Knoxville, TN – Mother Nature appears ready to remind the Tennessee Valley that it is still winter this week as multiple masses of cold air are forecast to blanket the area from Tuesday night through Friday.
With the drop in temperatures comes an increase in power use and, ultimately, utility bills, but consumers can limit those increases by taking a few simple steps.
“Small changes can make a big difference, such as lowering your home thermostat from 68 to 67 degrees,” said Jacinda Woodward, senior vice president of Transmission and Power Supply for the Tennessee Valley Authority. “One degree of temperature really won’t affect the comfort of your home, but that small reduction can mean a savings of 3 percent on your power bill.”
Other quick, common sense tips that consumers can take to lower their electric bill can be found on TVA’s EnergyRight Solutions website and include:
- Keeping curtains open on clear days on the south side of the house, and closed on the north side, to allow the sun to help warm your home,
- Closing fireplace dampers when not in use to prevent warm air from escaping out of your chimney
- Using slippers or area rugs to keep your feet warm if you have hardwood or tile floors rather than turning up your heating system.
Looking ahead to the warmer days to come, visitors to the EnergyRight website can also discover the new eScore program, a partnership between TVA and your local power provider to combine expert advice with rebates on installed improvements and provide an impactful way to reduce utility bills in every season.
All of TVA’s available generating resources will be used to meet the higher demands expected over the weekend and, as a precaution, TVA has curtailed any non-critical maintenance activities on generating equipment and will be lowering the thermostat in its own facilities over the weekend.
About the Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power distributors serving 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity.
In addition to operating and investing its revenues in its electric system, TVA provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation.
