Tools to help you understand your energy use Pearl River Valley Electric offers a variety of options for you to understand your electric use. Over the years, we have published a wide variety of brochures and booklets that offer energy savings tips that are available in our offices and online on our website, www.PRVEPA.com. Some of the most useful information available is the ability to view your home’s daily and hourly electrical use at any time. This information is available on our website and through our app. Members can access this information by clicking the “Pay My Bill” or “Manage My Account” tabs and following the steps at the member portal. Members can also access this information by downloading our app in their app store. Simply search for “PRVEPA” and follow the steps. Through the member portal online or through our app,
members can view the amount of kilowatt hours recorded by their meter for any period of time, so they can compare one month with another. There is also a feature that adds the daily temperatures to each chart, so members can see the weather factors that impact their electric use. “Information is the key to understanding your monthly bill,” said Scott Arinder, member services representative. “When someone receives their bill and they think it is too high, they may have forgotten about a stretch of hot days in the billing period, or that they had a house full of visitors. When we show them how they used electricity throughout the month, they are able to think back and understand how their daily patterns of electricity use affect their bill,” Arinder said.
Higher temperatures this summer will mean higher utility bills for many Mississippians. But there are ways to control your costs and still survive the heat. About half of your energy use goes to cooling your home in the summer and heating it in the winter. Children who are out of school and staying at home can also boost your energy use because televisions are on longer, video games are being played or computers are being used more. Also,
with more people going into and out of the home, cool air is lost, and the air conditioner must work harder to keep the temperature at a comfortable level. You can spend a lot of money making your home more energy efficient by adding insulation, replacing windows and installing EnergyStar appliances. However, there are also some easy, inexpensive steps you can take to control your energy use. Here are a few:
• Replace any light bulb that burns more than one hour per day with its equivalent LED bulb. • Turn off lights when you leave a room. • Computers and monitors should be turned off when not in use. • TVs, stereos and radios should be turned off when no one is watching or listening to them.
• Use a slow cooker instead of simmering foods on the stove. • Only run the dishwasher when it’s fully loaded and use the air-dry cycle. • Set the thermostat to 78 degrees or as close to that temperature that you can and still feel comfortable. Every degree higher saves about 12%.
• Unplug chargers for phone and laptop batteries when not in use.
• Lock your windows to get a better seal so you won’t lose cool air.
• Unplug unused refrigerators or freezers.
• Change your air filter regularly so your air conditioner won’t have to work so hard.
• Use the microwave for cooking when possible.
Visit our website, www.PRVEPA.com, for more energy-efficiency tips that can help you keep your utility bills lower this summer.
All Pearl River Valley Electric Offices will be closed in observance of Independence Day on Friday, July 3. Dispatchers will be available, and crews will be on call. Report outages by calling 855-2PRVEPA. JULY 2020 | TODAY 13
