July 27, 2023
Periodically, our local power company sends out a report to its customers informing them of how their energy usage stacks up against one's neighbors. Here are some facts:
- My house is 40+ years old
- There are two cranky retirement-age adults in the house 24/7
- We have two desktop computers running eighteen hours a day (his and hers and never the two shall be shared)
- We keep the thermostat on 74F year-round.
- We have a freezer and a freeze-dryer.
- We have a washer and dryer.
- I can fruits and veggies so the stove runs a lot.
- We run a dishwasher three or four times a week.
- We have a fully wired shed/workshop with all the things.
- There is a TV set to a music channel eighteen hours a day.
- We just have all the things!
We do not do anything special to conserve. We turn off lights when not in the room. We don't leave exterior doors hanging open. We don't leave outside garden hoses run. You know - we pay attention but we don't skimp on comfort. We haven't made upgrades to the windows or insulation, either.
Ten years ago, when we received one of these letters, it said we used over 20% more energy than our neighbors. We have done nothing and yet now we use 4% less than the "efficient" homes in our neighborhood. It's a mystery!
Here's one thing that is not a mystery. It comes straight from a public report. Our local power company generates 29% of its salable energy from coal and 31% from natural gas. A whopping 34.5% comes from nuclear plants. Only .26% comes from solar. That's right - only 1/4 of 1% from solar. Only a total of 5.42% is from renewable energy.
We know people who work at the local power company and they are taking steps to become more relevant in today's political climate. They know the government is going to put restrictions on them that they cannot meet. Their customers will be shut off from power.
When that happens, well, I thank the good Lord I live on a mountain and have a wood stove and a private water source. People in the cities will suffer more than I will.
It's time to be reasonable about people's lives and what it really takes to survive. These "feel good" letters don't protect us from anything. We need coal, natural gas, and oil to create electricity.
Will we ever get to the place where more than 5.42% of our local electricity comes from renewable sources? I believe we will. But I also believe we need to take care of people as we work toward that goal, and our current government doesn't care about people.
Allowing people to have the secure energy to live a good life as we transition to more renewable energy is the right thing to do. People living in dark misery under a cloud of uncertainty suffer. The more you make people suffer, the less likely they are to work or think of innovating. No letter in the world can fix that.
Without people, nothing will be accomplished, and that is where we are headed.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_
http://www.kckendricks.com
KC Kendricks, Between the Keys, renewable energy, energy costs, contemporary gay romance, m/m romance, coal, natural gas, efficient homes, rural living, a writer's life, gardening
No comments:
Post a Comment