Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 07/12/2009 11:23:36 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
Electricity consumption has dropped dramatically this summer because of the mild weather, and it is translating into more manageable electric bills.
PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator, says electricity demand in the mid-Atlantic states was down 13.5 percent in June compared with last year.
Peco Energy Co. customers used 14.9 percent less power in June than they did a year ago, and sales are off 2.5 percent for the first six months of the year, according to PJM.
Public Service Electric & Gas, the New Jersey utility, sold 17 percent less power in June, and 4.5 percent less for the year.
Though power forecasters expected a slight drop in consumption because of the recession, the dramatic reduction is mostly weather-related, said Michael J. Kormos, PJM's senior vice president of operations. Temperate weather reduces the need for power-hungry air-conditioning and refrigeration. ...it is safe to say the mild weather has allowed consumers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to keep hundreds of millions of dollars in their pockets.
"Obviously, the weather has affected our business," said Bonnie Sheppard, a PSE&G spokeswoman. She said June was the eighth coldest - and second wettest - on record in New Jersey. Light use of air-conditioning is reflected in a 62 percent drop in repair-service calls, she said.
"Definitely customer bills are lower," said Michael Wood, a Peco spokesman.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
The sun has taken the year off. Fewer sunspots means cooler weather.
The sun is so much bigger than the earth it is like comparing the Obama deficeit to a dollar.
Have no fear, the consumer will never win...You can expect a rate increease very shortly.
Where I live it’s 95° now and will be hotter before the day is out. I don’t know about kilowatt hours, but the cost of my current bill is about 25% higher than at this time last year.
In rural Texas, God bless our rural electric co-op, which returns surplus $$ every year after all accounting is done. I love ‘em, when something goes wrong in any weather, here comes their familiar trucks and outstanding linemen.
If you have the same, drop off some snacks at their office, or hand that lineman a cup of coffee in the winter or cold drink in the summer, tell them how valuable they are.
And up here we are still cool in mid-July. Lots of rain and a cold spring with a cooler than normal summer. That’s weather for you. Hot some places and cold some places. Rain here and drought in S.C.
We just got our rate increase last month....thanks to Corslime and his cronies.
The longer this cool spell lasts, the more the rates will go up to compensate for lost income to the electricity suppliers. Then when a warm spell comes back...lets say 3 years from now(its only a guess)...we will really be hurt bad by the costs to run our AC.
Nah, God’s just shootin’ craps with Al Baby.
It would help if everybody told us where they are when they give a weather report — do we need a dedicated thread just for that?
I’m in Nashville, Tn and I predicted Pop Up showers this morning for the PM, they started at 12:55 PM.
85F right now and RH
We’re making up the difference here in central Texas. (record temps for days now)
Of course we do have our own electric grid so, never mind.
We suffered a 31% rate increase last January, and the City raised almost all utility tax rates shortly thereafter. We are using less electricity than ever before, and our bill is higher than ever before...
Reminds me of our garbage bill after “free” recycling was started and after the water company forced us to conserve water.
Yes, that’s how it is here in Okieland, too. This heat is unbearable! It is a typical Okie summer, and my very own pet weather theory is that means we will have a nasty, cold winter to follow.
No, no science. Just my own theory. (Mine is more realistic than global warming, though!)
Currently in Helena, Mt the temp is 69 degrees. (3:16 PM)
What is (IOW, What GW???),
You may want to rethink that S.C. drought part.
Sorry, Old Professor. I live in East Texas around Lufkin but out in the sticks. It’s 98° at 1750 CDT. That’s about normal here for this time of year.
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