‹ Back to Light Flashes

We’re all on the same team, especially when it comes to wholesale power costs. We all have to do our part to keep power bills affordable. Our job, as your not-for-profit electric cooperative, is to safely deliver clean, reliable electricity at the lowest possible cost. As a member, you can help us achieve this by doing your part to reduce demand for electricity during periods of peak demand.

This is because wholesale power is more expensive to produce during “peak periods,” when many people are using electricity at the same time. Typically, these occur from 5 to 9 a.m. on cold winter mornings and 2 to 6 p.m. on hot summer afternoons. If you can shift some of your electricity use to outside of these times, it will help hold down the cost of wholesale power and balance demand.

During the winter, you can make the biggest impact by lowering your thermostat a few degrees in the morning. Delaying chores that use large appliances until after 9 a.m. helps, as does setting your dishwasher to run later. You could possibly hold off washing or drying clothes until after the peak time has passed, and family members might also take showers or baths in the evening.

In the summer, you can help by bumping your thermostat up a few degrees from 3 to 7 p.m. in the afternoon. Either do the laundry, dishes and bathing earlier or plan those things for later in the evening. Consider using the microwave to cook or grill your dinner outside, if the weather is nice. Even turning off any unneeded lights and electronics, like gaming systems, can help make a difference.

These simple actions may not seem like much, but they save money for all members. Shifting when you use some of your home’s electricity helps reduce the overall demand for it. That goes a long way in helping manage power costs for all members. By reducing peak demand, or “shaving the peak,” we don’t have to produce or purchase as much wholesale electricity when it costs the most. In addition, reducing demand also helps delay the need for new power plants.

Join us and other West Florida Electric Cooperative members in working together as a team. If we each do our part, we can succeed in holding down wholesale power costs.