Between the Lines: Alabama Power’s My Power Usage tool helps customers monitor, manage energy consumption, save money

Each new year brings the opportunity to make major life changes, and, for most people who make resolutions, that includes losing weight.

Regardless of how much you want to lose, getting there will involve frequent visits to the bathroom scale. Knowing where you are and how you’re doing will help guide your eating and exercise habits as you pursue your goal.

Similarly, Alabama Power has an online tool that will help you monitor where you are and how you’re doing when it comes to using electricity in your home. That information can help guide your energy consumption habits as you seek to lower your monthly bills.

The My Power Usage tool provides real-time insights into your energy use. It lets you view and manage your daily energy usage, track and compare energy usage by day or by month, and receive alerts for when dollar amounts you set are reached. Enroll for free by signing on to your online Alabama Power account or by downloading the Alabama Power mobile app.

The typical low temperature in Alabama is around 35 degrees. Research shows that when the low drops to around 20 degrees, it takes 50% more energy to heat your home on any given day, and higher energy consumption means higher bills. As temperatures become more frigid, information that helps guide your usage becomes even more crucial.

My Power Usage is one of several tools Alabama Power makes available to help customers manage their relationship with the company, including Paperless Billing, eHERs (Electronic Home Energy Reports), Online Energy Checkup, Budget Billing, FlatBill and a slate of residential rate options. Find more information about all of them on Alabama Power’s website.

To better understand all the ways My Power Usage can help manage electric usage, I took a look at my personal account through the month of December and found a ton of insight about daily energy consumption at my own house.

It’s obvious that my (our) usage went up on the days when the low temperature was colder, like Dec. 24 and 25 and Jan. 6 and 7 when the low temperature was around 30 degrees. Weekends tend to show higher energy use at my house because my wife and I are usually home most of those days and not at work. But my highest usage for the entire billing period was Thursday, Jan. 9, and Friday, Jan. 10, when the low temperature was 22 degrees and 29 degrees, respectively.

The two days with the lowest usage – abnormally low, even – were Dec. 30 and 31. That’s when my wife and I were out of town celebrating our 30th anniversary.

My takeaway: The colder it is outside, the harder my heating unit, including the strip heating, works to keep my home warm and comfortable, which translates to a higher power bill. My bill for December was up 9% from the previous month, and I expect it will be even higher for January, which has seen double-digit days dip below freezing, a snowstorm and a cold snap predicted for this week.

Speaking of the bill, pricing information is also available on the My Power Usage tool. You can see the average daily cost of your usage; the monthly cost of your usage up to the current day; and whether your costs for the month are trending up or down compared to your last bill and by what percent.

The tool also gives an estimated range of what your bill amount is going to be at the end of the month, based on your usage up to that current day. So, no surprises!

Also, you can set an alert to receive a text message when your usage reaches an amount that you set.

Finally, you can choose a daily or monthly view of all of this information, which lets you see and compare your usage in the way that’s most valuable to you.

So how does this tool cut costs and lower your bill? The same way the scale causes you to lose weight. It doesn’t.

What it does do is allow you to see in real time what energy efficiency measures are working at your home and how well they’re working.

Washing your clothes with cold water, making dinner in the oven rather than on the stovetop, lowering the thermostat a degree or two, making sure doors and windows are sealed, making sure your attic is properly insulated, making sure your heat pump is functioning properly and numerous other energy efficiency tips offered at AlabamaPower.com/winterbill can all help get your monthly energy costs trending in the right direction.

The My Power Usage tool arms you with information that helps you make the best value decisions for your family. Go to AlabamaPower.com to access your personal My Power Usage profile for your home or download the Alabama Power app for iPhone or Android and start monitoring your usage today.

Happy tracking and Happy New Year!

Between the Lines is a monthly column by Alabama Power’s Anthony Cook, sharing energy education that powers our daily lives.