Unplugging for Spring

By Danielle Allen, Senior Vice President

Like many Americans, I love to watch a good old-fashioned competition. Whether its chefs out-cooking their culinary brethren, two-person teams racing through all corners of the globe or plus-sized Americans dramatically changing their lifestyles to shave off pounds by the hundreds, it’s good spectator sport.

And so I was especially fascinated to observe client Grid 21’s Biggest Energy SaverSM Campaign, a competition challenging Texas-based CenterPoint Energy and Oncor customers to use smart meters to reduce energy usage and lower their electric bills. Interestingly, a number of the winners made dramatic reductions in their energy usage —we’re talking upwards of 20-30 percent reductions—with really simple changes (they’re things even I can do).

Turns out none of us can escape the vampire craze. We all have them lurking in our homes in the form of “energy vampires.” These appliances draw power even when they are turned off and are responsible for unnecessarily running up our electric bills. Thanks to insights from their smart meter, the Biggest Energy Saver contestants were able to discover which appliances were the biggest offenders—items like our laptops, cellphones, DVRs and entertainment systems.

After learning how small changes can make a really big impact, I now go around unplugging appliances as soon as I’ve finished with them. Practically all of my outlets are desperate for attention. Gone are the days when blenders, hairdryers, printers and “orphan” chargers with nothing on the other end get to lounge in a plug all day.

Other easy tips I learned from the contestants—aside from obvious things like switching to CFL light bulbs, turning off the lights when unnecessary, reducing dishwasher/washer-dryer/microwave/TV usage and closely monitoring the thermostat—include utilizing a power strip with a timer for big ticket energy offenders to easily reduce the energy load and taking advantage of crockpot instead of the stovetop (easy with the help of blogs like this sharing a handy recipe for every single day of the year).

The smart meter is designed to put power in the hands of consumers and according to Edison Foundation’s Institute for Electric Efficiency, in just a few years, half of all U.S. households will have a smart meter, making them as ubiquitous as the DVR is today. That’s good news since according to a national survey commissioned by GE, 88 percent of Americans said they would be willing to use a smart device such as a meter, thermostat or appliance if it would better help manage their energy usage.

Full disclosure: I don’t have a smart meter (yet). Most of the people I come across at work and play do not either. We’re obviously missing something and based upon the Biggest Energy Saver, it looks like we’re missing out on some green.

So, what are we waiting for? It’s a little late for a New Year’s resolution, but we may be just in time to do the earth and our pocketbooks a favor this spring and deciding to unplug.