Conservation Alert: What it is (and isn't) and why you should care
TVA’s request for local residents to take voluntary conservation efforts this month has sparked quite a bit of conversation on social media. It appears Summer 2022 is going to be a hot one, so we anticipate these public requests from TVA will continue. Taking voluntary conservation actions today helps lower your next power bill by using less electricity, and helps lower your power bills in the future by reducing TVA’s fuel expense — which is passed on to consumers.
Here is some more information about why TVA makes these requests, what impact all of this will have on your power bills and some other myth-busting information.
Hot now usually means hot later
The early summer heat wave has led to five of the top ten June peak power demand days in TVA history, dating back to the 1930s.
• Mon., June 13 - 31,311 megawatts, 2nd highest June power demand in TVA’s history
• Tues., June 14 – 30,072 megawatts, 9th highest
• Wed., June 15 – 30,784 megawatts, 4th highes
• Thurs., June 16 – 31,617 megawatts, new June all-time record demand.
• Mon., June 21 – 30,413 megawatts, 8th highest
As part of its strategic planning and fuel purchasing, TVA analyzes a lot of data, including weather trends. TVA likes to know, for example, if history shows any trends related to higher-than-normal June temperatures. If you aren’t a fan of this scorching hot weather, sorry. According to TVA, historical data indicates when it’s crazy hot in June, we usually see that trend continue through July and August. So, don’t be surprised if we continue announcing conservation alerts regularly this summer.
High power demand today = high power bills tomorrow
In order to make sure it has enough electricity on the hottest summer days for the more than 9 million people it serves, TVA often has to purchase power on the open market that is very expensive. High power demand – especially during peak hours of 1pm to 6pm local time – directly contributes to higher future power bills (keep reading to see how), so to help save money, Cullman Electric and TVA encourages consumers and businesses to join us in cutting back usage during those hours.
Over the next several months, the energy charge on the monthly bill for most co-op members is going to be higher than usual in large part because you will be using more electricity than usual as your air conditioner works overtime to keep your home cool and comfortable. At the same time, the cost of electricity will be higher. TVA includes a fuel cost adjustment (FCA) as part of its kilowatt-hour charge. It allows TVA to recover costs associated with the actual purchase price of electricity — like when TVA has to purchase power on the open market to make sure it can handle peak demand on the hottest summer afternoons, or when the price of natural gas doubles as a result of supply shortages due to the conflict with Russia and Ukraine.
Conserving energy is actually quite easy
You might read or hear stories saying to set your thermostat to 78 degrees or even in the 80s. We think a better approach is to determine what temperature you would normally want inside your home, then bump it up a few degrees. This allows you to conserve energy, save money on your power bill and still not break a sweat. Here are some other simple ways to help reduce power use without significantly impacting your comfort:
• Use fans to circulate air in your home (and maybe raise the A/C temperature a few more degrees)
• Close the window covering on the sunny side of your home or office.
• If possible, avoid using ovens, dishwashers, clothes dryers and other appliances that generate heat in your home until later in the evening.
No, it’s not the fault of electric vehicles
A popular villain on social media recently is electric vehicles. Many people seem to think the reason TVA is at risk of not having enough electricity to keep our homes cool is all of the EVs that are sucking up the kilowatts on the grid. Nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of EV charging is done at night, when electricity demand is not a problem. There are some very real challenges Cullman EC and other utilities are working on to make sure our grid can handle the increased demand that will come from electric vehicle charging, but it’s not an issue related to power supply on hot summer days.
If it sounds like a wild rumor, it probably is
When TVA issues a voluntary conservation alert, it does not mean rolling blackouts are about to happen. It does not mean TVA is about to run out of electricity. And it’s not unusual. There are days every summer, and sometimes during the winter, that TVA issues a voluntary conservation alert when extreme temperatures lead to higher-than-normal energy demand. Asking the public to conserve electricity is one of the first steps in a very long and very complicated process TVA has in place to work with local power companies to make sure power supply on the electric grid remains stable and reliable.