Greensboro
Power bills on the rise
October 13, 2011 | 
Author Well I did here what I thought I did correctly. Duke Power is asking for a residential increase of somewhere between 17 to 20%. What I have read is that this is the largest increase in the last twenty years.
I have been saying that we are like the frog in the frying pan. I remember when I was a kid seeing an experiment that showed a frog in a frying pan and when they turned up the heat on the pan quickly the frog would jump out of the pan but if you turned up the heat slowly the frog would not notice the heat as quickly and would stay in the pan for a longer period obviously with a better chance of getting burned.
Just to make note, we have had two energy increase in the past couple of years of 12% and 6% totaling 18%, already and then the 18% that they are asking for now, being a total of 36% increase. I am sure that the utility companies are due there increases, due to energy cost increases for them, upgrades improvements, and demand on there systems.
I am thinking that instead of gripping and complaining about the increases which I am sure we will. We need to look at what we are using at our homes and business and figure out how we can use less power. I have read that we have increased or use of power in our homes over the past fifteen years by a huge amount. The interesting thing is that it is not from our appliances (which if you have bought newer energy star rated appliances in the past five years that part of the puzzle dropped in energy use) No it is the flat screen televisions,electronics that has a vampire loads, larger homes increased lighting needs, and all of the gadgets that we have found that we can not live without.
I am not saying that am any better for sure. I have just been seeing the writing on the wall for some time. and it is hard to decide what things I can do with out more. but I am trying. I hope that my experience in looking at the whole home as a system that I can give people some valuable advice on where to start cutting back and what gives you the biggest bang for the buck.
Good luck with figuring out where you can cut back on energy needs and I hope that YOU don’t sit in the pan to long and get burned.
Posted in Energy savings, Greensboro | 
Tags: energy cost, energy efficiency, enrgy rates, power increases | 
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Money, Money, Money
Read All About It
City of Greensboro is giving away five million dollars to ramp up energy efficiency in buildings and homes
Yes that is right, the stimulus money is finally getting to main street America. The only requirement is that you live inside the Greensboro city limits. The first step is to have an energy analysis of the structure, rather it is commercial or residential. The next step is to complete energy upgrades that improve the structures energy efficiency by atleast 15%.
After completing the listed steps the city will pay you back 20% of the energy upgrades to the structure, there is a cap of $4000.00 for residential upgrades.
The commercial projects are handled a little differently. They are paid on a per square foot price and have different circumstances according to the size of building. You can go to Greensboro Going Green to find out more information on this program. This program is just starting up, so there will more than likely be some changes down the road.