Energy Conservation Comes With Recession?
The temperatures are starting to rise, and that usually means more energy consumption. But we wondered whether this year would be different, given the new focus on global warming and going green. KUT took to the streets around UT in an admittedly unscientific poll of Austinites. Most gave a respose similar to UT-student Jason Wiseberg’s.
He said: “I am definitely taking shorter showers now and just being more conservative. Even things like washing dishes, I like prefer to dry my dishes. I have always lived like a kind of Spartan lifestyle I would say, but now I am really trying to be as like minimalistic as possible.”
But even if many people say they conserve more energy in this economic downturn, the reality is different. Ed Clark is spokesperson for Austin Energy.
“So far through March, Austin Energy has seen a usage that is a little bit ahead of projections. The big test will come this summer which is when the use of power is going essentially double for most residential costumers for instance. So we will be watching that closely” said Mr. Clark.
So if you’re planning to cut back, now’s the time to turn up the thermostat.
“When you look at the total power that residential costumers use over a course of a year, almost half of that electricity is consumed during June, July, August and September”, explained Mr. Clark.
Last summer, Austin had 50 days of a hundred degrees or higher. For information on how you can save energy, go to austinenergy.com.
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