What the heck is Wind Energy? What are you talking about?
You’re probably seen those fliers in your PECO bill that say “PECO WIND.” You’ve probably said, “Give the power company more money? Fat chance!” Well, you’re not really giving PECO more money, you’re directly purchasing a block of wind energy. (see below) That’s what this is. PECO WIND is a monumental new choice we have in Philadelphia to choose where our electricity comes from. Before we had almost no choice. Thanks to the relentless work and dedication of great non-profit organizations like the Clean Air Council, we now do. Over 36,000 Philadelphians have made the switch - will you?
Do you guys work for PECO or something?
NO! Not at all. PECO doesn’t even know we’re doing this. Well, if it gets big enough they might, but we have no association with them other than they are our power company. We have never worked for PECO, nor will we ever. We just really believe in clean energy!
What do pets have to do with Wind energy? Aren’t you a pet sitting and dog walking service?
Hmmmm... Good point. It might seem that pets have nothing to do with Wind Energy, but if you’ll bare with me, I’ll try to explain our logic. Earth is our only home. Unless we start to take care of it, we’re all going to be homeless. Pets are affected by climate as much as we are. The pet crisis that followed Hurricane Katrina made that blatantly apparent. In the meantime, we’re thrilled to make life a bit better for local homeless pets, while trying to slow and reverse the damage that has already occurred. For each household that signs up, we’ll donate $15 to Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society. If you are interested in using our “Best of Philly” monster care services, please check out what other pet parents have to say about us HERE.
Why are you guys doing this?
This is what we used to do before we started The Monster Minders. (Lindsay and I worked for the Clean Air Council, and set up tables at local farmer’s markets to convince people to make the switch. We were even featured in the Daily Local Newspaper - Chester County’s paper. Picture and all!) We’ve both felt like things are getting worse when it comes to global warming: Monstrous storms in Europe, melting ice-caps, icebergs off the coast of New Zealand, record temperatures, droughts, floods, Hurricane Katrina. We couldn’t shake the feeling that we weren’t doing anything about it. So this is our chance. Help us, help the planet, and help local pets!
We’re ready to put our money where our mouth is. We will offer everyone who signs up through us a $7.62 credit on their next invoice (to cover their first two months of Wind Energy). We want to prove that we REALLY think this is an important step for our future.
How do I sign up?
It’s easy. Email us and let us know the full name of the person who is responsible for your PECO bill, as well as the phone number & address associated with the account. (If you know your PECO number, that speeds thins along, but isn’t necessary.) Your information is completely secure. We will not put you on a mailing list or sell your info. (Promise! We’re good guys!) We don’t need any information we can’t get out of the phone book. If you have any questions, PLEASE ask. We can answer them, and if we can’t, we’ll find answers.
Why don’t I just contact PECO to sign up?
If you want us to make the $15 donation to PAWS, you must sign up through us. It’s the deal! Plus, we want to track how well this works...
Am I just giving PECO more money?
Ah, so you’re wondering why on earth there is a surcharge for wind energy? It’s simple. PA has a long coal & nuclear history. Our infrastructure is set up for those two types of energy. When infrastructure is set up for a certain type of energy, the “new guy” will always be more expensive. From PECO: “The cost of producing electricity from wind energy is slightly higher than generating electricity from a conventional power source like coal or nuclear power. The price of wind energy is directly related to the cost of developing and constructing a wind farm and the seasonal production at wind power projects.” Organizations like the Clean Air Council urged PECO to offer wind energy and promised that people would be willing to pay a bit extra for a local, clean, renewable source of electricity. And it has worked. Over 36,000 people in the Philadelphia area have made the switch. When more people sign-on to the program, new turbines are built, and eventually the price will drop. (In the last 20 years, the price of wind energy has dropped 80%!) Some predict wind will be cheaper than coal one day. We just need to get behind it!
When you join at the base level of 300 kWh, the $7.62 extra you will be charged is how much extra wind costs over the conventional methods. It’s really not much money when you consider how much good you’re doing for future generations. (See more info on impacts below!)
What is a kWh? (Kilowatt hour)
This is the technical definition: “A Kilowatt hour (kWh) it is the basic unit of electric energy equal to 1 kilowatt or 1,000 watts of power used for one hour. The amount of power the customer uses is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh). A 100-Watt light bulb operated for 10 hours uses 1 kWh. Or, one 1000-watt bulb operated for one hour uses one kWh.” Basically, it’s what the power company uses to measure how much electricity you use every month. The average US Household uses between 500-600 kWh’s per month.
So you’re asking me to sign up for 300 kWh’s of PECO WIND... What if I use more than 300 kWh’s a month?
You probably do! If you sign up for 300 kWh’s per month, you will ONLY be charged $7.62, no matter how much electricity you use. If you use 400 kWhs per month you can be assured three quarters of your electricity needs are being covered by wind, and you will only be charged $7.62 extra. If you use 600 kWh’s you can be assured half of your energy needs will be covered by wind and you will still only be charged $7.62. Don’t worry - you’re electricity won’t go out if the wind stops blowing! And you will never be charged for more than what you sign up for - no matter how much electricity you use!
You can sign up for 200, 300, 400, 500, or 2000 kWh’s per month if you wish to purchase more Wind Energy. It’s totally up to you. If you sign up for 400 kWh’s ($10.16) and only use 350 kWhs in a month, you will only be charged for the 350 kWhs. (The power company can’t charge you for what you don’t use! So you’re added cost will be around $8-$9.) (This may seem confusing, we can explain it better in person if you need to call us!) Long story short - we’re trying to get 10 clients to sign up for 300 kWhs per month! Join us! It’s super easy. It’s more than easy! It’s a snap!
Can I cover my entire electricity needs with PECO WIND?
Totally! We do. Lindsay and I use less electricity than most households because all of the lights in our house are fluorescent, and we’re very modest with our air conditioning use in the summer. (We use, give or or take, 300 kWhs/month.) We only pay an extra $7-$10/month for 100% wind. (That’s about the cost of a large pizza...) My alma mater, Eastern University is now covered by 100% wind. The students overwhelmingly voted to pay a small additional tuition fee to offset the cost. If you want to choose this option, please let us know. We can help you estimate what your added cost will be. (think about the cost of a pizza... give or take a buck or two!)
How does WIND energy actually get to my house?
The normal electric grid will still continue to provide your house with electricity. You don’t need new meters or infrastructure. You don’t need to change electric companies. It’s actually impossible to pump a certain type of energy directly to your house. So you’re thinking, “What? Then what am I paying for? Is this a donation or something?” Not at all! If you purchase 300 kWhs of Wind Energy a month, you are directly purchasing a block of clean energy. Here’s how:
Think of the energy used to produce electricity as forming a huge bathtub. The tub has various faucets - each representing a different energy source: nuclear, coal and now, Wind Energy. Into the pool is pumped a mix of electricity all coming from different sources. When you flip on a light, you drain a bit of energy from this tub. The electric company buys energy from various sources (they turn on the faucets when the tub gets low), then ships the electricity to you. (They’re the middle man really.) Until recently, we had no say over the ratios in this pool of energy - they were mainly a mix of coal and nuclear.
We now have a choice. When you purchase Wind energy, the electric company buys that amount of Wind energy on your behalf instead of coal or nuclear. You are directly offsetting our use of non-green energy sources. If enough people signed up to the program we could substantially start to change the landscape of the energy industry. The more people participate, the more Wind Energy PECO buys. More turbines will be built, thus guaranteeing a VERY local source of energy for the future & creating more jobs in Pennsylvania.
Surely there’s not enough wind to power the United States, right?
WRONG! We have the wind potential to generate 10,777 BILLION kWh’s of clean wind energy each year. That’s twice the amount we use today per year. We just need to get it moving. In fact, Wind energy production grew by 27% in 2006, and is expected to grow by a further 26% in 2007. (All of these facts can be checked on the American Wind Energy Association's Website.)
How do I know I’m actually making a difference?
That’s a great question! Think about it this way. Every household that signs up at the base level of 300 kWh, has the ecological equivalent of planting 268 trees, or not driving 3426 miles. Yeah, you read right. 268 trees. Because Wind energy doesn’t produce greenhouse gasses, the oxygen/carbon dioxide ratios produced by your electricity usage is radically changed. It’s like planting 268 trees. The more kWh’s you purchase, the larger the effect. It’s not everyday you have the opportunity to plant a small forest.
Annually, the purchase of 300 kWh’s a month is also equivalent to keeping these out of our atmosphere:
3950 pounds of Carbon Dioxide (causes global warming)
27 pounds of Sulfur Dioxide (causes acid rain)
7.5 pounds of Nitrogen Dioxide (causes acid rain)
Plus, the more people that join the program, the more of a message we will send to both the politicians and the energy giants. We want clean energy. We want it NOW! We’re tired of out-dated technologies! Stop arguing, just do it! The more people that use it, the lower the cost of the technology will become. In the last 20 years, the cost of Wind energy production has dropped by 80%! In fact, in 2006, wind energy production jumped 27%! In theory, eventually it will be MORE cost-effective for the energy companies to purchase wind. Think about it. They put up turbines, the wind blows, we get energy. There is no mining, no transport, no greenhouse gasses, no messy clean up, no storage of volatile nuclear waste, no threat of a meltdown. Check out the WHY WIND? page for more info
I signed up, what now?
In about a month or two you’ll receive a thank-you letter for joining the program and a window decal we hope you display proudly. After that time you will see a WIND surcharge on your PECO bill. If you sign up for 300 kWh’s of Wind, it will only be $7.62. On your next invoice from The Monster Minders you’ll see a “Wind Energy Credit” for $7.62. (your first month of wind...)
So I’m not a client of The Monster Minders, but I still want to join you. Can I?
YEP! Email us! As long as PECO is your electric company you are free to join our challenge. We’ll still donate $15 on behalf of you to PAWS. We thank you for your support.
Where can I get more info on Wind energy in general?
The American Wind Energy Association’s website is chock-full of news, articles and facts about production, output and pros and cons. Specifically, their FAQ section is great!
This all sounds great, but I actually need a dog walker and pet sitter. What are your services and rates?
Good question. That’s probably how you found this website in the first place. Visit our Meet the Minders page to get a feel for who we are and what makes us tick. (Other than pets, of course) Feel free to browse our Services to see what we offer. And don’t hesitate to contact us to set up a FREE Minder Meeting today!
Max says, “Let’s keep our mountains beautiful - not mine them!”
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