Utilities call on consumers to save energy

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- With the hot summer approaching and ever more air conditioners and other consumer electronic devices straining the nation's already burdened power system, utilities are scrambling to get customers to use less.

"Eighty one percent of customers think they are in on energy efficiency," Bill Brier, head of policy and public affairs at the industry association Edison Electric Institute, said at a recent press event. "But lighting is only 5 percent of the load."

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Brier said devices that raise or lower heat in the home - such as air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators and dryers - gobble up the most power. He said an air conditioner, for instance, can account for up to two thirds of an electric bill.

Demand for electricity is also soaring and is now at an all-time high. All the new consumer electronics - laptops, iPods, cell phones, flat screen TVs - combined with bigger homes are expected to cause a 40 percent jump in U.S. electricity demand by 2030.

Industry can do lots of things to help meet that demand, such as build more power plants and more efficient appliances, panelists at the event said.

But consumers are being asked to chip in too.

"We're going to have to turn to the demand side," said Brier. "Clearly, that's the only way we we can handle that load."

Officials were excited by the possibilities offered by smart meters - utility meters that allow for minute-by-minute pricing and can be instructed to turn off certain appliances when the customer feels electricity is too expensive.

"You don't have to do anything, you can use technology to capture that efficiency," said Diane Munns, director of Retail Energy Services at EEI.

But smart meters are in the early phases of deployment, and there are still plenty of things the industry suggests customers can do to ease the burden on the electric grid while saving money at the same time.

EEI, via their Get Energy Active Web site, offered a host of tips on how to save energy, including:

-Turn the thermostat down a bit in the winter, up a bit in the summer. Each degree over 68 can add 2 to 3 percent to the energy it takes to heat a house.

- Close heating vents and radiator valves in unused rooms

- Do the laundry with cool or warm water, not hot.

- Hang your laundry outside instead of using the dryer.

- Use a microwave whenever possible, it draws half the power of a conventional oven.

-Clean or replace air conditioner filters once a month.

-Lowering the temperature on the water heater to 120 degrees from 140 degrees can save 10 percent a month on the water heating bill.

-Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, they use 75 percent less energy.