Why Energy Efficiency is so Important

Have you ever heard the fable about the ant and the grasshopper? On a sunny summer day, a grasshopper was flitting about, and came across an ant toiling under the weight of a kernel of corn.
 
“Why all the hard work?” the grasshopper asked. “I’m collecting this corn for winter, and recommend you do the same,” the ant replied. “Why bother storing corn now? There’s plenty to go around!” the grasshopper scoffed, hopping off into the sun.
 
Well, we all know how that winter went for the grasshopper, who never did get around to storing any corn.
 
That valuable lesson also applies to the electricity we use every day. Access Energy Cooperative and electric cooperatives across the country stand at a crossroads. At the moment, we are able to power our homes with the mere flip of a switch, as safe, reliable, and affordable electricity remains readily available. The grasshoppers of the world are happy.
 
But in recent years, several factors—increasing demand for electricity, rising fuel and construction costs, and decisions limiting what types of power plants we can build—place our energy future in limbo. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that our need for electricity will climb by 30% between now and 2030. Unfortunately, the power available may not be able to keep up with this growth as construction of new generation capacity is being put on hold while Congress reworks national energy policy.
 
However, we do have a powerful resource to tap in the meantime: energy efficiency.  With widespread energy efficiency measures in place, including those we’ve implemented on our distribution lines as well as measures you can take at home, annual growth in electricity demand could drop by almost half of 1%, to 2.2%, according to the Arlington, Va.-based Cooperative Research Network.
 
In other words, saving electricity now will both reduce your current utility bills and soften the blow against future power supply shortcomings. And being energy efficient doesn’t mean being flat-out stingy with energy use. It means doing things in your home you normally would, but in a smarter way.  Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) are a great example. By simply changing an old incandescent bulb to a swirled CFL equivalent, you can get the same light while using 75% less electricity.
 
Access Energy Cooperative is on your side in this effort, and we have a long history of helping members get the most out of the power coming down our lines. The vast majority of electric cooperatives across the nation—92%—join us in these efforts.
 
Please contact us if you would like to learn more about making your home more energy efficient. Or go online at www.energysavers.gov, a valuable Web site maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy. Together we can save those “kernels of power” for an uncertain future, and reduce our electric bills in the meantime.