The great commercial electricity debate continues in Texas. Last Thursday, regulators and energy generators met to discuss the issue of electric reliability in the Lone Star State. Of particular concern are the upcoming summer months. While last summer was relatively mild, a heat wave like the one we experienced in 2011 would almost certainly mean rolling blackouts for residential and business electricity customers in Texas, and no one wants that.

As reported by the Dallas Morning News, “All [participants] agreed that prices were key, but they took different sides on whether that should come from a premium on electricity bills for spare capacity or from conservation tied to higher prices during peak usage.” For you, the commercial electricity consumer, there’s only one way to read that: higher prices appear to be inevitable.

In many ways, this is the same song, new verse. We’ve known for some time now that Texas desperately needs to increase its generation capacity. The increase in the cap of the wholesale electricity price last August (from 3,000 per megawatt hour to $4,500 per megawatt hour) was meant to entice generators to build new plants in Texas. The hope is that additional generation will enable Texans to avoid outages due to a shortfall. There is a great deal of debate about whether or not this strategy will prove effective.

However, there is something you can do in the meantime to help out: conserve power. Putting good conservation practices into place now will allow your organization to transition smoothly into summer. And, if the decision is made to increase prices during peak demand times, you’ll be less impacted by those changes.

Here are three workplace-specific conservation tips you can put into practice right now:

1. When not in use, turn it off. This applies to everything: TVs, computers, monitors, radios and lights. While some electronics (like computers) may have a built in “sleep” function, it’s still best to power-down when you’re not going to be using it for a while.
2. As the temperature rises, close all window blinds. This minimizes the amount of heat entering the workplace, offsetting how much the AC needs to run. (And, of course, the opposite applies on cold days. Open the blinds to allow in more heat and give your heater a break.)
3. Use LED light bulbs. LED bulbs are considerably more energy efficient. If you don’t want to throw out working bulbs, simply stock up on LED bulbs and replace traditional bulbs with LEDs as they burn out.

And there’s one more thing you can do to keep your commercial electricity costs down: call Live Energy. The professionals on our staff can help you compare electricity rates and electricity providers, helping you track down the absolute best business electricity rate for your organization. Given the possibility that rates will be going up in the near future, now is an excellent time to call. Even if you’re currently under contract, we may be able to help you secure a low rate that will protect you from increases in the coming years.

Do your part to keep your costs down. Conserve power and partner with the experts. Call Live Energy today at 888-341-9155. Over the last decade, we’ve helped hundreds of business owners just like you save money on their commercial electricity bill. Give us the opportunity to help you save, too.