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Doug Bechtel
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It never fails. Every time I say I am going to do something in the next OPALCOGRAM, something interrupts. This time two things inter-rupted.
First, in the past we have talked about a round up program for your electric bills. This optional program would round your electric bill up to the nearest whole dollar. The amount between what you really owe and the next dollar would be put aside in the special fund to help people in San Juan County that are in financial trouble and having difficulty paying their electric bills. If you signed up for this program you would expect your power bill to increase by an average of 50¢ per month. Of course, you could stop the round up any time you wanted.
If everyone in San Juan County participated in the round up program it would generate over $50,000 per year to assist those who need help with their electric bills. Along with your electric bill this month we are mailing you a post card asking you to indicate whether you are interested in the round up program. Mark up the post card and return it to us along with your payment, or drop it off at any of our offices. If there is enough interest we will proceed to implement this program.
The second item comes out of the Bonneville reinvention. BPA has indicated that for the first time they intend to charge more for electricity that is used during the day and less for electricity used in the middle of the night. I have been wrestling with how OPALCO can benefit from this. One of the alternatives is for us to en-courage electric consumption at night.
Over the past several months I have been looking at thermal storage. This system uses electricity to heat ceramic tiles during the night. During the day a fan blows air over these hot tiles to warm your house. Although I don't have exact figures yet, electric usage during the night could be 10 to 20% cheaper than electric usage during the day. Since electric heat is the biggest user of energy in most San Juan County homes, the ability to reduce your heating bill can save a lot of money. The thermal energy units cost about $700 apiece (plus installation) and are about the size of an old fashioned steam radiator.
I need to find if there are ten OPALCO members who heat their homes electrically who would be willing to share the cost in changing electric baseboard heat for these storage units. This would be a pilot program to measure what savings might actually be available for this method of heating your home. If you would be interested in participating in this program (I am going to try to get a 50% matching grant to pay for the pilot project) give me a call at 376-3520.
I promise to get back to the Long Range Plan in the next OPAL-COGRAM.
Doug Bechtel
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