With consumers facing higher electric bills, the number of Chattanoogans getting energy audits to cut their electricity use more than doubled last year.
Lured by bigger tax breaks and more consumer awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency, nearly 2,300 Chattanooga residents and businesses took advantage of EPB energy inspections to identify ways to cut their electricity consumption in 2010.
Across the Tennessee Valley, the number of electricity users asking for help cutting their energy consumption also is running nearly twice the year-ago rate, TVA spokesman Mike Bradley said Monday. TVA is on pace to provide energy audits and advice to more than 18,000 residential customers this year, he said.
"We've had some extreme weather with a hotter-than-normal summer and a colder winter and that, combined with some of the incentives being offered for energy improvements, is causing a lot more people to take a closer look at ways to be more efficient," Bradley said.
Last month was the coldest December in Georgia in the 115 years of National Weather Service records.
In addition, the Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies power in a seven-state region, also boosted its wholesale price of electricity by nearly 23 percent in the past year due to higher fuel costs.
Left in the cold
That combination has caught the attention of many consumers facing record high power bills this month.
Stephanie Coffman, a mother of a 1-year-old son who recently lost her job, said her monthly electric bill was more than $300 for her rented mobile home -- nearly matching her $350 monthly rent.
"It's ridiculous because we don't have a lot of insulation, but we have to keep the heat on with a young baby," she said after paying her North Georgia Electric Corp. bill on Monday.
This month's freezing weather proved even worse for Joanna Killingsworth, who moved into a rented mobile home in Graysville, Ga., last year and soon was hit by $987 in electricity bills for just two months.
"Apparently, the ductwork under our home wasn't attached so it was just heating under the trailer and, in the cold, our bills just skyrocketed," she said. "We are in such a bind right now because of this. It's horrible."
The energy audits TVA began underwriting three years ago are designed to detect such problems and offer consumers helpful hints on insulation, caulking tips and help with buying more energy-efficient appliances, windows and heat pumps.
TVA is offering up to $500 to customers who invest in energy-efficient upgrades.
In 2010, the federal stimulus package also offered taxpayers a tax credit of up to 30 percent of the value of investments in energy-saving appliances, windows and insulation.
Highest energy use
Although those breaks are not as rich this year, the cold weather is continuing to draw the attention of electricity users in the Tennessee Valley -- the region with the highest per capita electricity consumption in the country.
Top statesTVA states with the highest residential per capita electricity use last year:1. Tennessee, 1,302 kilowatt-hours per month2. Alabama, 1,271 kilowatt-hours per month3. Louisiana, 1,252 kilowatt-hours per month4. Mississippi, 1,231 kilowatt-hours per month5. South Carolina, 1,198 kilowatt-hours per month6. Kentucky, 1,191 kilowatt-hours per month7. Georgia, 1,148 kilowatt-hours per monthU.S. average, 920 kilowatt-hours per monthSource: Energy Information Administration
According to the Energy Information Administration, per capita consumption of electricity in Tennessee was nearly 42 percent higher than the U.S. average.
The wintry weather in December and this month is likely to keep consumption high for most homeowners.
North Georgia Electric Membership Corp., which serves nearly 99,000 customers in seven North Georgia counties, said the average residential power bill last month was $209.33, or nearly 50 percent more than the $139.77 average for the same month a year ago.
For some customers, the snow also delayed meter reading for a few days, adding a few more dollars to many homeowners' monthly bills.
"When you put these higher December bills on top of people trying to pay their bills for Christmas it creates some problems for many customers," EPB President Harold DePriest said. "We try to encourage people to take advantage of the energy audits and to look for way to use energy more wisely."
New technologies could help significantly cut electricity usage, the Chattanooga Engineers Club was told Monday.
Ron Domitrovic, a project manager for an energy study at the Electric Power Research Institute in Knoxville, said new types of heat pumps can cut power usage by 40 percent. On average, about 60 percent of the energy consumed in a Chattanooga home is for heating and cooling, he said.
"There is a tremendous potential from the new devices we are testing and, so far, the consumer response has been very favorable," Domitrovic said.
But for now, those struggling to pay higher light bills often must work out repayment plans.
"We're letting people have a little more time to pay their bills and the good news is that they are paying," DePriest said.