Last week the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) asked Texas residential and commercial electricity customers to conserve power between the hours of 3 pm and 7 pm. These four hours are known as “peak demand” times—the time during the day when the state’s total electricity usage spikes. If the demand for power during this time exceeds state-wide generation, ERCOT has no choice but to employ rolling blackouts in order to maintain stability of the electricity grid.

Rolling blackouts mean you have to operate without electricity for short periods of time, right in the middle of a workday, and that is not good. However, by contributing to the conservation efforts you can do your part to help us avoid rolling blackouts.

Admittedly, there is more you can do at home to conserve electricity than you can do at the office. A recent article in the Dallas Morning News included these suggestions for residential conservation:

• When away from home, set air conditioning thermostats to 85 degrees and turn all fans off before you leave. Block the sun by closing blinds or drapes on windows that will get direct sun.
• Do not use your dishwasher, laundry equipment, hair dryers, coffee makers, or other home appliances during the peak hours of 3 to 7 p.m.
• Avoid opening refrigerators or freezers more than necessary.
• Use microwaves for cooking instead of an electric range or oven.
• Set your pool pump to run in the early morning or evening instead of the afternoon.

While a couple of those (closing blinds, for example, or adjusting the thermostat if the office is not in use) are applicable for commercial electricity customers, many of the above suggests are, unfortunately, impractical for businesses. (Though we encourage you to consider implementing as many of these suggestions as you can at your home.)

Here are three suggestions you can easily make use of at the office that may help to curb your business electricity consumption:

• Turn off any electronics not currently in use, including TVs, lights, radios, computers, computer monitors and copy machines.
• Close all window blinds during the day, especially those in direct sun-light, and make an effort to minimize how often exterior doors are open.
• Replace all regular light bulbs with energy efficient LED light bulbs. These use less power and produce significantly less heat, giving your air conditioner a little less work to do.

The beautiful thing about conserving your business electricity consumption is that you win in two ways: one, you will likely see a difference in your monthly billing. After all, the less power you use, the less usage you’ll be billed for. Two, you are helping Texans all over the state ensure that there is enough power for everyone, both residential and commercial electricity customers alike.

Here at Live Energy, we encourage our clients to be strategic about how they use their energy. That includes everything from energy efficiency plans to selecting the absolute best contract, rate and term for your business. Our goal is to help you develop an energy plan in a way that saves you time and money while also fully meeting your organizations needs. We’ve helped hundreds of clients with their business electricity strategy in the last ten years, and we’d like to help you.

If you’d like to learn more about how the team of experts at Live Energy can help you select the energy contract that will fit your business best, please contact us today at (817) 810-7770.