As the mercury stays high in thermometers across Springfield, the people who work at the John Twitty Energy Center are burning coal to keep up with the demand for electricity.
In summer, Springfield’s lone coal-fired power plant burns through about 6,000 tons of Wyoming coal per day to generate electricity. In the first six months of 2022, coal-fired power produced 53 percent of the power consumed in Springfield. Wind power made up 37 percent of the electricity used in the first half of the year, followed by hydroelectric and natural gas power for the remaining 10 percent.
According to Springfield City Utilities, heating and cooling systems use 44 percent of the energy an average Springfield household consumes in a year.
Each degree change in AC temperature setting may save (or add) up to 5 percent on your monthly cost
While it’s tempting to drop the air conditioner to 68 degrees when it’s 101 outside, City Utilities engineers estimate you can save anywhere from 3 percent to 5 percent on your air conditioning cost for each degree you set the thermostat above its normal setting. So, if you normally keep your house at 75 degrees in the summer, you can try to tolerate setting the thermostat to 76 degrees in the effort to save on your July electric bill.
“Making sure your HVAC system is running properly, including regularly changing the filters, is important,” City Utilities spokesperson Joel Alexander said. Smart thermostats can make a difference in your electric usage and will impact your monthly bill. Setting the thermostat to a higher temperature, we suggest 78 degrees, while you’re out and to start cooling down before you arrive home, can be beneficial. We offer a rebate on Energy Star rated Smart Thermostats, too.”
While air conditioners are demanding most of the power in Springfield during a hot July, there are about 1,800 more customers on the system today than there were in July 2021.
“I think it’s safe to say that the demand is driven by air conditioning, but you must attribute part of that to overall increased load demand due to additional residential and commercial users,” Alexander said.
City Utilities also recommends some actions you can take around the house to save on cooling costs:
- You may be losing energy when cool air leaks. Check for holes and cracks around your walls, ceilings, windows, doors, light and plumbing fixtures, light switches, and electrical outlets that can leak air into or out of your home, then close those cracks with caulk or weather stripping.
- In the summer and in the winter, clean or replace the air filters in your home or apartment two to three times. Outside, keep debris from clogging the fins and coils on your outdoor HVAC unit. You can also keep the unit cool by planting trees or shrubs near it to create shade.
- Keep indoor cooling vents clean and unobstructed. Arrange furniture to allow for air to flow freely from the vents.
- When you’re running the air conditioner, keep the drapes, curtains and shades in your house closed. This prevents warm sunlight from entering through the windows, especially on the west and south sides of a house.
- Any time of year, you can lower your electric bill by making your lights more efficient. If you aren’t in the room, turn off the lights. Replace 75-watt incandescent bulbs, which create heat, with 20-watt compact fluorescent bulbs. The 20-watt bulbs use about a quarter of the energy as the 75-watt bulbs, and have also been proven to last about 10 times longer in tests.
- Ceiling fans or portable fans typically make you feel 6-8 degrees cooler, which allows you to set your thermostat to a higher temperature and save on cooling costs.
- Do not place lamps, televisions, clothes dryers or other heat producing appliances or devices near your thermostat. The thermostat senses the heat and can cause your air conditioner to run longer and more often.
Macro level price watching
While household power customers are urged to watch their consumption in an effort to keep their bills manageable, City Utilities is closely watching its consumption and the mixture of power it buys and generates.
City Utilities Chief Financial Officer Amy Derdall broke down some power generation statistics for the Springfield Board of Public Utilities at the end of June.
“It’s especially important for our customers to be able to price our most cost-effective units, which are our steam turbines out at (John Twitty Energy Center units) 1 and 2 into the market to serve our customers, and so we certainly have been doing that and serving our customers well with the lowest cost fuel that we do have for them,” Derdall said.
As power consumption goes up, Derdall said bills will go up, which means stress, worries and complaints will also increase.
“Those bills will go up as we know that people are running their air conditioning more and using more energy,” Derdall said.
Customers who are in arrears or are having difficulty paying their utility bills are urged to contact Springfield City Utilities.
“Customers can register on My Account to track their utility usage, get useful conservation tips, and with the correct contact information we can reach out to them with important messages,” Alexander said. “It’s important that we have the correct contact information in the event we need to contact them. If customers are having difficulty with a bill, our Customer Service team is available to assist with information and payment arrangements if needed. Disconnecting service is not something any of our folks want to do and the line of communication from and with a customer is important.”
Options for billing
Customers can also consider switching to City Utilities’ Level Pay system, which makes bills more predictable by billing customers for relatively the same amount of money each month, instead of billing by seasonal usage.
Disconnecting service is a last resort option. Derdall updated the utility board on the number of customers with more than one monthly bill that is past due.
“We do have a few more customers in the over-60-day range,” Derdall said. “We typically run around 10 percent or less for customers with over a 60-day arrearage, and we are now at about 15 percent for that.”
A customer who makes arrangements to start a payment plan with City Utilities moves from “in arrears” to “current” status, Derdall said. She also recommended customers contact the utility at non-peak times.
“Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to call in to the system,” Derdall said. “You have lower wait times. And also, earlier in the mornings are the best times to reach the customer service representatives a little bit faster.”
The Missouri Division of Energy has a program that encourages Missourians to reduce energy usage by making improvements or upgrades to their homes, and provides a certification that is intended to help homeowners convey the value of the energy-efficient features of their home. The first step of the Missouri Home Energy Certification (MHEC) program is having an energy audit completed. Visit the MHEC website for more information and a list of certified home energy auditors.
