Program Conserves Energy, Saves Customers' Money

Friday, June 1st 2007, 4:46 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Saving money on electric bills during the summer could be as easy as delaying washing clothes and dishes until the nighttime hours under a program offered by an Oklahoma electric utility, officials say. Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company's ``time-of-use'' program officially kicked off Friday and runs through October.

Under the program, OG&E customers pay a much lower rate for electricity for 18 hours _ from 7 p.m. one day until 1 p.m. the next day.

During those off-peak hours, customers are charged $4.77 per kilowatt hour, almost half the regular rate of $8.58. During the hours of high usage, however, the rate for people who sign up for the program goes to $22.95 cents per kilowatt hour.

Gil Broyles, OG&E spokesman, said that besides washing dishes and clothes at night, people can save by setting the thermostat at, say 76 degrees, during the peak hours, shutting off the pump to the pool and using fans.

Just turning off a swimming pool pump during the peak hours could cut in half the normal expense of running the pump 24 hours, he said.

Broyles said the program conserves energy, provides the potential of savings to customers and also helps OG&E by reducing the company's need to buy power to make sure it has reserves during periods of high usage.

``That can be most expensive. So if we can avoid having to make those off-system purchases, it is good for the company and good for our customers.''

Broyles said OG&E bills mailed out this month contain information about the program, which requires installation of a new meter to check hours of usage of electricity.

He said customers who do not save money under the program will be charged at the regular rate, but will be responsible for a meter charge of $6 a month.

About 3,000 of OG&E's 755,000 customers are currently signed up in the program.

They include Mike Newcomb, who works for the company. Newcomb said he joined up a few years ago when he and his wife bought a bigger house and ``we were afraid of what the electric bill would be.''

Newcomb figures the savings is $70 to $80 a month.

``My wife made it a contest to see how much she could save during the peak time, the high-priced time,'' he said.

He said his wife stays at home and still watches television, but uses fans to stay cool and ``precools'' the home at night to keep the temperature down for a longer period during the peak hours.