As temperatures remain in the 90s across the eastern United States this week, Bryan Municipal Utilities, Montpelier Utilities and Edgerton Utilities  ask their electric customers to voluntarily reduce electric use from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, July 19, to avoid additional capacity and transmission charges that may otherwise end up in future electric bills.

A significant portion of power supply costs incurred by local municipal electric systems is based on the community’s total electric demand during the five greatest annual Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) Interconnection regional transmission operator annual capacity peaks and also during the one-hour annual American Electric Power (AEP) or First Energy (FE) transmission peak demands. Electric demand is greatest in summer and winter months due to air conditioning and heating needs.

By reducing electric use during peak demand periods, customers can help keep electric rates lower in the future. Customers can reduce electric use by taking the following simple conservation measures:

  • Shut off lights when you leave a room
  • Set air conditioner thermostats to 78 degrees
  • Close curtains and blinds to prevent the sun from heating your home
  • Do laundry, dishes and other household chores after 6 p.m.
  • Turn off and unplug electronic devices when not in use
  • Grill out instead of cooking indoors

Bryan, Edgerton and Montpelier municipal representatives plan to interrupt operation of non-essential services, turn off unnecessary lights and electrically-powered equipment and set thermostats to 78 degrees at municipal facilities from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday.

Commercial and industrial customers that have processes that can be interrupted, operated at reduced levels for a few hours, or scheduled to a different time without creating major business disruptions will help make a difference. Simply turning off unnecessary lights, air compressors, computers or other electrically-powered equipment, and setting air conditioner thermostats to 78 degrees from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday will help. Collectively, even small efforts can make an impact.

Voluntary electric conservation updates will be shared through social media and Alert 86 during peak demand periods. Be sure to select public works notifications or power outage notifications when using Alert 86.

Any assistance customers are willing and able to safely provide is much appreciated. By working together, each of us can save money on our electric bills.