Wall Street Journal Offers Energy Options

While there are many expensive technological fixes to choose from when going green, a special Energy section in the February 9th Wall Street Journal offers a number of lower cost options for retrofitting your home with their payback times. Another article looks at finding ways to get utilities to promote energy efficiency. According to author, Rebecca Smith, "It isn't easy to get utilities to promote energy efficiency, and for good reason: When people use less electricity, utilities usually lose revenue." Governor Granholm spoke of this paradox in her State of the State Address last week. One solution being looked at is called decoupling. According to Smith's article, "States let the utilities make up some of the lost revenue if consumers use less power. For instance, states might let utilities raise rates if their revenue falls below a certain point, or charge a flat monthly fee to cover some of their costs." Perhaps some possibilities worth considering as climate change continues to come to a head. Check out the links for more information.