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The Rural Missouri NEWS Service January
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July 2009 A strategy for energy-efficient play Today, more than 40 percent of all homes in the United States have at least one video game system. And with kids home from school for the summer, parents need a new strategy that will help them conquer those high-tech device’s quest for power. Recently the National Resources Defense Council conducted a study of the energy demands from gaming systems such as the Sony Playstation 3, the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii. They discovered that they consumed an estimated 16 billion kilowatt-hours per year — roughly equal to the annual electricity use of the city of San Diego. Through the incorporation of more user-friendly power management features, the NRDC believes Americans could save approximately 11 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, cut our nation’s electricity bill by more than $1 billion per year and avoid emissions of more than 7 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. This figure was based on the assumption that half of the users left their gaming systems on all the time. For this reason, gamers can significantly reduce the energy consumed by their consoles through simple steps like turning off the console when not actively playing a game or watching a movie. Another big energy saving step is to turn on energy saving features in the games’ settings. Most gaming systems have power management features, but by default these settings are in the off mode. Consumers should make themselves aware of these features and be sure to set them in the most efficient mode, which will power down the system after a period of inactivity. In its November 2008 issue paper, NRDC provided recommendations for users, video game console manufacturers, component suppliers and the software companies that design games for improving the efficiency of video game consoles already in homes as well as future generations of machines yet to hit the shelves. Parents choosing new systems for their kids should consider other advice from the study. For example, the NRDC found that the Nintendo Wii uses one-seventh the power of the Sony Playstation and one-ninth the power of the Xbox during game play. Both the Playstation and the Xbox offer a higher level of play, requiring more power to generate 3-D graphics. Both companies continued to optimize their systems for energy savings following the early release of these systems, meaning newer consoles will be more energy efficient than older ones. And Sony introduced a power management feature available online in October 2008, but this feature is off by default and must be enabled by the user. In addition to powering down when the game console is not being used, homeowners can realize savings if the TV monitor is energy efficient as well. It’s not unusual for parents to pass down an older, inefficient TV set to their kids for use with the gaming system. It might be wiser to consider an Energy Star rated set, especially one equipped with an auto-shutoff sleep setting. Finally, one of the best methods to save money may be the most obvious — limiting game play time. Set strict time limits for gaming and instead encourage outdoor play whenever possible — making sure that system gets shut down when the time is up. Here’s how to enable energy saving software in the Playstation and Xbox systems. (Ask the kids for help.) Playstation 3 Xbox 360
A warm welcome to summer safety & fun! After a chilling winter, summertime is here! The school year is over, the weather is warm, the grill is hot and the pools are cool. Time to make sure our children and family members remember to have fun and be safe at the same time. As part of the “Teach Learn Care” TLC campaign, your electric cooperative and the Safe Electricity program urges parents and other caregivers to make sure children know how to stay safe during outdoor play. Children often do not understand the dangers of electricity. Take some time to get down and view the surroundings from a child’s vantage point to locate possible hazards. For safety outdoors, Safe Electricity recommends that children and adults follow these rules:
Be careful using electrical appliances outdoors. Whether it is a bug zapper, an electric charcoal lighter, or a radio or CD player, caution must be exercised. Be sure you use outlets that have weatherproof covers and ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) to prevent serious shock injuries. Use portable GFCIs for outdoor outlets that don’t have them. Keep electrical appliances and tools at least 10 feet away from pools, ponds and wet surfaces. “Electricity and water are a dangerous combination,” warns Molly Hall, Safe Electricity executive director. “Caution children and family members about the danger of using electrical appliances in wet areas. Even wet grass can create a hazard.” Supervise the use of extension cords outside, check them carefully for exposed wires; make sure they are in good shape, and not frayed or cracked. Use only extension cords that are rated and marked for outdoor use, and are large enough to handle the current needed for the device you are using. Check that the prongs on the extension cord plugs are clean, not broken or bent. Make sure the ground prong is intact in a three-prong plug, and avoid use of adapters. Summer can signal an increase in accidents and injuries. Keep utility and emergency numbers close at hand. Do your part to prevent accidents by sharing important safety information with those you love. Visit www.SafeElectricity.org to watch videos, read articles, play games and more, all aimed at helping you and your loved ones to stay safe around electricity. “Teach Learn Care TLC” is a public service campaign of Safe Electricity, an electrical safety public awareness program created and supported by a coalition of hundreds of organizations, including electric utilities, educators and other entities committed to promoting electrical safety. Know How to Stay Safe After Storms Severe thunderstorms, tornados and flooding can leave more than damage in their wake — they can leave hidden dangers as well. Safe Electricity advises everyone to be mindful of the electrical hazards that storms and flooding can leave behind. “The danger does not end when the storm does,” says Molly Hall, executive director of Safe Electricity. “People can be hurt or killed by hazards left behind. Be cautious in any clean up effort.” Stay away from downed power lines and be alert to the possibility that tree limbs or debris may hide an electrical hazard. Treat all downed or hanging power lines as if they are energized. Lines do not have to be arcing or sparking to be live. Warn others to stay away and contact the electric utility. As part of the “Teach Learn Care” TLC campaign, the program urges parents and other caregivers to make sure children are aware of these hazards as well. “Before re-entering storm-damaged buildings or rooms, be sure all electric and gas services are turned off,” says Jay Solomon, University of Illinois Extension Engineering Educator. “Never attempt to turn off power at the breaker box if you must stand in water to do so. If you can’t reach your breaker box safely, call your electric utility to shut off power at the meter.” Never step in to a flooded basement or other area if water is covering electrical outlets, appliances or cords. Be alert to any electrical equipment that could be energized and in contact with water. Never touch electrical appliances, cords or wires while you are wet or standing in water. If using electric yard tools in clean-up efforts, do not operate them if it’s raining or the ground is wet, or while you are wet or standing in water. Keep all electric tools and equipment at least 10 feet away from wet surfaces. Cleaning up and using water-damaged appliances also carry safety risks,” says Solomon. “Electric motors in appliances that have been drenched or submerged should be thoroughly cleaned and reconditioned before they are put back into service. It may be necessary to repair or replace electrical appliances or tools that have been in contact with water. Do not use any water-damaged appliance until a professional has checked it out.” If after a storm or disaster, the power to your home is out for a prolonged period, know important safety rules, such as never using a charcoal or gas grill to cook inside! And if you use a portable generator, be sure a transfer safety switch has been installed or connect the appliance(s) directly to the generator. This prevents electricity from traveling back through the power lines, what’s known as “back feed.” Back feed creates danger for anyone near lines, particularly crews working to restore power. If you are driving and come upon a downed power line, stay in your vehicle, warn others to stay away and contact emergency personnel or the electric utility. Never drive over a downed line. A downed line causes other things around it to become potentially hazardous. If you are in a car that has come in contact with a downed power line, stay in your vehicle. If you must leave your car, jump free keeping both feet together and either shuffle or hop to safety. A live wire touching the ground causes electricity to fan out in a pool and the action of running or striding allows one foot to move from one voltage zone to another. Your body then becomes the path for the electricity and electrocution is the tragic result. For more information on electrical safety, visit www.SafeElectricity.org. Spanish versions of electrical safety information and games and materials to help teach children electrical safety also are available on this Web site. “Teach Learn Care” TLC is a public service campaign of Safe Electricity, an electrical safety public awareness program created and supported by a coalition of hundreds of organizations, including electric utilities, educators and other entities committed to promoting electrical safety.
Cap and Trade Explained If you pay any attention to politics you have probably heard the term “cap and trade” mentioned. Cap and trade is one idea being considered as Congress debates climate change legislation as a way to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. What exactly is cap and trade? First of all, cap and trade is nothing new. It has been used since the 1990s to limit sulfur dioxide emissions that are released when burning coal to produce electricity. The idea is to give industries that emit carbon dioxide an incentive to lower or eliminate emissions. Under cap and trade, the federal government would put a limit, or cap, on the amount of carbon dioxide that can be released. If a utility released more than the allowed cap, they would have to find a way to reduce their emissions or use credits equal to the amount of emissions over the cap. There are several ways these credits could be obtained. First, lawmakers could allocate a certain amount of credits to each organization that needs them. There are many businesses and industries that release carbon dioxide besides electric utilities. For example, airlines, factories, agriculture, transportation and even people release carbon dioxide. All of these groups could be included under a cap and trade plan. Congress will have to decide who gets allocations, how many they get, and whether these allocations are free or will cost and how much that cost would be. Most likely, over time the cap will get tighter and the number of free allocations will be reduced until finally, any credits must be purchased. Let’s say an industry needs more allocations. It would have to buy these, most likely through an auction of credits, with supply and demand setting the price. An industry that finds a way to reduce its emissions could end up with unneeded credits that it can sell. Conversely, any industry that can not meet the cap is going to pay dearly for these credits, especially when caps get tighter and demand for credits increases. That’s pretty much what happened with sulfur dioxide cap and trade plans. Electric utilities, for example, found it was cheaper to install scrubbers to remove emissions from their plants. Once that was done, their credits could be auctioned, bringing in more revenue. Electric utilities have done such a good job of reducing emissions that about all that is left coming out of power plant stacks is carbon dioxide. But putting a cap and trade system into place for carbon dioxide has a big problem. There is currently no feasible way to remove carbon dioxide from emissions. That leaves utilities with only two options: convert to power sources such as wind, solar, nuclear or hydro; or convince consumers to use dramatically less electricity. Missouri’s electric cooperatives have done both. The Take Control & Save program has put millions of energy-efficent CFL bulbs in the hands of co-op members and helped lower energy use in many other ways. We also have been among the largest users of hydropower since the federal hydro projects like Table Rock and Bull Shoals were constructed. We have also invested heavily in new wind farms. Currently, electric cooperatives have contracted to buy the entire output of Missouri’s three wind farms, and a fourth is in the works. But wind and hydro can only do so much. Eventually, water behind the dams runs out. And wind can be even more fickle, generally producing the least amount of power when it is needed the most — on hot summer days. Nuclear power would be an option but constructing a nuclear power plant will be expensive and would take at least a decade. Despite its promise of emission-free generation, new nuclear power plants would almost certainly face protests and massive red tape before generating any power. Missouri electric bills most likely will increase under any cap and trade plan. That’s because the state, like most of the Midwest, is heavily dependent on coal to generate electricity. Switching fuel sources is an option, but the next cheapest source of fuel, natural gas, will cost three times more than coal. And if all utilities changed to gas generation, they would compete with homeowners who heat their homes with natural gas, likely driving up the cost even more. Worse, as U.S. supplies of natural gas run out, we would be forced to use liquefied natural gas imported from the Middle East, increasing our dependence on fuel from an unfriendly part of the world. Your electric cooperative is closely working with Congress as they consider climate change legislation. We want to help them get it right. You can help by going to the www.ourenergy.coop Web site and making your voice heard. On this site, members can quickly and easily send a personalized message to Congress asking them to work with electric cooperatives to ensure public policy supports affordable and reliable electricity.
According to a recent national poll commissioned by the Arlington, Va.-based National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), 80 percent of Americans agree Congress should know the costs to consumers before voting on climate change legislation. In short: Americans expect their elected representatives will know — and will tell them — how much their electric bills will increase in dealing with climate change. “Electric cooperatives are working hard to help Congress develop simple, affordable, flexible, and effective climate change legislation,” says NRECA CEO Glenn English, “We are seeking a common sense approach to climate change that minimizes costs and ensures that safe and reliable electric power remains affordable for everyone.” He adds: “Family budgets are already strained by rising energy costs, and climate change legislation that does not take consumer costs into account will place significant burdens on households from coast to coast.” Public policy changes to achieve reductions in carbon dioxide emissions—the heart of any climate change policy — from factories, power plants, and vehicles — are inevitable, English believes. “The question isn’t if they will happen, but how.” In mid-April the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it was ready to use the federal Clean Air Act to limit emissions of carbon dioxide, along with five other greenhouse gases blamed for contributing to climate change. However, the agency said it hoped Congress would adopt a legislative solution instead. But congressional climate change proposals remain vague about how consumers will be affected. The American Clean Energy and Security Act, a draft measure under consideration by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, would employ a market-based system of tradable federal permits, known as emissions allowances, to cut greenhouse gases. This “cap-and-trade” system would set a specific limit on carbon dioxide emissions from sources like power plants, factories, and refineries, and require those sources to account for all emissions with allowances. The plan does not specify whether these allowances would be distributed for free, as has been done with other environmental laws, or sold at auction to generate a massive amount of federal revenue, as suggested in President Obama’s fiscal 2010 budget. “Electric co-ops, and Americans in general, are highly skeptical of schemes that will allow speculators to bid up the price of emissions allowances,” argues English. “That would put electric bills in the hands of Wall Street.” The danger of such a system isn’t lost on consumers: 77 percent of those polled were concerned that a cap-and-trade auction would allow financiers and multi-national energy companies to control the price consumers pay for electricity. Fifty-eight percent agree that at a time when the U.S. economy is in trouble, climate change legislation must keep electric bills affordable by focusing only on meeting climate change requirements—not generating federal revenue for other purposes. In early May, electric co-op representatives from 47 states gathered on Capitol Hill to take an active role in the debate and discuss consumer concerns face-to-face with members of Congress. “Consumers across the country have spoken, and it is clear that electric cooperatives just can’t sit this one out,” says English. “As champions for their members’ best interests, electric co-ops are dedicated to getting the message through to Congress: any regulations on carbon dioxide emissions must come through simple, affordable, and flexible legislation that can be sustained over the decades needed to make a difference.”
Doug Rye says . . .
I have been writing this column for six years. I must tell you that I love to do it. Based on the hundreds of calls that I receive from you folks about the column, it appears that we are helping you. I love it when you call and tell me that the information has helped make your energy situation better. I really love it when you tell me to keep up the good work and how important that it is to have someone who really cares about the average Joe. Let me remind you that this is made possible by your electric co-op, which also cares about you. Please don’t hesitate to say thank you to your co-op. I have decided not to give you an energy tip in this column. Instead, I would rather share with you a great concern that I have about some issues that could affect every one of us. We live in a great country that seems to be changing at an extremely rapid pace. As I have written before, while we may all be reluctant to change, change is often good. However, changes that result from actions that are not well thought out can be disastrous. The leaders of our nation are now considering several proposals related to the generation of electricity. These proposals are related to renewable energy, carbon emissions and climate change, etc. Some of the proposals call for placing caps on emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants (and other industries, as well as cars, trucks, etc.) and charging utilities to pay at an auction for the right (allowances) to emit CO2. This system will no doubt raise electricity rates for Americans, perhaps significantly, at a time when the nation is in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Other proposals would require utilities to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable energy. While I support using renewable energy whenever possible, it isn’t wise to set unrealistic targets for the use of such energy. Doing so will only raise electricity costs and could even threaten the reliability of the electric grid. Simply stated, these are very serious proposals and must be thoroughly considered. I think that rapid decisions on these issues could lead to a gigantic new tax or taxes on the average Joe. Folks, I am not a politician nor am I an expert on climate change. I am an energy efficiency consultant. But I know that this is a very serious matter. I think we must let our voices be heard. If you have a computer and Internet access, please visit the “Our Energy, Our Future” Web site sponsored by the nation’s electric cooperatives at www.ourenergy.coop. You can communicate with your congressional delegation through this site about the critical energy issues now under consideration. If you don’t have access to a computer, please write your representatives and senators and ask them to listen to the electric cooperatives as they consider the major energy policies before them. The cooperatives are acting on behalf of their members with regard to these issues, as they always do. Their mission, as it has been for more than 70 years, is to provide affordable and reliable electricity to their members. They now need you to help them continue their mission. If you will do this, I promise to return to my normal self next month and help you get ready for summer! Doug Rye can be heard on KGOZ and KAAN locally. Every Saturday morning, Doug Rye hosts a live call-in show on several area radio stations. He can be heard from 9-10 a.m. on KGOZ, 101.7, Gallatin, and on KAAN, 95.5, Bethany. |
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Consumers call for affordability
Happy summertime! The weather is nice right now and no one needs heating or cooling, at least where I live. It will soon change, though. It is summer after all and that means it will be hot. And I’ve got some good tips in the next few months to help you get through the summer, but first things first.