Opower

Do you know what Opower is? Yea. I didn't either.

Every other month for the past 18 months or so, we get this letter from American Electric Power telling us how we're using too much electricity. The first one I mostly ignored. The second one, however, I had to see what it was. So I called AEP to inquire why we were getting these mailings. That was a funny 20-minute conversation that ended with me saying: "this is the only company I know of that doesn't want to sell it's product." The only thing I knew when I hung up was that AEP didn't want us to actually use any electricity.

I still don't have the answer to that mystery but after doing a little bit of digging, I found out why the conversation I had with the lady who works for AEP was so funny. She didn't have a clue what I was talking about. She knew the letters were sent and a basic overview of what they were, but she couldn't answer the questions that came from my paranoid persona such as, What does AEP care how much electricity we use if we pay our bill every month? Are they trying to say that if we don't slow our usage as a collective, there's going to be blackouts? She babbled something about our carbon footprint and I told her I preferred to employ coalminers. I don't think she got the reference.

AEP doesn't generate the letters. The letters are generated by Opower. I don't know who actually mails them and I don't think it really matters, but the graphs and charts are made by a relatively new company - Opower.

So, what is Opower? Basically, Opower is an international computer programing company. They design and run the software that gathers data from a utility company, evaluates customer usage, and generates reports which are sent to 'encourage' consumers to use less energy by shaming them into thinking their neighbors are more energy efficient than they are. They are also looking to convince utility companies to develop websites that encourage their customers to interact with energy management tools. I didn't look but I bet there's an app for that.

I don't know about you, but this garbage sends shivers down my spine. It doesn't stop with an every other month mailing. They worship smart meters of course and the more of those there are, the better they can manipulate the data.

They also want to convince the utility companies to text you part way through your billing cycle if you are on track to use more energy than normal. I suppose the reverse might also apply. You get a smiley face text when you come in under your monthly allotment. Yes. A smiley face.

The logo for this company is a smiley face. And the one on their website winks at you when you hover over it. Creepy.

This whole company seems rather juvenile. I don't know. They really only manage to piss me off to the nth degree. They put a smiley face on your evaluation for cryin' out loud. Anyway, as you peruse their website and you get to the careers page, you'll see all the perks. And there are a ton. Great! It's a private company. Coffee bar, kitchen, free lunch, farm-fresh milk, ping pong, scooters, among other things. I wonder when nap time is? And can't forget the annual mustache contest called Viva Cinco de Moustache. Yea, it's in May. I'm not sure exactly how many of their employees might be old enough to actually grow a mustache or if they can paste one on.... Of course, they might eat the paste.

Find the "Meet the Team" link at the bottom and you'll find a bunch of black and white's of the employees. Hover. It's cute. If you're running a daycare center. Maybe it's me.

Go to the Ometer link. This is where they make their claims about the amount of energy being saved because of their program. (Be sure to click on the arrows) Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't.

We've taken more than 90,000 homes "off the grid" so far.

We've effectively added more than 6,000 acres of rainforest (which could sequester as much CO₂ as we've abated)

We've created 790 jobs (not counting the 230 people working at Opower)

You could drive a Chevy Volt around the world more than 160,000 times on our current energy savings

Their argument is that by sending the consumer this information, the consumer then takes steps to reduce their energy consumption because their neighbor is using less and we have to keep up with the Jones' after all.

Sure. In our household, we are using less electricity. But it has nothing to do with getting those stupid letters. They of course are going to take credit for it.

Let's start by examining the latest letter we received.

On the back are energy saving tips. I so love these. This months' tips include:

Hang laundry to dry. Did you know that reduces wear and tear on clothes? That's what they said. I happen to know for a fact that is false. If you have ever been poor enough or old enough to hang laundry on a clothes line in the back yard, you know that the sun deteriorates fibers much quicker than any clothes dryer. Nevermind the fact that it is quite labor intensive.

Use fans instead of AC. Do you know how much electricity fans use? And you're gonna need more than one.

Use and switch off power strips. Plug all the devices around your tv into a power strip, then switch the strip off when you're not watching tv. I pay extra for the dvr thing. If there's no power to it, it doesn't record anything. I watch nothing live. Even the news gets recorded. That way I can skip through commercials. Our dvr is either recording or playing back more than it isn't.

On the front, our graphs show that we are not keeping up with the Jones' very well. We're doing better than "similar homes" but this 2-months we used 70% more than "Efficient Similar Homes". Let's define those. Efficient Similar Homes are the most efficient 20% of similar homes. Similar Homes are approximately 100 occupied apartments or condos that have electric heat and are either in the same building or nearby (avg 5.4 miles away).

Since only a few will recognize just how funny this is, I'll explain. We live in the biggest freakin' condo. Most people call it a house. Just the two of us live here at this address. There are no other apartments. The other buildings are called barns. There are quite a few residents but they all have four legs. Also, I know that there is not a single apartment building or condo within 5.4 miles of us. So our consumption on a farm is being compared to the consumption of those who live in apartments and condos. Sounds like maybe these guys went to Harvard or something.

I assume AEP is paying Opower. But at least some of the reports that Opower is generating is extremely inaccurate. Does AEP care that the reports are b.s.? Usually, private companies are very diligent with accuracy doing that which they were hired to do. At least that was always the goal of any business I've been involved in. Unless they're doing government work. We'll have to have a look at that.

Back to why we are using less electricity. Electric rates have been increasing by double digits each year over the last few years. This past January, they were due to spike and they did by 45% or more in some cases. Last summer, we decided to go back to burning wood. Quite a few of our friends made the same decision. So the real result? Electricity consumption went down and wood consumption went up. Trees were cut down, sawed up, and tossed in wood burners where they made smoke. Probably a lot more smoke collectively than the electricity generating plants that use coal but hey, we used less electricity. Met the goal. That's what matters and we solved the problem they're claiming we have. Didn't we?

To Frack or Not To Frack

When I was reading the paper today, I got an idea about how to solve the fuss between the fracking camp and the no-fracking camp, the solar people and the drill, baby, drill people.

There was an article about how the City of Athens is thinking about passing legislation against hydraulic fracturing. It seems they want to be like Pittsburgh, which I think is stupid. It's stupid that Athens wants to be like Pittsburgh and it's stupid that Pittsburgh passed legislation that there will be no fracking in the city. I could be wrong but I think there has to be wells drilled for oil and gas before any of that fracking can take place. The last time I was in Pittsburgh, Point State Park was about the only place where there was room for a well and even I would be against that.

So here's my idea. Those of us who want to use coal to feed our power plants will get our electric from those plants, and those who want to use solar can go ahead and get their power from the solar fed power plants. Sign up for whichever you prefer and the electric company will bill you accordingly. Then, the electric company can determine how many of each kind of plant they need to supply the respective demands. That way, those of us who like to employ coalminers can pay $.04/kwh and the others can pay $25/kwh. No government subsidies, pay for what you use from the source you use it and everybody is happy.

As for the oil and gas, if you don't want fracking, fine by me. Just don't use oil and gas and you're good to go. Since I'm a drill, baby, drill sort, I'll have oil and gas options available for me to use.

Before you say my drilling will infringe on your access to 'clean' water that you claim fracking threatens - which it doesn't. Have you seen how deep they go? - you stay in town where there are no drilling rigs and I'll live out here amongst them. You're gonna want to stay close to town anyway since your electric car, powered with solar generated electricity, doesn't actually go very far between charges. Now, when it's time to replace that battery in a few years and it costs you a couple of grand and you need to dispose of the old battery, well, you figure it out.

And while we're on the subject of cars, you're going to have to make them out of something besides the plastic that is currently used. Plastic is made using oil. Maybe you could make them out of hemp. And bikes? Do you have any idea how much electric, oil, and coal the steel mills use to process metals?

Now, something else the EPA lovers might want to keep in mind about solar power. It doesn't always work. If the sun isn't shinning, you're running on battery. These last couple of weeks have been pretty cloudy here in Ohio and I imagine trying to keep up with demand during times like this will be kind of tough for the solar power plants. Winters get cold and summers get hot. And when the snow is flying and the sun hasn't been seen for awhile, you might want to make sure you have thermal underwear. Maybe you'll eventually be able to develop dependable batteries that last longer than the ones available now. I know my cell battery and computer battery are forever needing charged. They're power hogs. But then again, your curly fry lights use very little power so you should be able to see ok for the first few hours.

I'm sure there are some details that need to be worked out yet but that's the gist of it.

Hands Off Our Energy

Robert Murray, founder and CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, along with Jerry James of Artex Oil Company and Sam Randazzo of McNees. Wallace and Nurick, LLC, made up the panel at last evenings townhall meeting, “Hands Off Our Energy” in Marietta.

Basically, Mr. Murray and Mr. James were letting attendees know how some of the regulations set by the government were impacting their industries. We don't always realize that what looks like a good idea on paper, is often a bad idea in practice. Both industries spend a lot of their time and resources navigating the red tape system so they can open new mines and drill new wells. These companies provide jobs, and a lot of them. They are capable of producing cheap, domestic energy in it's various forms and can continue to do so long into the future if we can keep the government out of their businesses and let them do what they know how to do.

I like cheap energy. It allows me a pretty nice standard of living.

But alas, American Electric Power has requested PUCO approve their plan to increase electric rates. Some more. AEP has been increasing rates by six to eight percent per year for the last several years. Their argument, in part, is so they have the ability to cover the costs of building and operating a solar facility in Noble County. While solar sounds nice to greenies, those of us who live in the real world know that solar doesn't work very well here in Ohio. Electricity generated by coal is the cheapest way to go. Period. Generating electricity by solar or wind is three to four times costlier plus you have to figure in the cost of the government subsides that is paid for by taxpayers.

According to my last electric bill, we pay 13 cents per kwh. If we have to use electricity generated by one of the alternative sources mandated by the government, we'll have to pay between 39 and 52 cents per kwh. So, I take what money I have left over and go buy something. Since the electricity rate has increased, that business I want to purchase something from has increased costs of doing business and has to raise their prices to pay their bills. They in turn have to buy from their suppliers who also have increased costs and on and on and on. So, that rate increase has a rippling effect. Add in the increased taxes that all of us have to pay to subsidize the worthless sources of energy...

The bottom line is, the government (state and federal are guilty here), has decided that we need to utilize clean energy more and more until we get to 25% by 2025. Economically speaking, this is stupid.

The standard of living to which we have become accustomed has a lot to do with cheap energy. Increasing energy costs will lower our standard of living. If energy prices continue on the trajectory that they are currently on, or increase in velocity, we all will start looking for ways to cut back on our consumption out of necessity. Unlike the federal government, most households have to live within a budget. Now our standard of living starts to drop and another ripple...