How to Get the Electric Company to Pay You for Using Electricity

Energy usage is a hot topic these days. We are all concerned with the effect that energy costs are having on our planet as well as our pocketbooks. I’ve always believed that knowledge is power, and this article is going to provide you with the knowledge you’ll need to understand your electricity consumption, how that consumption is billed by your electric company, and one alternative that is available.
Understanding Electricity Usage
Let's start with the lingo. A watt measures the rate of electricity being used in the moment. In other words, a 60 watt light bulb is using 60 watts while it is turned on. Everything that uses electricity has a label with the watts listed on it.
A kilowatt hour (kwh) is the number of watts used in one hour. So a 1000 watt air conditioner that is on for 1 hour uses 1 kwh. An average home uses approximately 20,000 kwh’s per year.
Understanding How Electricity is Billed
Currently the average cost of electricity is $0.11 per kwh. Of course this varies based upon where you live. So it seems that you should be able to predict your electric bill by knowing how many watts and how many hours of usage your household consumes. Well, it’s not that simple.
First of all, your electric company is billing you a usage charge. That’s right, you're paying them just to use their service. Secondly, you must consider that you’re paying multiple rates per kwh. The base rate is for a limited number of kwh (which we all exceed.) Then there is a higher rate for the kwh past the base amount, and then an even higher rate during the peak months from May thru October when everyone is running their air conditioners.
As if that’s not enough, some companies impose “demand charges”. A demand charge is based upon, you got it, the amount of electricity you demanded at any given point throughout the day. In other words, if you have the washer, the dryer, the dishwasher and your blow dryer running at the same time all the lights in your house are on, you are placing a high demand on your electricity and will pay the high demand charge for that usage period.
Seeking Alternative Energy Sources
The power companies make electricity by burning fossil fuels. This, as we know, is a nonrenewable source of energy. Eventually we will run out. Before that happens though electricity will become a much sought after commodity. Rationing will probably occur as prices skyrocket. Imagine having no electricity to power your daily existence.
There are, however, several alternative energy sources already available to us. The one I’d like to discuss is solar power. Aside from the initial cost of setup, the usage cost is minimal saving you anywhere from 80 percent or more annually.
Solar power has been around for awhile but unfortunately lacked in popularity due to huge upfront costs. Time, technology and demand, however, has changed all that. Solar panels can produce enough power during sunlight hours that you have more electricity than you need. You could actually sell the excess power to the electric company. That idea just tickles me.
Converting to solar power has become easier. You no longer have to purchase an expensive solar power system. There are companies that rent systems, or you can build the solar panels yourself. The government also offers rebates to encourage going solar.
You know you’re probably not going to drastically reduce the number of kwh’s your household uses by running around turning off lights. And you know the electric company is not going to reduce their charges in this lifetime. But if by going green, you could save some green, why not go solar? Wouldn’t it be nice to charge the electric company a usage charge?

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