Help California Get Through the Energy Crisis

Andrea Tuttle, CDF Director

California continues to experience electrical shortages and rolling blackouts throughout the State. These may affect us both on the job and at home. To reduce the risk of power outages, the most important thing we can do in the short term is reduce our demand for electricity and use energy more efficiently.

The Governor and California Legislature are working with utility companies, generators and consumer groups to fashion long-term solutions for reliable and affordable electricity. The State has already implemented a plan to reduce consumption by at least 8% across the board.

We have an important role to play right now—Flex our power to conserve!

Below you will find simple things that we can do to help reduce energy consumption. Many of you have already taken some of these steps, but I encourage each of you to check again. These are minimal efforts that we can all implement right now to reduce demand, cut energy costs, and serve as an example to others in our communities.

While at Home:

• Turn thermostats down to 68° or below. Reduce settings to 55° before going to sleep or when away for the day. (For each 1 degree, you’ll save up to 5% on your heating costs.)
• Turn off non-essential lights and appliances.
• Avoid running large appliances such as washers, dryers, and electric ovens during peak demand hours from 5:00am to 9:00am and 4:00pm to 7:00pm
• Close shades and blinds at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows.
• Buy Energy Star appliances, products and lights.

While at Work:

• Turn thermostats down to 68° or below. Reduce settings to 55° at the end of the day. (For each 1 degree, you’ll save up to 5% on your heating costs.)
• Turn off all unnecessary lights, especially in unused offices and conference rooms and turn down remaining lighting levels where possible.
• Set computers, monitors, printers, copiers and other business equipment to their energy saving feature, and turn them off at the end of the day.
• Minimize energy usage during peak demand hours from 5:00am to 9:00am and 4:00pm to 7:00pm
• Buy Energy Star appliances, products, and lights.

Tips for Your Kids:

• Choose an energy monitor for your classroom every week who will make sure that energy is being used properly.
• Start an “Energy Patrol” at school and at home. Check out the California Energy Commission’s website—www.energy.ca.gov/education for more ideas
• At home, hold a ribbon up to the edges of windows and doors. If it blows, you’ve found a leak. Tell your parents.
• When you leave the room, turn off the light.

I know you will all do your best to conserve energy, both at work and when at home. Working together we can get through this energy crises.

Thanks for your help,

Andrea E. Tuttle, Director