We would like to introduce a quick way to check your energy bills that might immediately help you save thousands of dollars. This comes from the Green Team at Mountain View UMC in Boulder. They were able to help Lafayette UMC in Colorado save more than $5000/year simply by making a phone call to their electrical utility.
NOTE: We know that across the four states of our conference, there are multiple utilities to deal with. We have learned this simple savings from our work with XCEL Energy. We believe that this is available through other utilities. We also believe it never hurts to ask.
Here is our example from XCEL.
XCEL is the electrical utility in parts of Colorado. It has different rate structures:
One tariff/rate, Demand Billing, charges according to the maximum level of usage over a 15-minute period.
Another tariff, Residential Billing, charges according to the total amount of electricity consumed.
The demand billing is the default tariff for commercial buildings. Church are not really commercial buildings, they are non-profits. It is good to check the terms and conditions.
Most churches’ demand is low enough to qualify for the lower residential billing.
For XCEL, residential billing is for usage that never exceeds 50kW averaged over 15 minutes. If you remain on the demand tariff, saving electricity during the week will not reduce your electricity bill.
If your utility company uses a tiered rate system, and your church stays below the threshold for a demand billing, you may be able to save thousands of dollars per year by simply asking your utility to switch you to the cheaper rate.
That is what Lafayette UMC did with a phone call.
What can you do today?
Find the latest utility bill. It usually will state the rate structure, and it is likely near where they calculate the charges. One quick way to determine if your church is on the demand billing is to divide the total electrical charge (in dollars) by the total electrical usage in kWh. If this is more than $0.12/kWh you are likely on demand billing. We suggest that you call the customer service number and try to get a human representative on the phone. Ask them if they have a tier rate system for customers and what the threshold for peak energy usage is to qualify for the lower rate.
This information should be found in their RATE BOOK that clarifies the rules for different rates. You are looking for the qualifications and thresholds for the lower rate. All utilities have RATE BOOKS. This is worth exploring.
This will only work if your power company uses a tiered system. However, many utilities do have a lower rate that is based on your demand rather than the peak of your usage for a 15 minute period! If this is the case, ask to speak to someone about moving the church to the lower rate.
Want to learn more?
Send an email with your questions to creationjustice@mtnskyumc.org. If there is enough interest, we will plan an information panel to outline how to do this.
Please consider using your savings to invest in energy efficiency and water conservation projects.
Dr. Fred Walls is a retired research physicist who worked for US Dept of Commerce and later as a consultant. He also has 50 years’ experience in reducing building energy consumption and 20 years in solar PV and geothermal heat pumps.
Dr. Arthur T. Howe is a retired inorganic materials scientist, who has worked in academia and industry in the areas of fuel cells and solar cells, and has been a contributor to the Green Team at Mountain View United Methodist Church in Boulder for the last 15 years.