Autumn in the North Cemetery.

Sixty miles west of Boston, Massachusetts there is the small New England town of Sturbridge. Located at the junction of I-90 (The Mass Pike), and I-84 it has become known as the "Crossroads of New England". The town was first settled over 300 years ago, and like other small New England towns it has grown just enough over the years to be in a difficult place today. How do we embrace the future without forgetting how we got to our present? How do we attract the right kind of growth, and maintain who we are? And, what about our culture out here in Central Massachusetts?



These pages will cause one to think about how to protect what we have, our future direction, and how to move on in the very best way.


Those thoughts, and other ramblings, will hopefully inspire more thought, conversation, action, and occasionally a smile...

...seems to be working so far

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Want Some Free Money?



A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to reduce my electric bill beyond what I had already done. I received a letter from Easy Energy of Massachusetts in Bolton, Massachusetts.  In the letter the company stated that they were offering electricity for a lesser amount than National Grid, and I could receive the savings, and keep National Grid as my supplier.

I don't think it took me more than a few seconds to sign up.

Easy Energy would be the supplier of the actual electricity, and National Grid would deliver it to us as always.  National Grid would also be the the folks that would remain responsible for the infrastructure surrounding the wires leading to our house as it always had been as well.

This offer was one of those that come along once in awhile that is simply a no-brainer.  We would continue to receive electricity, but at a rate lower than currently offered, and it was not going to cost me anything to say yes.  It is also one of the offers that we all receive that we open, mumble something like, "Yeah, right.", and toss in the trash.

If you receive the offer, don't toss it in the trash.  Call Easy Energy, and sign up.  You won't be sorry.

A few days ago I received an email from Easy Energy telling me that I was now saving 13% more than a National Grid customer that received their energy only from National Grid.

13% savings.  

This was based on a National Grid rate of 8.265% for six months, and an Easy Energy rate of 7.3%.

Now, when you couple this savings with the savings we have experienced by switching over our incandescent light bulbs to the ugly fluorescent ones, and all new Energy Star appliances, we are saving a lot.  Our electric bill was $69.24 this month.  That is a whole lot less than it was when we moved in six years ago; at least 50-60% better, and we can still save more.

Now, I'm not an energy saving freak, but if I can save money by just doing simple things that require little, or no effort on our part, then I'm game.

The appliances that came with the house were from the 1970's, and mid 1980's, so replacing any of them was going to definitely save us money, and it has.

Switching light bulbs seems so benign, but it has obviously had an enormous effect as well.  Last month I bough one of the new LED bulbs and put it on the front porch.  The light is constant, not too clinical, and since it's an LED light bulb, it will last a couple of thousand years.

No, not really, maybe 10,000 hours, but that's close.

Saving 13% was easy, and although I don't mind doing tough, doing easy is more fun.

If you would like to learn more about Easy Energy you can go to their web site at http://easyenergyma.com, or  call (866) 779-0449.





2 comments:

  1. sounds great...super way to save some money...now we need to save money in town by chucking some overpaid employees...starting with the t.a.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's my understanding that Easy Energy has actually begun working directly with some towns. In Maynard, they are the electric supplier for the schools, town hall and police departments. They're also working towards a municipal aggregation.

    ReplyDelete



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