0.060 100.00 6.00 3.00 1.80 0.66
TV’s
Plasma 42″ 230.00 0.230 150.00 34.50 17.25 10.35 3.80
LCD in 45″ 250.00 0.250 100.00 25.00 12.50 7.50 2.75
13″ 65.00 0.065 180.00 11.70 5.85 3.51 1.29
DVR 55.00 0.055 720.00 39.60 19.80 11.88 4.36
Computer (desktop) 70.00 0.070 720.00 50.40 25.20 15.12 5.54
LCD 17″ mon. 30.00 0.030 720.00 21.60 10.80 6.48 2.38
cfl = compact flourescent
inc = indacescent
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Empire does not allow cut and paste to render very well.
Just go here and click on the chart
http://www.kinyradio.com/poll.html
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I don’t turn on any lights – using candles. Turned my fridge to energy saving. I’d like to dry my clothes on a rack, but all the stores sold out. I feel like I’m living in the days before electricity was invented. AEL&P needs to take the brunt of their mistake – they shouldn’t make us pay for everything. Cheapskate millionaires!!! I’ll bet they don’t live in Juneau and could care less about what it’s doing to us!
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Washing all clothes in cold water, hanging to dry
disconnected one freezer
went to the breaker box and turned off all necessary breakers
energy efficient lights in all fixtures, only use lights if needed. took bulb out of fridge
no heat from 7am-7pm, when oil monitor is on its at 68
handwash ALL dishes
discontinued cable and phone, cell service only
shorter showers
turned down water heater to 120
unplugged everything from outlets unless in use
With fuel going up to over $4.00/gallon by Monday, I think its time to move….anyone wanna buy a nice attached home in the valley? 3 bdrm, 1 1/2 bath……I’ll give you a good deal.
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Write our senator and representatives. Let your voice be heard and let them know how this crisis will be impacting you. The more people that write, the better chance we have of getting some assistance. Copy this post and send it to your friends and families. Email addresses are at the end of this post.
Kerttula: Disaster cabinet needs more information…requests public comment on rate hike
The State Disaster Cabinet started meeting yesterday (Wednesday) on Juneau’s request for emergency disaster assistance.
It was hoped initially that the panel would have a recommendation to the Governor by the end of the day, but that timetable has slipped now to at least next week.
Juneau Representative Beth Kerttula has been in close contact with the Governor’s Office.
She says they realized they just needed more information from various different sources before a recommendation could be formulated.
Kerttula says the validity of Juneau’s disaster request is questioned because of a previous disaster regarding commercial fishing that was economic in nature.
But Kerttula thinks the request is viable because she believes the community is not going to just suffer economic harm. She says it is impacting vulnerable people including those with health concerns.
And absent a disaster declaration, she thinks there are other ways to approach the matter.
Kerttula says there are some interesting questions about the fact that the state actually owns the transmission line and the towers. In that regard, Kerttula wonders if that means the community can turn back to the state for some economic aide.
It’s not yet clear if A-E-L and P’s rate hike request gains automatic approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
Irregardless, she believes the commission should allow a public comment period to hear from Juneau residents.
Kerttula’s making that request to the commission today.
I urge everyone you know to write to our representatives and senator at
Juneau_Delegation@legis.state.ak.us
or individually to the following:
Sen. Kim Elton
465-4947
sen.kim.elton@legis.state.ak.us
Rep. Beth Kerttula
465-4766
rep.beth.kerttula@legis.state.ak.us
Rep. Andrea Doll
465-3744
rep.andrea.doll@legis.state.ak.us
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I hope you all are turning off your computers afterwards!
Report this comment
April 24th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
For grace’s sake, it’s not a crisis. Darfur is a crisis. Iraq is a crisis. This is turn off a few lights, and spend a few less bucks. We had it easy, now it’s a little harder. Settle down.
Report this comment
April 25th, 2008 at 6:47 am
My all electric heat is OFF. Unplugged seldom used TV. Cut down on TV. Keep lights off unless absolutely necessary. Hanging most laundry to dry. Unplugged my hot tub (sigh).
Report this comment
April 25th, 2008 at 6:57 am
I sit in the blasted dark until I just can’t see anymore. Turned my electric (!!!!!) heat down to about 50 degrees. Unplugged my TV and PS2 and stereo, which will all remain off until this over. Use cold water for showers (that SUCKS) and washing clothes. Wash dishes by hand. Use microwave instead of the stove and oven. Unplugged all appliances – no coffeemaker, toaster, etc. But dash it all, I’m not sacrificing my computer time, too! But I do turn it off during the day when I’m at work. And at work, more than half the lights around me are turned off. Oh yes, I also put in my contact lenses by ambient window light rather than direct light, which has been a bit tricky.
Report this comment
April 25th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I pulled out the plugs for tvs, coffee maker, dvd players, microwave, computer and phones. I turn on the hot water heater only before showering. I switched out all lt bulbs to florescent bulbs. and keep lights off and use only one light on when it gets dark. I heat up the place to 70 in the morning and turn down the thermostat until the next morning. Only one tv on for everybody to watch and cut down time on the computer.
Report this comment
April 25th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
For someone who asked about how we’re doing — the ciity’s website has energy usage chart — megawatts used and gallons of fuel. There’s also links to info on what makes sense (turning down water heaters, etc.). For those who think dishwasher should be off limits – actually they save energy (because they use less hot water than hand washing). See http://www.juneau.org/energy.
I bought compact florescent bulbs and we actually like them (I had previously thought the light seemed an odd color). Home Depot has several different varieties with different qualities of light (Costco has just one kind). Unplugged everything, don’t turn on lights. Am cleaning out the freezer this weekend then unplugging. No baking either!
Report this comment
April 25th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Someone asked about what energy consumption is — the city website has that posted. http://www.juneau.org/energy. Also, someone said they were not using the dishwasher. Tho it seems counterintuitive, dishwashers use less energy than hand washing (hand washing uses more hot water and hence more energy).
Report this comment
April 26th, 2008 at 6:35 am
I turned everything off but my meter is still running!
It’s a conspiracy!!!
Ich Rauche, save some of that for me!!!!
Report this comment
April 26th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Take the light out of your ice box, it comes on every time the door gets opened.
Report this comment
April 26th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
i subscribed to hustler magazine so that i have something to read instead of watching tv.
Report this comment
April 26th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I turned off my electric bagel slicer. But I just heard the mayor and AEL and P are lowering the rates now. Guess I’ll turn it back on.
Report this comment
April 26th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Yes it is lower, from 500% to 447%, that sure helps don’t it?
Report this comment
April 27th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Our community leaders should be looking at the use of the cruise ship tax dollars to cover the cost of the fuel! It should not take a rocket scientist to figure this out ! Where is Joe Geldhof when we need him one more time?
Report this comment
April 27th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
There is no great answer to this problem. However, if keeping a shower time limit at 10 minutes is the best some can afford, were in real trouble.
Report this comment
April 27th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
And at what rate will they (AEL&P) (or is it the city that charges them?)charge the cruise ships per kw hour to hook up this summer?? It better not be .13 per kw hour, that all I have to say about that! While I am on the topic, I have seen no articles or statements from our darling privately owned power company that there is any type of guarantee that our power rates will go back down to .11per kw hour when this whole miss is over with. Yeah like we can afford to pay .50kw from now on. Hmmm, AZ is sounding better all the time.
Report this comment
April 28th, 2008 at 5:56 am
I turned off my heat, put on 6 layers of clothes (feel like a stay puff), no stove i now eat only ramen cup a soup so i can afford my bill. I cant have rice costco and wal mart are rationing it. my kids stay warm in school and we bundle up at home and play games till bed, i unscrewed all light bulbs in thier rooms since they dont turn them off, and the bathrooms..anyone have a spare 900 for my light bill this month..
Juneau is going to see ppl on the corners with signs.. “will work for AEL&P money”…..
Report this comment
April 28th, 2008 at 8:14 am
we want to hear what you think ael&p should be doing…
Report this comment
April 28th, 2008 at 9:32 am
We turned the heat COMPLETELY off, and I have been freezing to death ever since. I’m also looking for another house to rent. Our current place has been falling apart for years and the landlord has done nothing to fix it after dozens of requests. one of those requests is that he replace the non working freezer in our refrigerator, which is sucking electricity up in orrder to NOT freeze our stuff.
We’ve also removed all lightbulbs except for one in every room, and we turn the hot water heater off at the breaker each morning, not to mention we wash everything in cold water now.
Man, I’m cooooolllld! Anyone out there got a rental house, 2 bedroom or larger, with a WORKING stove and refrigerator? We 2 adults and 2 doggies will happily move in… shade_33 at hotmail if you do
Report this comment
April 28th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Line drying laundry
Electric H2O heater off 22 hours out of 24
Unscrewed 4 of the 6 vanity lights in both baths
Grill or microwave food, use stove top extremely sparingly, no oven use at all.
Lights off! Use hurricane lamp at night in main room and single candle for bathroom. One low watt bulb for reading chair
Emptied kitchen freezer and turned off. Unscrewed that bulb too! Using garage freezer for all.
Unplugged radios, VCR, router and WIFI at night. PC off at night.
Oil heat turned down from 60 to 58
Turned off all plant lights and made sheltered area for dahlias and begonias, bring in when below 42, take out again in the morning.
Using carpet sweeper instead of vacuum.
Using water sparingly as each gallon is costing over $1 for the plant to process. ??
Using dishwasher because it is more efficient w/both hot and cold water. Hand drying however! Only runs every other day.
I am still finding things I can do! I keep reading and getting more ideas! Thanks to all!
—————
I, too ,have noticed lots of security lights burning strong in broad daylight. Just drive down Eagan at 6am and look at all the lights on buildings and complexes. The timers could be reset or if it is daylight deactivated, the switches need to be checked!
Perhaps the bottling company could turn up the temp on all those cold cold pop machines, there must be hundreds of them in town and a 3 degree change could help!
Report this comment
April 28th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I read on the RCA site “ways to lower electric bills” at https://rca.alaska.gov/RCAWeb/ViewFile.aspx?id=fc5a11c0-c1bb-484f-b531-58d7b2bc182c. I seemed to have already been doing everything except for the INSULATE INSULATE INSULATE part. I looked in the Empire’s miscellaneous services section, I think it was in the classifieds?? – and found Tupper’s Handyman Service 523-8108. There, how do you like that customer loyalty! He specializes in insulation and gave free estimates.
Anyway, he came over and checked it out. It’s crazy how much extra insulation helps. You may not even know it but most of the houses around here are horribly insulated and nobody will ever let you know unless you go up there and inspect it yourself. Yea right, like that happens all the time. Anyway, it’s a noticeable difference, we’re using little to no heat, now – thank goodness the summer’s almost here – One small blessing during this crazy, unforseeable energy crisis.
Also, at Costco they have these tiny LED puck lights. The kids love ‘em! I’ve caught them sneaking in video games at night though, so next chore moneys going toward the light bill! Grabbed the 10 and 20 energy saving bulbs, too. What a lifesaver those are!
We’re always on the grill. Who wouldn’t like that? It’s not so bad right now. We’ll see how long it lasts. I love seeing all these helpful hints and getting new ideas.
Report this comment
April 28th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Brew your coffee, and put it in a thermos. Turn off/unplug pot when brewed.
Report this comment
April 28th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Sure glad I got out of there this fall before all of this……….Just curious, why are you all still blogging if there’s an energy crisis? Shouldn’t you be conserving energy?
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Off went the dish net, phone,internet,lights, dryer and heat. We are living in one room with candles and sometimes oil heat. We go to bed early and shower at JRC (until they raise there rates). Cook extra meals with friends and make planed left overs. All that and I am still at $7.17 a day. I read my meter every day and yell about turning things off often. Next I will unplug the fridge. Almost back to when I lived in a tent.
Now we are going to have to pay for the repairs?
Wish somebody would pay for my repairs from winter damage.
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 6:09 am
Boy, the Empire sure gets its panties in a wad these days over the posts. I didn’t say anything bad about anybody else. All I said is that I quit doing hot knife hits so wouldn’t use the stove and waste electricity. What’s the big deal? But everytime my post get deleted. Why is everybody so uptight these days?
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 10:40 am
stopped bathing on the 15th, switched from right to left hand so i could save my middle diget for the assembly and aelp
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I’m just curious…what portion of this is AELP picking up if all the costs are being passed on to us lucky ole consumers? Why are we responsible for a privately owned, for profit company’s expenses and mistakes? Sure wish I could get somebody to pay for my bad planning and increased operating costs–especially since EVERYONE keeps taking more and more money for every little thing while my income doesn’t see any increase.
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Bong Hits 4 Ich Rauche
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Well, apparently the employees of the Nugget Mall get to make a big sacrifice (and I do not work there in any capacity, nor does anybody in my family or close friends, by the by). They not only get hit with bigger electric bills, their wages will be down by around $200 a month, if they are loosing an hour a day in wages at $10 an hour. Nice. Put it on the backs of those who can least afford it.
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I haven’t showered in THREE DAYS!!
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
That was a joke by the way…
Report this comment
April 29th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I went to the night shift. water heater is on 1 hr every two days otherwise nothing but the aqaurium pump runs in the place. Heats been off since this happened. Everything else off at the breaker.
Hope they actually read the meters, can you imagine 447% based on your usage last year at this time.
Report this comment
April 30th, 2008 at 8:10 am
I have cut my electricity usage 70%, my house is quite cold now, my white wine is ready to drink, and the red wine needs to be warmed up to drink, lol, who would have thought, powerstrips, for tv/cable/dvd, to turn off when not home, no heat on what so ever, candles after 9 o’clock, using the library card a heck of a lot more. all in all, there is some good that will come out of this, i have realized how much electric i truly need to use, to get by, pray for those who are on a fixed income (elderly), i am young enough to bounce back from this. god bless
Report this comment
April 30th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I think it would be beneficial if the City would put together some kind of analyst team to go around town and evaluate select structures to determine the best energy efficient configuration. I know the word is out and everyone is doing there best to conserve but I have observed places that I feel could be doing a lot more. I don’t think it is a matter of negligence as much as it is a matter of lack of expertise.
For example I was at the High School Saturday night watching a play and in the lobby outside the auditorium I noticed numerous lights on that were not needed. I could tell that some lighting had been turned off but more could have been done. In many of these cases I suspect that multiple areas of lighting may be on one circuit or switch. In cases like that select bulbs need to be physically taken out so that you can provide some light to the needed area but cut out the excess lighting that is not.
I have reduced each of my rooms in my house down to one bulb (down from as many as 8 in some rooms). I don’t think enough of this type of reduction is taking place in our City, State, and commercial buildings and more needs to be done to ensure that it is.
Report this comment
April 30th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Moved away from Juneau ten years ago so did all my friends . . glad we did.
Report this comment
April 30th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I wish I could hang my clothes outside to dry. I loved the smell of your clothes in the wind. Seemed to last a little long than putting it in those dryer and cook the clothes.
Save water and electricity, “shower with a friend”.
I remember a time when we had to share our tub water. Can’t remember if I was the first or last but remember doing that as a child. Now I wish I was in a log cabin with a wood stove. Until then “Lord help us remember what grandma would tell us to do”. She’s probably smiling knowing that she would know what to tell us to do.
Report this comment
April 30th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Well, The Juneau residents are getting a taste of what its like to live in a small town or village with just the high price of electricity. We have to pay over .70 cents per KW and our average electric bill is anywhere from $150.00 to $250.00 per month and for larger families they pay over $300.00 per month. Not to mention the cost of Food and the high price of Fuel for heat and cooking. All big towns have it easy and you have this problem and are crying out. Sure, if we want to keep our light bill low we will hang out clothes out on the line and also use a wood stove and no dishwasher thank god. It is expensive living in a small town or village and especially with the economy being down people are struggling and wanting jobs.
Report this comment
April 30th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
10 minute showers??? Dangggg, thats a long time. I have long hair and 6 minutes is just right with warm water. We are all so spoiled that we can’t imagine being without the luxeries of living. Remember when our grandmothers had to do all dishes in a dish pan with water heated on woodstove and then wash clothes in a big wooden pot and read in the evenings or play board games? Wouldn’t it feel good to live that way again? Hanging clothes is great. I still hang clothes in the nice weather when we do have nice weather. Its the Best Way. Its a little work but I enjoy it.
Report this comment
May 1st, 2008 at 10:37 am
Summersong, would you feel differently if your existing electric bill went up by 500%? That is what the reality is in Juneau. We are also paying increased fuel, oil and grocery bills, its not just the small towns that are affected, its the whole state. How much is your housing cost, your property taxes, do you receive subsidy assistance from the State, do you have an alternative heating source? I will never understand the glee some so-called Alaska “neighbors” are showing at the effect this will have on Juneau’s economy. Its sickening to see.
Report this comment
May 1st, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Hey SUMMER SONG, So how much is rent in your small town? $500 a month? well in Juneau you would be lucky to find a one bedroom with nothing included fro $800, and if you have a family you are looking at $1200-1300 WITH OUT UTILITIES. Also do you subsistace fish or hunt, well we don’t have that luxury. Or how about the fact that the city is cracking down on wood burning stoves (that is if you can find any wood to cut here). I am not complaining I will pay my bill what ever it is and I really didn’t think that the sate would give us any money, but you are in left field if yo uare comparing small towns and villages to Juneau.
P.S. I have spent 90% of my life in a small town and now live in Juneau. Don’t judge us just because you think that all that live here are yuppies, there are real people to.
Report this comment
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
aparently we sacrificed new blog subjects in voxbox…
Report this comment
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Yes, there are some real people here Bob. I have also noticed that these are the same people who know what to do in an elec power situation. Without overreacting or blaming. It’s not hard folks. A 10 minute shower is not cheap even in good times. If that same shower now costs 10 bucks per, one must decide if it is practical. JC888, do we really want more people of “expertise” running the show, like Al Gore? It most likely would cost us much more to pay a CBJ worker to take out a light bulb than it would to run it 24-7. Mother nature just scatched us. Were the comsumers. That’s how it works. And I am quite sure there are institutions in place to donate money for ones less fortunate if one wants to look at that side of the problem.
Report this comment
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:03 am
This conservation would help your personal bills if AEL&P would read the meters. However, they are not reading the meters they are using what was used the previous month….. I know I got my bill and I had used way less electrical items this month as opposed to last month and it was the same KW usage…. I have been asking around town and there are many others getting the same thing…
AEL&P are crooks and we need to sue their pants off.. Now they are not paying share holders dividends???? Then why the hell are they increasing the rates so high? Gas has gone up somewhat but only about 10%, and we all must remember they were using generators before all of this happened and jacked the rates up from 6 cents to 12.5 cents because of it. Now they jacked them up another 43 cents and it doesn’t include the repair costs…. Wait until those come into play… Your rates will be 75 cents a KW or more.
AEL&P is trying to maximize their profits at our expense and playing with the books to show no profit, but if you look closely I can bet you will see alot of what they are reporting as non profit is actually going to Dorothy Lake…
We as citizens should demand this get investigated because if we don’t Juneau is going to die and none of us except for the very rich people here will be able to live here…..
Report this comment
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:18 am
Key Bank has set up an emergency relief fund to help those that are less fortunate in this situation so if you feel compassionate and have the resources to share, please stop by any of the Key Bank branches late next week and make a donation to the United Way Emergency Relief Fund.
I love how this community has come together to help others. I think you can really tell a lot about a community by how they react during crisis and I see people doing the right thing. Thank you to all of you that are conserving and to all of you who are talking about positive changes and to those that are giving up some of their precious resources of time and money to help those who need it even more than we do.
Cheers to Juneau
Report this comment
May 3rd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Besides conserving electricity and reducing expenses, I’ve been spending alot of time attending ASSEMBLY MEETINGS.
We can reduce our KWH rate, just like we’ve reduced our energy consumption. But it will take all of us contacting our Assembly members and demanding that they help us out.
Tell the Assembly you want them to make a grant to the citizens of Juneau. Tell them you want them to set up an Emergency KWH Fund to pay enough money to AELP to reduce all residential and business customers’ emergency KWH rate by 50%.
That’s alot of money. How will the Assembly find the money to do this?
WELL, THE ASSEMBLY ALREADY HAS IT.
They have a Rainy Day Account, and there are a few other accounts that the City Manager has, that could be utilized as well. Additional funds can be redirected to the Emergency KWH Fund by delaying a few construction projects for one year (like the public works building, downtown parking garage, etc.) (The Assembly has the authority to redirect sales tax funds if they choose to do so.)
Using that money now to reduce the KWH charge on every residential and business account, outweighs any future cost increase associated with delaying these projects for one year.
The Assembly needs to hear from each and every one of us. Email them, talk with them on the street, and show up and testify at their meetings.
If you want a KWH reduction, you have to be willing to work for it.
Report this comment
May 4th, 2008 at 7:58 am
I’ll be visiting Juneau next month and I will not visit any of the gift shops downtown that aren’t shutting lights off at night.
Report this comment
May 4th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
traveller please visit the shops that have a sign that says owned by alaskans
Report this comment
May 4th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I made the sacrifice of having to leave Juneau to survive the high cost of living there. I love Junea and would still be there were it not for the costs of leaving there at a reasonable price, and if not for high energy costs and property taxes!
Report this comment
May 7th, 2008 at 6:50 am
I already wash dishes by hand, recycle, re-use everything I can. Curtains open for light during the day. Florescent bulbs in all fixtures. Cook outside on the grill, or buy a baked chicken from Fred’s. BUT, my question is WHAT”S AEL&P DOING? I don’t mind shouldering some of the financial burden here – but it sems AEL&P is not shouldering their fair share.
Report this comment
May 7th, 2008 at 11:45 am
SueinJuneau- Turning off the water heater actually uses more electricity to turn on and reheat the entire thing again. Turn in down not off.
We have done everything we can think of as well. Minimum TV, unplug when not watching. Charging phones in cars. Breakers off to dryer,stove,washer, lights anything and everything except for the fridge. I have been going outside and reading the meter to keep track and comparing it from my last meter reading to my current so I am not surprised when it comes. We have cooked one time in the house since the power crisis started and that was eggs on a very rainy day. We have BBQ’d everyday since. We also wash what we can by hand then hang, or I wash on quick cycle and hang dry. We barely use the computer maybe 2 times a week for less than an hour. We turned down our water heater. Wash dishes quickly. It hasn’t been to bad. A little more blankets and a little more effort and poof, we survived without electronics!
Report this comment
May 7th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Though this is not a sacrifice to me as much as my kids here is what we started. We turn off the TV’s, video games and PC’s and OMG we talk!! We put to gether puzzles, play board games. How crazy is that? And when we do watch TV we all pile in the livingroom pick a show or watch a movie together instead of in our rooms watching different things. You know I can’t afford a higher elec bill but to have time with my kids where their faces aren’t burried in a game and I’m not on my PC; it’s as the commercial would say “Priceless”. Even my 16yr old loner boy (cause other than dad it’s a house with 6 girls) hangs out and watches movies with us. It’s not even a battle anymore like the 1st couple of days. So I say call American Express we got a commercial for them (think there’s royalties we can use to pay the eles bill?) — board games “$$$”, elec “$$$”, and time as a family “priceless”.. OK corny but the truth!
Report this comment
May 7th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Mom-of-Many, now that’s what I call a silver lining! Good for you!
Sabrina, we’ve actually been reading our meter and comparing turning down VS turning off the hot water heater. Turning off for 22 hous at a time is actually slightly lower. I believe this is entirely dependent on the age of your hot water heater and individual use.
Fortunately, the dishwasher is also very efficient, so no dishpan hands here, thank goodness.
We bought one of those meters that JEDC is now loaning out and had some interesting results. The 12+ years refridgerator (came with the house) is very efficient (DARN!) it’s most definetely the 10 year old hot water heater that really sucks the juice.
Report this comment
May 8th, 2008 at 7:40 am
I do not use my cloths dryer, I have been hanging my cloths on the cloths line. I disconnected my cable TV, so I don’t have my three tv’s running anymore. I had AEL&P install a timer to turn off the hot water hearter and we are only using the hot water heater 3 hours a day.
Report this comment
May 9th, 2008 at 7:11 am
I talked to one of the workers at a local business and they had to lay 2 people off, Sundays they shut totally down and she lost her overtime hours which were helping make her wages liveable, how liveable I dont know as she isnt paid much to begin with. So she has lost wages but still has the increased electric cost to pay. While I commend those above who are cutting back on their lifestyles and conserving, I think the girl I talked with from this local business is making the ultimate sacrifice. There are others out there like her, where is the silver lining for them?
Report this comment
May 9th, 2008 at 11:17 am
We have been dealing with the high power cost in rural Alaska for years and years. Welcome to our world. Your problem will be over in a few months. I doubt if rural Alaska’s problem will be solved in my lifetime.
Report this comment
May 10th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Village Granny,
You chose to live in “WILD ALASKA” and we chose to live in “Civilization”. Quit trying to compare the BUSH to the CITY!
Report this comment
May 11th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I too have sacrafice alot, as a mother of 3 boys, there is no more going out to eat, I make easy enough dinners not to be using the stove, Lights… what lights I feel like I am constantly sitting in the dark. I am afraid of getting depressed constantly being in the dark. I live in low income and If I cannot afford to pay for the electricity I lose my home, i get the boot. next week i get to cancel my cable television, i need to cancel my newspaper, cancel my cell phone, cancel cancel cancel this or that.. I am really afraid of getting a bill i can’t afford. I feel helpless, hopeless. I dont feel right about AEL&P putting that line right back where it fell from… isn’t there a saying.. shame on you once… shame on me twice… shame on you and me the third time ??? something like that..
Report this comment
May 12th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I just posted in the other Empire blog about investing in solar, etc.
I have done what the rest of you have done regarding tv’s computer time, washing clothes, etc.!!!! I too was getting depressed sitting in the dark and afraid to turn on lights!! How sad is that?
As it’s turned out, I am hand writing letters instead of computer time. Reading more books (during the daylight) and sharing tv time. I am an artist as well and have to schedule my time during daylight hours.
It is very difficult to be a single-parent or be on a fixed income. I know that some parent(s) are working and are called the working poor because money made is always a dollar or two over the organizations income limit! Yeah, yeah, some say we made our choices – but the fact remains, parents make sacrifices and single parent make more.
I am wondering when support groups are going to show up in Juneau where we can meet and share our frustrations with each other – not just complain or talk politics, but talk about solutions.
Report this comment
May 12th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Village Gramma,
I agree with Working Class, you CHOOSE to live out in the middle of nowhere, so quit comparing Juneau to where you live. It is like people who buy homes close to an airport and then bitch about the noise. You choose to live there, so quit whining about it.
Report this comment
May 12th, 2008 at 9:32 am
All though I’m not actually living in Juneau at this moment, i will be back in about 7 weeks and I just wanted to say how proud i was of my hometown. The other day as i was exiting out of my hotmail account, on the main msn page I saw a small but noticeable headline for an article about Juneau’s 30% reduction in electricity and it made me so proud to be from Juneau Alaska, i bragged to my friends for about a week about how much we were probably helping the environment with this reduction. Yes, there are some downsides, but at the moment I’m living in South America, in the middle of almost no where and i have to do these kinds of things all the time, now some one tell me that they have to do ALL that AND also live next to a rooster that starts its daily singing at 5 am. Not only that, but we have random power outages that can range from 3 to 7 hours(and let me tell you, they do not cancel school for that).
But, anyways, since everyone is already hopping onto this “let’s save energy” train, why doesn’t everyone try to make an even bigger step in their ways of life and try to start recycling and using more efficient lights, or carpooling more. You’ve all already gotten this far, so why not go the extra mile and help out the enviroment?
Report this comment
May 12th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Ladies, I’m not the one whining, sheesh.
Report this comment
May 14th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
From the AELP consumption stats (‘Energy Scorecard’ on the empires web page) we can infer that we have about 234KWh per day of non-diesel power (which must be the Salmon/Gold/Annex creek plants.) That means non-diesel power was 25% on the first crisis day and it’s now up to 39%–on the first day 75% of each KWh depended on diesel, now only 61% of each KWh depends on diesel. I hope that means that the more we save, the less each KWh costs us. Because each KWh that each of us uses shares and shares alike in that cheap non-diesel power that means that if the south Franklin street Tee shirt shop turns on all of its advertising and display lights they will get the benefit of our frugality and we’ll have to pay more for the power we use! (I would be glad if an engineer corrects me.)
Also–I fail to see how reducing cable service to Basic saves any electricity.
Report this comment
May 14th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I have done what everyone else has done. What I want to know is when AEL&P submitted their request for rate increase they estimated they would use 100,000 gal’ of deisel per day. Since Juneau is using less than half that estimate why are we still going to have to pay for 100,000 rather that the 42,000 to 45,000 gal. per day. I think something should be done to prevent AEL&P making even a bigger profit during these hard times. Also why didn’t they have insurance for the towers and lines like they have on everything else the do?
Report this comment
May 16th, 2008 at 7:40 am
theres hope for us who have been conserving. prior to the avalanche i was already frugal about power. last month i was using 54.4 KWH per day. but this month i used 11.9 KWH per day. i have done all the things everyone else did. yes there were some small sacrifices but none of it has been a hassle. i hope when this price increase is over that we keep on conserving. i know i will.
Report this comment
May 16th, 2008 at 11:25 am
As funny as this sound, this has been a blessing to our home. We read and walk outside more often then staying in doors. These are the changes I made in the family:
o Dry all clothes on lines either indoors or outside –we are learning how to wear clothes that is very starching.
o The Coleman light has become a fixture in several rooms.
o We take “sink” baths or very short showers.
o We are eating the foods in the freezer so we can unplug it. We unplugged the extra refrigerator.
o We unplugged everyone except for phones and computer. We have only one “move night” a week for two hours.
o I only listen to music on the radio while in the car.
o I have the latest power pack techno with do-it-yourself wining-up handle to charge the batteries for the built-in radio, flashlight and it will charge my cell phone.
o I turn down the Temperature on the hot water heater.
o We use flashlight when need.
o We switch to using the wood stove and the family is sleeping in sleeping bag in the living room.
o I monitor the weather for “no precipitation” so we can wash loads of clothes to hang outdoors.
o I purchased “Big Ben” and “Baby Ben” clocks and unplugged the digital alarm clocks.
o We pull the blinds and read by window lights.
o We to go bed earlier and get up earlier to get more things done at home while there are light outside.
Report this comment
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:06 pm
There are 12,771 homes in Juneau according to the Census Bureau. Juneau customers will see an average of $400.00 per month increase in their monthly bill. Juneau has done an excellent job in conserving energy, we have only burned on average 40,000 gallons per day to power the city. If AEL&P was paying $4.00/gallon (which they are not) for 31 days, that would total 1,240,000 gallons x $4.00 = $4,960,000. 12,771 homes paying an additional $400 for the month totals $5,108,400. That leaves an additional $148,400 FROM JUST THE HOMEOWNERS!!! WHERE IS THE ADDITIONAL CAPITAL FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA, CBJ, BOX STORES, AND PRIVATE BUSINESSES GOING????
Report this comment
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 am
A E L & P ……….ROCKS!!!!!!!
Report this comment
October 14th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
[...] When you know you’re doing as much as you can, you feel empowered. Last year, the Juneau area saw an avalanche cut off electrical supply – raising prices 400% almost overnight. In very dire straits, residents resorted to ingenious and extreme measures to save energy: [...]
Report this comment
February 26th, 2009 at 3:23 am
Thx for your information.Visit my blog friend Video Technology Good bye friend.i will come again
Report this comment
March 31st, 2009 at 10:01 pm
God point about this, nice summary.
Report this comment
March 31st, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Hi, I can?t understand how to add your site in my rss reader. How can I do this?
Report this comment
June 8th, 2009 at 11:47 am
A good general rule is 1 gallon per goldfish. The larger the bowl the longer it will take for ammonia to increase to harmful levels and the less often you will need to clean it.
Report this comment
June 10th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Its not what we use its how we power it.
Report this comment
March 9th, 2010 at 12:10 am
I very rarely comment on blogs. I did however really enjoy reading the original authors post. I will browse the rest of the web site. Thank-you
Report this comment
March 10th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Hi webmaster – This is by far the best looking site I’ve seen. It was completely easy to navigate and it was easy to look for the information I needed. Fantastic layout and great content! Every site should have that. Awesome job
Report this comment
March 19th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
I agree with the fact with just what absolutely everyone has talked about, the pretty important element is to look at it from a various perception (as I complete a lot of of the moment). Other than that, you’ve got gotten a quite decent web page right here, hold up the excellent work.work
Report this comment
May 11th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Incandescent light bulbs will soon be phased out because they waste a lot of energy..~,
Report this comment
August 11th, 2010 at 8:42 am
may friend had a china made battery charger and it overheated after a week.,`
Report this comment
August 15th, 2010 at 10:23 am
we use hair trimmers on our barber shop and they make our job a lot easier~,”
Report this comment