Green Experiment 6: Clean energy
Why switch? Because clean energy drastically reduces the carbon emissions that pollute our environment. The more we reduce our collective carbon footprint, the healthier our living spaces and lives will ultimately be. Plus, with rising fuel costs come rising electricity rates.
The potential impact: Texas is the #1 state in the Union in carbon emissions. Bigger is obviously not better in this case. Texas alone emits 6.7 BILLION tons of carbon per year. Texas is also #1 state in per capita energy consumption. By choosing clean energy, an average household could avoid almost 1 ton/year of carbon dioxide emissions. In 2000, there were an estimated 7.4 million households in Texas. So that's on average 7.4 million tons of carbon emissions reduced. That's the equivalent of taking 1.2 million cars off the road for a year or planting 740 million trees. Seriously.
The product I tested: Green Mountain Energy's Pollution Free Reliable Rate service at 12.76 cents per kwh plus a $9.95 monthly service fee. This product's electricity is produced from 90 percent hydro and 10 percent wind power. I also joined the Texas Sun Club at $5 per month to help fund the effort to bring more accessible and affordable solar power to Texas.
The results: While my first electricity bill was for only 12 billing days, the difference is already readily apparent. With my old electricity provider (Coserv), the rate was about the same, but the company always tacked on a 4-5 cents per kwh charge to recover the cost of rising fuel costs. I used 452 kwh of electricity during the twelve days, for which (including my Sun Club donation, service fee, and taxes) cost me about $75. With Coserv, I would have paid about $83. If we assume for a full month I would use about 1000 kwh, I would pay about $150. With Coserv, 1000 kwh would have cost about $184. What's also really great is that Green Mountain tells you the impact you've made with each billing cycle. In only 12 days, I avoided 66 pounds of carbon emissions which is the equivalent of about 74 miles not driven. That's like walking to Denton and back twice instead of driving. Sweet! All I had to do was change electric providers to do my part for our environment, and I could save around 15% on my bill.
Conclusion: Absolutely worth it. If Green Mountain is offered in your area, I highly recommend it.
The potential impact: Texas is the #1 state in the Union in carbon emissions. Bigger is obviously not better in this case. Texas alone emits 6.7 BILLION tons of carbon per year. Texas is also #1 state in per capita energy consumption. By choosing clean energy, an average household could avoid almost 1 ton/year of carbon dioxide emissions. In 2000, there were an estimated 7.4 million households in Texas. So that's on average 7.4 million tons of carbon emissions reduced. That's the equivalent of taking 1.2 million cars off the road for a year or planting 740 million trees. Seriously.
The product I tested: Green Mountain Energy's Pollution Free Reliable Rate service at 12.76 cents per kwh plus a $9.95 monthly service fee. This product's electricity is produced from 90 percent hydro and 10 percent wind power. I also joined the Texas Sun Club at $5 per month to help fund the effort to bring more accessible and affordable solar power to Texas.
The results: While my first electricity bill was for only 12 billing days, the difference is already readily apparent. With my old electricity provider (Coserv), the rate was about the same, but the company always tacked on a 4-5 cents per kwh charge to recover the cost of rising fuel costs. I used 452 kwh of electricity during the twelve days, for which (including my Sun Club donation, service fee, and taxes) cost me about $75. With Coserv, I would have paid about $83. If we assume for a full month I would use about 1000 kwh, I would pay about $150. With Coserv, 1000 kwh would have cost about $184. What's also really great is that Green Mountain tells you the impact you've made with each billing cycle. In only 12 days, I avoided 66 pounds of carbon emissions which is the equivalent of about 74 miles not driven. That's like walking to Denton and back twice instead of driving. Sweet! All I had to do was change electric providers to do my part for our environment, and I could save around 15% on my bill.
Conclusion: Absolutely worth it. If Green Mountain is offered in your area, I highly recommend it.