“We may not understand energy but . . .”

EiD loves to showcase articles from local and regional news services because it is important to know what is being expressed outside the capitals and economic centres. Amy Greil writes a very good article in the Kenosha News from Wisconsin in the US about the appropriate options to deal with our complex energy world. Amy Greil is a community, natural resources and economic development educator for the Kenosha County University of Wisconsin-Extension. Let’s hope we get more such articles.

We need energy — but perhaps less of it

If I were to ask a person to talk about energy, he or she might refer issues relating to the cost of energy, the environment or quality of life. Still another may have nothing to say because he/she simply takes energy for granted.

So while we may not understand energy, its impacts or our need for it, let us see what can be done to reclaim our place within this complex energy world.

The Energy Information Administration and Bureau of Transportation Statistics of 2012 reports that of total U.S. energy use, 40.2 percent is used as energy input at electric utilities. Twenty-eight percent of total energy use is burned by the transportation sector.

Then comes industrial energy use at 21.6 percent, which includes manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and construction. Finally, at 10.2 percent of total energy use are the residential and commercial sectors.

I am especially motivated to learn more about energy use since We Energies recently received approval from Public Service Commission regulators to increase the fixed charges from rate payers from about $9 to $16.

We Energies is moving toward a rate design where almost all fixed costs (infrastructure) are recouped by fixed charges. The utility will pay less for the power that customers generate with through renewable sources such as solar, wind or bio gas and institute an additional charge specifically on distributed generation to reduce the net metering rates paid to people sending power back to the grid.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 44.7 percent of household energy is used in space heating. Water heating contributes 16.4 percent of total energy use. Space cooling adds 9.2 percent to our total residential energy use.

Rounding out the total energy usage in atypical home are lighting (5.9 percent), electronics, (4.7 percent), cooking (3.7 percent), and laundry/other (15.4 percent).

An appropriate response:

1. The cheapest and cleanest energy available is the energy that we never use. Easy strategies include turning down your thermostat to 68 degrees while you’re awake and setting it lower while you are sleeping or away from home. By turning your thermostat back 10 to 15 degrees for eight hours, you can save 5 percent to 15 percent a year on your heating bill, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

2. Energy efficiency is the next best option, using technology that requires less energy to perform the same function. Using a compact fluorescent light bulb or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs requires less energy than using an incandescent bulb. Using a low-flow shower head is another efficiency option. Tools and rebates are available through Focus on Energy.

We may not have much control over our energy infrastructure or the policies that govern the energy sector but starting small means starting today with responsible energy use — or non-use.