The idea of a city working together to reduce its electric rates is intriguing-and worth talking about. The energy consultant hired by by the City of Hillsboro told the city council at its most recent meeting that the city could save more than $6,000 next year for every 100 kilowatts of electricity it reduced from its peak usage days this summer.
The rate a city pays for a calendar year is based on the amount of energy it consumes on the few days it consumes the most. We could all save some money over the course of a year if we would save electricity on those few peak usage days by not running major appliances like washers and dryers during the afternoon hours.
One challenge keeping the city from success on this matter is finding a way to notify residents in a timely manner when those peak days will occur. Frankly, we're not opposed to the city sounding a distinctive siren as our call to action. Think of it as the equivalent of an air-raid warning in our ongoing battle with the household budget.
Of course, the other challenge would be whether enough of us would actually take action once we've been alerted. The immediate gratification of basking in chilled air during the hottest part of the hottest days of summer has a way of chilling our enthusiasm for financial savings over the long haul.
If we had that sort of discipline, we'd be driving our cars a lot less during these days of high gasoline prices, wouldn't we? -DR
