If weather forecasts hold true, mid-January could bring prolonged, sub-freezing temperatures to Alabama. That could force heating units in homes and businesses to work longer and harder than normal, leading to some sticker shock when the power bill comes due.
Alabama Power says it takes more electricity to heat a home than to cool it.
Such awareness can help in preparation for the cold blast that may be coming. There are also tools available to help monitor and control your energy usage. Those include:
- My Power Usage lets customers view and manage their daily energy usage, track and compare energy usage over time and set alerts when dollar amounts are reached. Customers can enroll for free by signing into their account at AlabamaPower.com/MyPowerUsage or by downloading the Alabama Power mobile app.
- The Alabama Power mobile app is available for download in either the App Store on iPhone or Google Play for Android devices. With the mobile app, customers can manage their accounts on-the-go and set alerts, monitor their energy usage and access their accounts. Learn more at AlabamaPower.com/MobileApp.
- Home Energy Checkup – Alabama Power offers a free online energy checkup for residential customers. Through this checkup that takes only around five minutes to complete, customers answer a series of questions tailored to their home that will help them identify how they use energy in their home and provide suggestions on how to reduce energy use and save money. Visit Alabama Power.com/EnergyCheckup to get started.
In addition, Alabama Power offers billing and payment options to help customers establish more predictable power bills and even out the seasonal highs and lows of powering their homes. Customers should explore these options now so they can see the positive impacts on their bills when the cold weather hits.
- Budget Billing is a free service that lets customers pay an averaged bill each month, based on annual use. Budget Billing can help stabilize seasonal variations in energy bills. Eligibility requirements apply. Learn more at AlabamaPower.com/BudgetBilling.
- FlatBill is an optional residential rate plan that offers a contracted fixed bill amount for a 12-month period based on a customer’s previous year’s history at their current location. Overall, the customer gets a simple, predictable monthly bill with no surprises for a full year. The customer must be at their current residence and in good financial standing with Alabama Power over the previous 12 months to be eligible for this billing option. For more information on FlatBill, customers can visit AlabamaPower.com/FlatBill.
- Residential Pricing and Rate Plans – Through Alabama Power’s Residential Pricing and Rate Plans, customers may be able to save money on their power bill based on how and when they use electricity. Customers can visit AlabamaPower.com/Rates to learn about our rate plans to decide which one is right for their household.
- Electronic Home Energy Reports (eHERS) – This free report is generated each month to compare a customer’s home energy usage over time, provide energy insights based on usage and characteristics and share tips and recommendations designed to help customers reduce energy use. After initial sign up, it will take approximately two months for a customer’s monthly report to start generating, which are delivered to customers via email. Customers need only to provide their house or P.O. box number, ZIP code and last name to sign up at AlabamaPowerPrograms.com. A customer must be on the Family Dwelling residential rate plan with three months of load data to be eligible for eHERs.
Alabama Power customers can get additional information on how to save energy and money this winter and during extremely cold weather, including tips and other helpful resources, by visiting the Alabama Power website at AlabamaPower.com/Winterize and AlabamaPower.com/WinterBill.
Courtesy of Alabama News Center