NC commission OKs 10 percent utility cost hike

We need to stop thinking about now and start looking towards a clean future with wind-power and solar energy as our primary source of energy. That is what makes the most sense. Remeber how quickly the past 10-12 years have gone by? The change will pay for itself within those years, sometimes even shorter.

Maybe, just maybe you should have though about how much you are earning BEFORE you have children. Don't breed what you can't afford to feed.

Think about it. $85 for just using your lights only in the middle of summer. NO air conditioning. NO electric stove. NO electric Dryer. It's not cheap! If you think a $500 bill is high, come to NY in the winter. Try dishing out $1500.00 for 600 gallons of fuel oil to heat your home with knowing that it won't last all winter. Thank god this is my last winter here!

I rent a well insulated 1300 sq.ft home in NC. I haven't had heat or air conditioning for the last 4 years. Last month, without heat and very few lights on, my electric bill was $120.00. My electric, water and trash pick-up is on the same bill. I paid $15 dollars for water, $25 for trash, the rest were charges for water drainage and taxes. My bill came to $310.00. I turned the heat on to 68 for a couple of nights the month before and my bill was $460.00. This month, I've unpluged everything except the washing machine, dryer water heater and the stove. Everything else, to include the TV, I've plugged into surge protectors. I make it a rule to never have more than one thing, aside from the above, on at one time. I hang out our clothes to dry. I barely turn on a light, I use candles. This better help a bunch because this $300 plus bill is actually over $100.00 more than I can aford. I am a mother, daughter, worker and a student. If I go down, my family goes down. There is no one there for me, I am there for them. I don't think I can take my 88 year old mother with cancer and put her on the street. I have been trying to find a better job, in fact with Progress or GE, I've been studying Electrical Engineering specifically to go into Renewable Energy Research. I have to have an internet connection, if I am to finish university or find a job. I can't move, I've had to spend all of my savings. My rent is small enough at $750 for three people. But this sure feels like a rock and a hard place to me. If something doesn't change for me soon, it looks like my next move is to simply walk out of my home leaving everything there except my mom and son. Now, I know I'm crying here but man, oh man, I'm so close to going down, I can harly breath.

Turn down the thermostat or up in the summer. Seems to me former President Carter made the same recommendations. I even remember a few of his televised speeches in which he wore a sweater to bring home the point about lowering energy consumption. I'm not certain if Miss Lillian made that one for him. Also seems to me the Power Companies have a couple of money saving devices. One of them monitors your hot water heater. Cuts it off during the work week. After all, working folks are not home during the day; so why pay to have the water hot. I think the hours for it to operate are 8 to 5, Monday through Friday. Another one is a monitor on your HVAC. Cuts off the system while folks are at work. Same hours of operation. It also does not allow heat to fall below a certain temperature or coolness to rise above a certain temperature. If working folks want to significantly cut fuel costs, here are a couple of ways. They only monitor the system during working hours when everyone is away at work and school. Taking a vacation and staying home; no problem. Call the pwoer company and they will suspend its operation for the time period specified. Don't want to go that far. Then as you walk out the door to work or school, cut the thermostat to 60 during the cool months and raise it to 80 during the summer months. Set your comfort level when you return. Consider doing the same when you go on vacation or to visit Grandma during the holidays. But stop whining.

I realize they have obligations to their shareholders, but, just like the company that I work for, they can start trimming the fat, and I guarantee they have fat that can be trimmed just as my company does. It is these lean times when you start finding it and cutting it!!!!