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With the price of oil hitting new all-time highs on a nearly daily basis, naturally the news has focused on our need to get off our oil dependence and seek alternative fuels. Every means of alternative, environmentally friendlier energy generation is back on the table: from wind and solar, to geothermal and hydroelectric. Cars are coming off production lines that go further on each gallon of gasoline than ever before and the electric and fuel-cell cars are on the horizon. Meanwhile the debate rages on about whether the United States should join the rest of the world as all fossil fuels are sought out in progressively more remote locations around the globe in an attempt to fill the demand gap until the alternative energy sources can fully come online and mass distributed.

It would seem that the focus of energy efficiency in the national news has been on the sources of energy and not the sinks–the end users. Electric companies, though, are not forgetting about their customer base. Utilities across the country are asking for customers to voluntarily yield certain controls to the power companies via “smart meters” and other control devices. With the promise of a lower electric bill, customers give the power company the ability to turn off certain appliances, control their thermostat, and shut down their computer. Additionally, these “smart meters” are also able to measure the little-known aspect of energy supply called the “power factor,” and allows the utility to charge more when it is not within acceptable parameters.

Aside from reducing their standard of living and being miserly with their light and appliance usage, alternatives for the common citizen to reduce energy consumption are in home improvements:

• Placing solar panels on your roof may look unsightly to some; however, you may be selling some electricity back to the power company while you are at work. Tax advantages and credits may be available as an incentive though sometimes the math can be misleading. Often, calculations include the tax deductions you can take by paying for the solar panels using a home equity loan, causing you to pay more in interest and getting some back as a tax deduction. Funny may leads to a longer period of time to wait before the initial investment is returned as savings.
• For those with available land, a windmill is an option provided the land lies beneath some strong trade winds. The benefits and drawbacks of wind energy are similar to those of solar energy: the financials only work in certain circumstances and the effectiveness is determined by the weather.
• Updating the lighting around the home to compact fluorescent lights will save a considerable amount of energy and money. The cost to make the switch is relatively low, compared to other energy saving opportunities. The caution that is typically raised regarding these lights is that they contain mercury, a dangerous material should the light ever break, and there are questions related to the use of florescent lights and possible links to health issues such as autism. With careful handling and grown children, florescent lights remain an excellent means to energy reduction.
• Improving the insulation in the attic can result in savings in your home heating and cooling efforts. The insulation in older houses especially should be inspected for effectiveness. Often, an older home will benefit greatly from the advances in insulation technology.
• Unlike the “smart meters” that the electric companies are installing, a home energy controller has the potential to significantly reduce the draw of power to a home by optimizing the power factor. In so doing, reductions of 8-15% are common with far better, more atypical, results reported. With the costs of such devices rarely exceeding a few hundred dollars, it requires no “government math” to show affordability and the savings from using such a device generally pays for itself in a few years, less if the “smart meter” is already assessing a surcharge due to a low power factor.

Regardless of the means with which the common citizen will reduce their energy usage or the reasons for which they do so, the cost of energy is unlikely to lessen in the near future. Until the “magic bullet” is found–meaning, until a clean, limitless, portable source of energy is discovered, those who are able will make efforts to curb their energy consumption on a voluntary basis whenever possible. The question is: will you act now or when action becomes compulsory?