{"id":4011,"date":"2014-12-19T22:21:20","date_gmt":"2014-12-20T03:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/?p=4011"},"modified":"2017-08-26T00:16:58","modified_gmt":"2017-08-26T04:16:58","slug":"nstar-electric-bills-going-up-by-30-for-needham-homeowners-what-you-can-do-to-reduce-your-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/nstar-electric-bills-going-up-by-30-for-needham-homeowners-what-you-can-do-to-reduce-your-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"NSTAR Electric Bills Going Up by 30% for Needham Homeowners?  What You Can Do to Reduce Your Bill."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NSTAR has requested a rate increase of 29% across their service area, which includes the town of Needham.\u00a0 If approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, it will take effect on Jan. 1, 2015.\u00a0 As recently reported in <i>The Needham Times,(<a href=\"http:\/\/needham.wickedlocal.com\/article\/20141121\/News\/141129811\">http:\/\/needham.wickedlocal.com\/article\/20141121\/News\/141129811<\/a>),<\/i> according to an NSTAR source, \u201cThe current spike in electricity prices stems from widely-publicized constraints in the existing pipelines that bring natural gas to regional generating companies\u201d.\u00a0 50% of New England\u2019s electricity is currently generated from natural gas.<\/p>\n<p>So, with your energy bill likely to go up, what actions can <b><i>you<\/i><\/b> take that will <b><i>save you money and energy<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and help <b><i>reduce global warming<\/i><\/b>? \u00a0Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Get a no-cost energy audit: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/nsl.php\">http:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/nsl.php<\/a>\u00a0 The audit is performed by Next Step Living, (a Mass Save company); there is no cost for the audit \u2013 it is\u00a0paid for with a charge on <em><strong>everyone\u2019s<\/strong> <\/em>monthly electric bill. \u00a0During the audit, the auditor will replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, (and one LCD light!), install a programmable thermostat, hook up one free power strip, install low-flow shower heads and\/or aerators, and perform any\u00a0 needed on-the-spot work to improve energy efficiency. \u00a0The auditor will advise the homeowner about <b><i>additional steps<\/i><\/b> that he can take to increase the energy efficiency of his home, take advantage of state subsidies for follow-up work \u2013 <strong><em>75% of the work, up to $2,000\/year<\/em> <\/strong>&#8211; and gives the homeowner information about conservation measures that he can take to save money and energy.<\/li>\n<li>If you have <b><i>already<\/i><\/b> had a <strong><em>no-cost energy audit<\/em><\/strong>, you can implement conservation measures, and\/or do additional work recommended by the no-cost energy assessment auditor to increase the energy efficiency of your home.\u00a0 Here are some energy conservation ideas to reduce your electric usage by taking simple, easy actions around your home:\n<ul>\n<li>Unplug electrical devices that use \u201cvampire\u201d or \u201cphantom\u201d power (use power strips when possible for entertainment units)<\/li>\n<li>Set your PC\/laptop to \u201csleep\/hibernate\u201d after a short period of inactivity (e.g., 5-10 minutes); turn off your PC\/laptop at night or during the day when you are away\/not using it.<\/li>\n<li>Use a programmable thermostat to automatically turn down your heat when you aren\u2019t home or when you go to bed<\/li>\n<li>Wear layers inside during the winter months, and set the thermostat lower during the day<\/li>\n<li>When replacing an appliance, consider an energy efficient model: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.masssave.com\/residential\/lighting-and-appliances?gclid=CMKzo9nK08ICFfEF7AoduEkAvQ\">http:\/\/www.masssave.com\/residential\/lighting-and-appliances?gclid=CMKzo9nK08ICFfEF7AoduEkAvQ<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Check out this website for some good information\/tips on saving money and energy:<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumersenergy.com\/uploadedFiles\/CEWEB\/SHARED\/more-100-ways-save-on-bill12-06.pdf\">https:\/\/www.consumersenergy.com\/uploadedFiles\/CEWEB\/SHARED\/more-100-ways-save-on-bill12-06.pdf<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Think about installing solar panels on your roof to generate electricity and\/or heat your hot\u00a0water\u00a0\u2013 with higher electric rates, the payback on solar is faster than ever.<\/li>\n<li>If you heat your home with electricity or oil, look into installing a mini-split heat pump system &#8211; contact Next Step Living to get information about whether you are a good candidate for this type of system: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nextstepliving.com\/home-solutions\/efficient-heating-cooling\/ductless-mini-splits?zip\">http:\/\/www.nextstepliving.com\/home-solutions\/efficient-heating-cooling\/ductless-mini-splits?zip<\/a>=<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NSTAR has requested a rate increase of 29% across their service area, which includes the town of Needham.\u00a0 If approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, it will take effect on Jan. 1, 2015.\u00a0 As recently reported in The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,19,46,132],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy-at-home","category-energy-efficiency","category-green-tips-old","category-home-energy-savings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}