Reprinted by
permission. Distributed by Tribune Media Services.
By Della De Lafuente and Robert Benincasa
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON--Compared
with the November 1965 night when a blackout hit much of the northeastern
United States, today's American household uses twice as much electricity.
The
average household uses about 10,000-kilowatt hours of electricity annually,
spending as much as $1,000, or about 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, per year.
In
1965, homes had fewer electric appliances and gadgets, according to Lee
Schipper, co-director of Embarq transportation and environment center at the
World Resources Institute. At the same time, those devices were power guzzlers
compared with today's.
"I
can't think of anything in the house that hasn't become significantly more
efficient," he said.
That's
one reason why the growth in home electricity use is much slower paced than in
the 1960s.
However,
Alan Meier, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in
northern California who studies energy efficiency, says, "We've changed
the way we use electricity in our homes, often bypassing our energy-efficient
stoves with our less efficient microwaves, which we use more frequently."
That
vintage Frigidaire may give a kitchen a retro look, but keeping food cool in an
appliance older than Aunt Edna puts a chill in the monthly electric bill, as
homeowners in Rochester, N.Y., discovered a few years ago.
As
part of a study on energy consumption, refrigerators in the upstate New York
city were replaced with energy-efficient models, cutting energy use in half and
reducing homeowners' electric bills by 15 percent.
Meier
notes other changes in consumers' energy use that keep power humming:
•
The addition of a variety of kitchen appliances, which don't expend much energy
alone but together eat up more power.
•
More televisions throughout the house.
•
The return of the waterbed, which often uses more electricity than some older
refrigerators.
•
Modems on DSL lines left on while not in use.
•
Homes with older-model air conditioners. (A 2003 central air system needs about
one-third less electricity to operate than one installed in 1966. And the
Senate killed a provision in last year's energy bill that would have required
manufacturers to increase air conditioner efficiency 30 percent more.)
At
least one consumer group says homes' growing demands for energy are straining
an overburdened system, one reason politicians urged customers to conserve as
power returned to blackout areas in the past few days.
"In
the last decade, there's been an explosion of electronics and microprocessors
that are used in the home," said Peggy Welsh, senior vice president of the
Consumer Energy Council of America. The public policy researchers look at
issues on behalf of residential energy users. "Almost everyone owns a
computer and a cell phone that they plug in to recharge at night. At the same
time, the system hasn't been updated to handle the demand."
The
think tank released a report this year identifying weaknesses in the power
grid. The report, "Positioning the Consumer for the Future: A Roadmap to
an Optimal Electrical Power System," predicted that blackouts would occur
unless the infrastructure were improved.
Rather
than advocate for expansion of transmission lines, the researchers support
improving the present system.
"It
can be done through efficiency, conservation and the deployment of new
technology," Welsh said.