Day #247 Time of Use from Jackson EMC

Last year I signed up for the Jackson Electric Membership Cooperative’s Time of Use program. It’s their way of encouraging people to avoid using electricity during the peak times – from 3 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The program runs from June 1^st through September 15^th. Any electricity used during those peak hours is punitively expensive. But any electricity used any other time (all year long) is quite inexpensive.

They installed a special meter in May of 2010, and I went through the summer using as little electricity as I could. My average bill that summer was $37, while friends and neighbors had bills over $200.

 
How did I manage it? At 2:45 every day, I went to the circuit breaker box and turned everything off, except for the breaker that governed the garage door (in case I had to leave on a moment’s notice), and the one to the fridge. I had the most peaceful afternoons and early evenings. If I needed light, I lit a candle. If I felt a need to listen to the radio, I played the piano instead. I wrote my books by long-hand during those hours and transcribed them (self-editing as I went) during the non-peak hours.

Now, I must admit that if I lived in a sterile subdivisions with lollipop trees, I’d have had a hard time with Time of Use. But I’m lucky. My house may have been “as is” when I bought it – my flooring may be painted subflooring rather than wall-to-wall carpet, and my furniture (most of it) may be from GoodWill – but, by golly, I love this house. Particularly the deciduous trees that shade the house from the west. So what if I turn off the A/C at 2:45 every weekday afternoon? Those trees are on the job all the time!

So here it is June again, and I’m on Time of Use again, blessing those trees every single day.

And when the shade hits the beehives each afternoon, I'll bet the bees are thankful, too!

BEEattitude for Day # 247:

       Blessed are those who challenge themselves to do what seems impossible, for they just might surprise themselves.

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