Energy Prices and Sustainability

If you’ve decided to invest in a solar energy system for your home to take advantage of federal tax credits, selecting a company can be a daunting task.

In a relatively young industry, there are an increasing number of companies producing solar panels and providing installation services. In a new study, ConsumerAffairs has researched 24 companies and selected six as the best.

Those six companies are:

SunPower

Blue Raven Solar

Freedom Sun Power

Sunlux

Sunrun

Shop Solar

What sets these companies apart? Shop Solar has one of the highest ratings for customer service. Sunrun earned points for its leasing program. Sunlux has several manufacturing partners. Freedom Solar Power offers a variety of options, including battery storage and ground-mounted systems. 

Blue Raven Solar got praise from customers for its installation process. SunPower has one of the highest satisfaction rates for both customer service and installation. 

Federal tax credit

The U.S. government allows a hefty tax credit for consumers who install solar energy systems at their homes.  In August 2022, Congress passed an extension of the credit, raising it to 30% of costs for the installation of systems purchased and installed between 2022-2032.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, you might be eligible for this tax credit if you meet the following criteria:

• Your solar PV system was installed between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2034.

• The solar PV system is located at a residence of yours in the United States.

• You own the solar PV system (i.e., you purchased it with cash or through financing but you are neither leasing the system nor nor paying a solar company to purchase the electricity generated by the system).

• Or, you purchased an interest in an off-site community solar project, if the electricity generated is credited against, and does not exceed, your home’s electricity consumption. Notes: the IRS issued a statement (see link above) allowing a particular taxpayer to claim a tax credit for purchasing an interest in an off-site community solar project. However, this document, known as a private letter ruling or PLR, may not be relied on as precedent by other taxpayers. Also, you would not qualify if you only purchase the electricity from a community solar project.

• The solar PV system is new or being used for the first time. The credit can only be claimed on the “original installation” of the solar equipment.

The next time your utility bill comes in the mail, don’t lose your wheels. According to the latest data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average residential U.S. electricity price increased by 7.8% compared with 202 – or about 16.14 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

As a result of record-breaking temperatures across the country and skyrocketing utility bills, many people are tempted to blame their air conditioners, but another utility hog in the house needs to share that blame – your laundry washer and dryer.

Cyndi Bray, household energy savings expert and inventor of Wad-Free, tells ConsumerAffairs that using laundry machines correctly can unlock new ways to save on monthly expenses.

Washers and dryers aren't the energy guzzlers that water heaters and air conditioners are, but they can account for close to 6% of people's utility bills. According to Energy Star, the average American family spends $2,060 per year for utilities, so playing out that 6% factor, that’s about $120 back in your pocket. 

“It’s one of life’s unending tasks: no matter how diligent you are about doing laundry, it will never end,” Bray told ConsumerAffairs. “With a few tweaks to your laundry routine, you can drastically cut your energy consumption, and save time and money in the process.”

Bray’s utility-saving tips

We probably don’t even think about how a kilowatt hour breaks down, but Bray says that 90% of the energy consumed in the clothes washer goes toward heating the water and if you wash in cold water instead, you can save up to 50 cents per load in energy costs.

You may be saying, “But hot water gets out stains better!” Bray suggests you should rethink that position, however.

“Don’t fear clothes and sheets not coming out clean. Most of today’s laundry detergents are formulated to clean best in cold water, and most of the fabric care tags of your clothes and sheets call for cold water anyway,” Bray said.

Another washing machine insider tip is to only run full loads or schedule your laundry routine during non-peak hours. When are those? According to PowerWizard, the cheapest time of day to use electricity is late nights and early mornings – the times of day when most folks are in their beds and not hogging electricity watching TV or washing dishes.

When it comes to the clothes dryer, Bray says that’s somewhat of an uphill battle because the dryer is often the least efficient appliance in the household and the average dryer can use more energy than the refrigerator, clothes washer, and dishwasher combined! 

“An easy way to save energy is to select a low heat setting. Even if you have to run the dryer for a longer period of time, consumers save a lot of energy over running the dryer on high. The bonus is your clothes and sheets will last longer, too,” Bray advises, adding that if you dry loads consecutively, the heat of the dryer is used one load after another and doesn’t have to do a complete reset.

We’re a little late to the party, but the U.S. has finally gotten around to banning the incandescent light bulb and putting an end to Thomas Edison turning over in his coffin for the umpteenth time.

Over the course of the last 18 years, countries around the world have enacted legislation to phase out incandescent light bulbs in favor of more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient alternatives such as LED lights, which use 75% less energy and are said to last up to 25 times longer than incandescents.

It’s not like the Department of Energy (DOE) didn’t try to save the light bulb. It did all it could to find a way to increase the efficiency of incandescent lamps, but it found that doing so could cost consumers more than 300% compared to the price of today’s alternative lights. 

Yes, LED light bulbs cost more – as much as 3x the price of an incandescent – however, LED light bulbs last longer and consume less energy which could save consumers who use them an estimated $100 per year. As an example, a string of LED bulbs around the Christmas tree could still be in use 40 holiday seasons from now.

By the way, halogen bulbs and compact fluorescent lights have also been banned.

The lightbulb isn’t the only thing that’s getting improved

The Energy Department is also establishing new efficiency standards for three other consumer goods: water heaters, pool pump motors, and boilers, which it claims will result in significant energy efficiency gains and cost savings. DOE expects that when the new performance standard for the pool pump motors and boilers begins in 2026, it will save American consumers approximately $926 million per year on their utility bills. 

“Today’s announcement reinforces President Biden’s efforts to update and strengthen outdated energy efficiency standards that cut costs for working families and businesses while slashing greenhouse gas emissions,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. 

“This Administration remains laser-focused on promoting innovation that saves Americans money, and we’ll continue to work with our industry partners to improve consumers’ options and increase the reliability and performance of household appliances and critical commercial and industrial products.” 

The DOE’s got one more advancement, too. It recently launched the Energy Savings Hub—an online one-stop shop for consumers to access savings tools President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is promoting to significantly cut utility bills.

And it’s not just for homeowners, either. The new guide also offers tips to renters on how they can save money within their own apartments. For information on upgrading to a cleaner and more environmentally friendly system – and save some money – visit www.Energy.gov/Save. 

Not long ago the headlines were filled with dire warnings about skyrocketing home heating bills this winter. It could still happen, but industry experts say a sudden and unexpected drop in natural gas prices could help consumers cope.

The market price of natural gas is now down 40% from the record highs it hit in August, which set off alarm bells. High gas prices, brought on by shortages in Europe and caused by the Russian-Ukraine war, raised the possibility that millions of Americans, already struggling with inflation, might be faced with difficult choices this winter.

Then, it got warmer – especially in Europe, which needed less gas from the U.S. Here at home, mild weather also prevailed in much of the country during October. 

At the same time, producers have racked up record production levels. The Wall Street Journal reports gas storage facilities are filled to the brim.

Of course, we’re still in the fall months. Winter still lies ahead but industry analysts have revised their forecasts, saying natural gas prices in 2023 might even be lower than their 2022 average.

Nearly half of U.S. homes heat with gas

Nearly half of U.S. homes are heated with natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). But even consumers heating with electricity could catch a break since many electric power plants are fueled by natural gas.

Besides a surge in domestic production, other factors may be weighing down natural gas prices as we head into the home heating season. Economic concerns, including the possibility of a global recession next year, have tempered demand and prices.

Whether the natural gas price break extends into the depths of winter will likely depend on the weather. The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which has been remarkably prescient over the years, advises Americans to bundle up.

“We believe that most of the U.S. will be colder than normal this winter, although summer will be mostly warmer than usual,” the authors write. In addition to a neutral to perhaps weak El Niño, important weather influences will include a continued warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), a neutral to positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and a negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Oscillations are linked ocean-atmosphere patterns that can have long-term effects on the weather.”

But at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), forecasters are expecting the U.S. will generally have a mild winter. The agency said it expects warmer-than-average temperatures for the Southwest and along the Gulf Coast and eastern seaboard.