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Elizabeth City’s Energy Fair
Photo by Ryan Somma |
Elizabeth City residents pay some of the highest electric rates in North Carolina (PDF), this is largely attributed to the town buying ownership in an Nuclear Power-based electric company just before three-mile island caused nuclear power expenses to shoot through the roof. As a result, Elizabeth City residents face yearly electric rate hikes of up to 10 percent, unless the city absorbs the cost, as it did last year.
So it was no surprise when more than 100 residents showed up for Elizabeth City Electric’s Energy Fair, seeking ways to reduce their energy consumption. There were all the standard measures: CFL light bulbs, weather stripping, insulation, windows, and Federal Assistance. But there were also a couple of new ones I was unfamiliar with:
- First there was this really cool Attic Tent. A simple, yet fantastic solution!
- The city offers some nifty online tools for making your home for energy efficient at the Energy Depot.
- The city offers a free home Energy Audit to customers. Dennis Gordon, the city’s Energy Officer, said that he has never had a house pass this audit, even new construction. An interesting part of the audit that I had never heard of was depressurization, where air is vacuumed out of the house using a velocity fan (see right) and measurements taken on the thingamajig to find out how drafty the home is. I’m totally digging this contraption.
- The city Electric has also recently instituted a mandatory Cycle & Save program, where residents are required to let the city install a remote control switch on their water heater and air conditioning units so that the city can cut power to these appliances during peak load times. The program is understandably controversial. It was formerly voluntary and the city provided electric bill credits to customers who participated. Now the city is looking into penalties for those who do not.
Photo by Ryan Somma |
Of course the city, as a utility provider has every right to enforce this requirement, just as Microsoft and Apple have every right to enforce the terms of use of their software licensing agreements. If we don’t like it, we can go off grid. We can install solar panels and wind turbines to provide our own electricity, just as computer users can install the Linux operating system.
Elizabeth City’s poor business investment two decades ago may be a blessing in disguise. It has created a community increasingly concerned with energy efficiency, alternative energy, and looking to very novel measures to combat costs. This is a good thing. As America and the world face an impending energy crunch from peak oil (PDF Warning) and instability in the Middle East, Elizabeth City will be well ahead of the curve when it comes to switching to alternatives.
Communities around the nation are looking to nuclear energy as the solution to American oil-dependence, but it will be decades before any new plants can come online. Elizabeth City is sitting pretty. Elizabeth City’s prescient investment in Nuclear Energy is also starting to see a pay off, as, for the For the first time in three years, customers of Elizabeth City’s electric utility won’t face a rate increase. This is because Nuclear Energy costs remain stable, while Oil-Based energy costs shoot for the moon.
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