Why is New York City’s electric bill so high? Our recent post breaks down the details.
The short version?
Consumption of energy from burning fossil fuels supplied through Con Edison gets reflected on your electricity bill to give you an average monthly cost that has spiked since the start of 2022.
Your gas and electric usage from the meter get read by the utility to track your energy consumption, which partly informs your average cost for the month.
Con Ed thankfully incentivizes energy efficiency by being mindful of heating, cooling, and overall energy conservation, which can help you save money.
For more saving tips on how to reduce future energy bills in New York City, read on!
How can I save money on electricity?
Simple well-known, tried-and-true tricks to save money on electricity boil down to a few key areas to maximize efficiency in your home.
These areas focus on:
1. fixing leaks and airflow for optimal heating and cooling
2. minimizing hot water usage during showers and laundry, and
3. using the best, most efficient lightbulbs and power strips.
Another lesser-known tactic?
Power down your usage during swarm events with the help of Meltek.
How to reduce my utility bill with Meltek
Here at Meltek, we’ve coined a special term known as “swarm events.” These events describe specific time windows when energy demand spikes due to high usage by New York residents all over the state.
During these events, utilities like Con Edison will need to fire up expensive, high-pollutant peaker plants to meet the excessive demand. These peakers plants are old in age, emit a lot of greenhouse gas pollution and extremely expensive and inefficient to maintain due to only providing power when demand for energy is high.
Instead of competing and paying for energy when it’s most demanded, Meltek solves for this costly problem by letting you know when a swarm event occurs so you can power down to save both money and energy.
The more watts you save, the higher your earnings will be! The average household can earn around $20 per swarm event and save 10-20% on their electricity bill.
Where to Start
Step 1: Sign up for Meltek using your Con Edison account number so we can track your energy savings.
✅To locate your account number, log in to your Con Ed account online.
✅ If it’s your first time logging in, create an account by registering your email and password.
✅ Once logged in, click on Accounts & Billing, locate your most recent utility bill, and your number can be found below your name.
Step 2: Get notified via SMS, email or app push notifications when an "energy-saving event” will be happening so you can power down.
Step 3: Reduce your electricity usage during the specified time period. Turn off unnecessary lights, raise your AC temperature, unplug devices, turn off the pool pump and shift laundry use to outside the swarm event.
Step 4: Meltek will take a few days to calculate your energy savings. You can trade your energy savings for rewards in places like Amazon, Starbucks, Uber, Doordash and many more. Even better, transfer the money directly to your bank. You can also use your energy savings to plant trees or buy carbon offsets.
Our program is available to Con Edison, PSEG Long Island and Orange & Rockland customers.
Any questions? Check out our FAQ.
We’re here to help. Learn more on how it works here.
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