Just signed up for Green Currents Program (renewable electricity)
 

My utility company (and my employer DTE Energy) just signed a deal with a 12 MW wind farm to buy wind generated electricity. They offered to pass the electricity on to the customer at a higher rate. I figure my bill will be 25-30 more per month, but since finding this forum, I have saved 3.5 mpg's and do most of my own work on my cars. So I save there. I also turned my hot water heat down by 5 degrees, so I may not even see it. Natural gas is killer expensive in the Detroit area.

:thumbup: :)

Vermont is fortunate in that respect. Although I don't pay an electric bill at school many residents can opt into buying only electricity that is completely generated through renewable means such as wind and the new cow manure plant that captures the methane - which is a worse global warming gas than the resulting CO2.

I was stationed in Manheim Germany 89-91. We had a manure mountain next to our base where they collected gas. And yes they used humanure too. You would almost think that our crap would be to toxic.
But talk about stink in the summer. I lived around farms the first ten years of my life, so cows, pigs and horses never bothered me. But add a shot of people poo to the mix and wow. It just wasn't funny anymore.

Congrats on going with the green power.

At my house it costs an additional $6 a month for the amount of power we use. Bill used to be about $32 or so each month, now $36/$38.

We also turned down our gas water heater and I burn a little wood in the winter in our tiny cast-iron parlor stove.
We are now down from a $65 to a $55 gas bill.

That's awesome. Its been in the single digits to mid twenties in SE lower Michigan over the last couple of weeks. Gas and electric combined for Jan-Feb was $348. About $140 of that was electricity, the rest gas. I rent my home (foreclosure victim :( ), so I can't convert the 2 gas fireplaces to wood burning, otherwise I would.

Another reason my gas bill is low, is that we are on budget billing. It's the same price all 12 months of the year (we have all gas appliances at our house).
There are several advantages of year-round billing - the main one is it makes monthly budgeting a lot easier. They do change the monthly billing amount if you make a major change in your gas use.

I wish there was an "eco" version of natural gas service, the way you can buy green electricity. (No, not planning on making my own methane...)

Seems like the easiest alternative for much of natural gas use is the little wood stove in the winter. Maybe this summer, I will start using a clothes line too.

You can use a clothes line in the winter, just do it inside. Get a drying rack, or build one out of PVC (or recycled materials). Get a fan with a 24-30 inch blade and set it on medium. Your clothes are dry in a few hours. The fan runs at 100 watts or so, the dryer motor and if electric runs as killowatt plus for 45 minutes or however long. Gas dryers use less electricity, but use gas.
To do away with that stiff feeling dry them until their slightly damp, then toss them in the regular dryer for 15-20 minutes with a dryer sheet. They will soften up and you just used less electricity and gas (if you have a gas dryer).

I found that tidbit on instructables.com

I wish I could setup a clothes line. My apartment complex specifically states that you can not have a clothes line outside of your apartment. I also can't have one inside simply do to space limitations. I usually do my laundry once per week and I accumulate 2-3 loads in that time period. In order to be able to dry my clothes on a clothes rack I would need a rack that was nearly the entire length of my living room.

The company that provides renewable electricity in Ontario (Bullfrog Power) says in its promo material that many of the customers who switch to their more expensive electrons don't end up paying more on a monthly basis because they find savings through increased efficiency & conservation.

It makes sense - the type of person who would opt for renewable power (at least the early adopter) is probably also interested in efficiency and is more aware of the impact of their behaviour on consumption.