STARKVILLE — Starkville resident Valerie Clifton didn’t realize how many factors went into her monthly electric bill.
After attending an energy-saving workshop hosted Wednesday by the Starkville Utilities Department and the Tennessee Valley Authority, she said she now has more tools to start chipping away at that bill every month.
SUD held the workshop at the Emerson Family School Discovery Center at 1504 Louisville St. At the workshop, TVA Energy Consultant Jim Purcell taught 21 residents how to make their homes more energy efficient and gave tips on keeping their power bills down as the winter sets in and rates rise as people crank up their heaters.
“It was extremely helpful just to learn about the percentages of usage and how it equates to the cost of your total bill,” Clifton said. “I didn’t realize that heating and cooling was the largest portion of your bill.”
As winter sets in, electric rates tend to rise as customers turn up their heaters and use more hot water. To counteract this, Purcell advised residents to keep their thermostats at 68 degrees this winter and to turn off appliances and central air when they aren’t home.
He also urged residents to use the SUD website to monitor their electric bills and see how they use their energy at home. If residents use all the tips and advice given at the workshop, they can save up to $350 a year.
“Typically, people don’t see their energy bill until the end of the cycle (month),” Purcell said. “If they knew how much (power) they were using each day, they might make better choices.”
SUD Manager Edward Kemp told The Dispatch the workshops are a great tool to remind residents of the resources available through SUD.
Customers can request free home energy audits, showing them exactly where their money is spent on the bill every month and how energy efficient their home is. The workshops also allow residents to give feedback on their power service.
“We try to provide information and educate our customers on ways that they can save money,” Kemp said. “We want to equip them to where they can manage their bills in a way that they want to. So, we feel like this is a good opportunity for education and outreach.”
At the end of the workshop, SUD gave out free energy tool kits with supplies to help save on electricity. Supplies included in the box were thermostats, caulk tubes to seal up empty spaces in vents and outlet covers, to name a few.
Attendee Andrea Agrib said she thought the kits were especially helpful because she didn’t know about the everyday items she could purchase to help save on electricity.
“It was very helpful to me because I did not know that you can buy certain things to help save energy and weather stripping for things in your home that you can save a lot with,” Agrib said.
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