Nevada Power is providing an example of how conservation can play a greater role as the nation grapples with its energy policy.
The company’s voluntary program of installing high-tech thermostats in homes and businesses is saving power without requiring much sacrifice from its participating customers.
Using remote access, the company can adjust the thermostats by 4 degrees during hours of peak electricity demand. If a customer has set his thermostat at 75 on a hot day, for example, Nevada Power can raise it to 79 for a few hours — all at once or one degree at a time.
Customers can override Nevada Power’s adjustment and give up the small rebate they would have received for accepting it.
As reported Tuesday by Las Vegas Sun reporter Phoebe Sweet, the program, first begun in 2001 and upgraded last year, has 36,000 participants. Nevada Power is encouraging more participation, but even now the program, known as Cool Share, cuts 65 megawatts from periods of peak demand.
Power is most expensive during periods of high demand. The company also saves on infrastructure costs. For customers, less power means lower monthly bills. Also, every time they permit adjustments they receive a small rebate, which is paid in total every October.
Not long ago environmentalists were almost alone in calling for large-scale conservation, because energy providers believed consumers would likely see the concept as a lowering of their standard of living.
Vice President Dick Cheney famously evoked this view seven years ago in a speech promoting more nuclear power and increased use of fossil fuels. “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis all by itself for sound, comprehensive energy policy,” he said.
Of course, no one has ever said that conservation alone would solve our energy issues. But thoughtful programs such as Cool Share show that conservation can play a major role in the nation’s power strategy. We hope more Nevada Power customers sign up for those energy-saving thermostats.
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