Pardon the reference to AYB but today I gave up control on one more item in an effort to reel in my utility bills.  Helping conserve some electricity by giving SCE control of my A/C is what I did.  The little grey box here is how they will help me control useage.  Doing this helps SCE keep demand within capacity.  If giving “them” control will lower my bills and keep the lights on I figured this was worth a try.

SCE has their Summer Discount Plan wherein you give them control of your A/C.  During peak periods when CA ISO determines we are moving into a power emergency they can deactivate your A/C until the emergency passes.  They retain control from June 1 to October 1 each year.  You do get to chose how often they shut you down and for how long.  Of course the more you drift towards comfort the lower your potential savings will be. 

The SCE installer arrived today to hook up the magic grey box to my A/C unit.  I stand to save $200 under their system which may not sound like much but that does help shift money to pay gasoline bill.

If you are an SCE customer you can get your SDP application HERE.  Those of you on the LADWP grid don’t have that option available to you.  LADWP offers as a consolation prize some tools on their web to help you audit your energy useage on the Energy Efficiency page of their web.

At first I was a little hesitant to sign up as I already have done a lot to control useage…because I am cheap more than anything else.  I’ve insulated the walls and attic, put in a programmable thermostat ad infinitum and yet in the last 5 years my power bill has doubled.   The potential savings will help my budget and trim the demand from the power grid. 

Related posts:

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2. The Power Has Left the Building
3. Hollywood power outage (update: power restored!)
4. Very Brief Power Failure
5. Power outage affects 100k L.A. residents