Sure, signing up for free nights is great, but it’s only the first step to savings. To really take advantage of this plan, you might want to consider shifting when you use electricity to nighttime. Consider changing your housekeeping schedule for things like washing the dishes, doing the laundry, and other activities that use a lot of electricity. If you could shift these activities to the “free Energy Charge” time periods, you could be cutting a lot more off your monthly electricity bill. Here are some other ideas for late night activities that could save you bundles:

• Charging your electronic devices (e.g., phones, cameras) or your electric vehicle
• Watching movies or playing video games in your high-tech, media room
• Running pool pumps and robotic cleaners
• Starting your slow cooker after 10 p.m. for lunch/dinner the following day
• Late night get-togethers in the summer when your air conditioning, mood lighting, music and kitchen appliances are all working hard
• Evening jam sessions with the band (if you live far enough from your neighbors!)

How does it work?
Sign up for one of our TXU Energy Free Nights plans. You can choose from three different term lengths to suit your needs – 12, 18 or 24 months. In the day, you’ll get a simple fixed electricity rate. Then at night, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., you’ll get zero Energy Charges from TXU Energy. Plus, throughout the length of your plan, you won’t have to worry about your rate changing without advance notice, which means no surprises.

Have you already switched to a TXU Energy Free Nights plan? If so, tell us why you switched or how you’ve changed your electricity-draining activities to take full advantage of the savings.
* Free nighttime Energy Charges applies only to the amount billed for the Energy Charges between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day for 12, 18 or 24 full months. Base Charge, TDU Delivery Charges, state and local taxes, and other billed charges apply normally to all hours of usage. TXU Energy Free Nights plans are available to residential customers who have had an AMS-enabled smart meter installed and provisioned at their premise by their local Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU). Visit txu.com for full plan details.

Old-fashioned electricity meters
Officially, the new meters are called advanced meters, but are commonly referred to as smart meters.  Most folks probably didn’t pay much attention to their old electricity meter except when they saw a meter reader walking along the side of their house or into their backyard.  The old meters did a good job of recording electricity usage on a monthly basis – they were reliable and didn’t require much attention.  Customers received a monthly paper electricity bill that showed how much electricity they used the month prior.  There was no way for customers to see their usage during the month or proactively manage their usage to impact their monthly costs. You simply got your bill in the mail at the end of the month and paid it.

Keep in mind that electricity meters are owned and read by the Transmission and Distribution Utilities (TDUs).  The TDU’s in Texas include:

• Oncor (DFW area and North Texas)
• CenterPoint Energy (greater Houston area)
• AEP (South and West Texas)
• TNMP (areas scattered throughout the state including Texas City and Lewisville)

The TDUs read the meters and then bill Retail Electric Providers (REPs) like TXU Energy.  The REPs then bill customers based on each customer’s meter consumption, as provided by the TDUs.

In comes the smart meter
So, what’s the big deal about the smart meters?  Well, they offer multiple advantages to consumers:

1. Your electric provider will be able to offer new time-of-use products that will empower you to have more control over your electricity bill and allow you to take advantage of discounted rates at different times of the day.
2. Today, TDUs often don’t know an outage has occurred until they receive a call from the customer(s).  In the next few years, the TDUs will implement systems that will allow them  to detect power outages in near real-time and respond faster based on the information they receive from the smart meters.  While today it is still necessary to call your TDU when you experience an outage, this requirement will eventually go away.
3. The TDUs will be able to remotely obtain your electricity consumption from the meter each day.  This will reduce meter reading errors and eliminate the need for estimates due to meter access issues.
4. Since most smart meters will have remote disconnect and reconnect capabilities, your electric provider will be able to offer same-day switches, move-outs, and move-ins – all at potentially lower costs than they were in the past.

Today, smart meters enable TXU Energy customers to see their usage via their TXU Energy MyEnergy Dashboard, receive email alerts on their electricity usage, and use budget alerts to manage their usage to lower their upcoming bills.  This is an exciting time in the Texas electricity market – smart meters are the technology gateway that gives TXU Energy the ability to offer customers new tools, pricing plans and other services that help you save energy and money.

The story points out TXU Energy’s smartphone-friendly energy savings solutions that are available to more than a million TXU Energy electricity customers who now have smart meters. The story has a positive outcome that’s easy to recreate since the company’s technology tools work in the real world as well as they do via the magic of editing. 

The film itself also has a story of its own that’s pretty inspiring. It’s the result of the creative collaboration of TXU Energy and young filmmakers after they competed in a film contest that helped spark their interest in the future of energy.

It all started last April, when a pair of student filmmakers from the Art Institute of Dallas wowed online voters and the judges of the TXU Energy Light Up the Red Carpet Student Film Contest with their short film, “Queen Kill-a-Watt.” Writer and director Katherine Yarbrough and director of photography Nik Pavlov created a visually appealing short film with a simple message and a slice of humor to promote energy conservation. They took home top honors in the college division.

Fast forward a year, and Yarbrough is pursuing her masters in screenwriting in London after an internship at the Cannes Film Festival last summer, while Pavlov is working professionally in film and video production with his business partners at Paperlyte Films.  Pavlov and Paperlyte are the team of multi-talented millennials who brought “While You Were Out…” to life for TXU Energy.  And, from across the Atlantic, Yarbrough has stayed in touch with the company as well, providing quotes and tips in company news releases to encourage other young filmmakers to enter the contest and compete.

The savvy these young filmmakers have in presenting an energy-friendly message via film – and their dedication to the craft – may well be proof that TXU Energy’s ongoing support for the student film festival is making a difference in more ways than one.

Don’t you just love great endings – or should we say, beginnings?

David has tracked his solar panels’ performance through a spreadsheet he has managed since they were installed last August. From this he calculates his total energy consumption from the grid and his solar panels, how much money he saves with his solar panels, and how much solar power he is able to sell back to the grid.

Since he installed his panels, David has calculated that they have produced as much as 33 kWh per day. Remember, he hasn’t used these in the hot summer months yet, so the amount of power generated could be even greater. David uses approximately 56% of the electricity his panels generate and sells the rest back to the grid.

“My solar panels have produced 4,000 kWh since August 2011 when they were installed,” David said. “The best sun is still yet to come! That’s equivalent to 2 summer months of electricity usage in Texas, or 4.5 months of winter and spring usage.”

By selling some of the power his panels generate, David has saved about $550 and has received more than $100 by selling his excess power back to the grid.

The chart below shows how much David has used from the grid (blue), how much he has consumed from his solar panels (green), and how much he has sold back (red).

“My net bill is roughly 55% of what it should be without the solar panels,” David said.

David also uses the TXU Energy MyEnergy Dashboard (MED), a free online energy tool available to TXU Energy customers to help him track his electricity usage and see how his home’s electricity usage stacks up to other homes in his area.

According to David’s MED reports, he’s off the scale for energy efficiency compared to similar homes. According to his MED report, the most efficient homes similar to his used 822 kWh of electricity in the month of February. His home used 549 kWh of electricity from the grid in February. And, that’s before he sold his excess solar power back to the grid.

By tracking his solar panel usage and by using energy savings tools provided by TXU Energy, David has calculated his savings down to the penny. So far, David’s solar panels have proven to be a successful payoff.

What will the upcoming summer bring for David? This is Texas after all, and we can only anticipate that he will see an even bigger return on his investment in solar panels. Check back in the fall for the full scoop!

When considering a home appliance for purchase, recognizing that ENERGY STAR^® label is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to choosing the most efficient appliances. All ENERGY STAR^®-qualified major home appliances also must feature an EnergyGuide label, which gives consumers a little more insight into the efficiency of the appliance they are considering for purchase.

The ENERGY STAR^® label simply means the product is above average when it comes to energy efficiency. The yellow EnergyGuide label will give you more detailed information, including an estimate of the yearly operating cost for the appliance compared to other models in its class. It will also give you an estimate in kilowatt hours of how much electricity the product will use over a year of average use. The ENERGY STAR^® Web site also contains more product-specific energy efficiency information, as well as other helpful information that can help you choose the most efficient products.

Do you use the ENERGY STAR^® Web site and EnergyGuide labels to make purchasing decisions? Do you feel like it provides the information you need to make an informed decision?

Other countries like Singapore and countries in the European Union each use a grading system for energy efficiency labels. Would this be helpful in your decision, or do you prefer the approach used by the EnergyGuide labels?

Here are a few easy do-it-yourself projects to fight common air-flow problems as you work your way toward a more energy efficient home.

Sealing ducts

If your air ducts aren’t containing the air they’re carrying, your heating and cooling systems are doing a significant amount of work for naught. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that in the average home, 20 percent of air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes and poor connections.

The good news is it’s easy to seal holes in ducts. While it may seem logical to use duct tape given its name, you’ll want to opt for a more durable metal tape. Mastic sealants can also be used for a more permanent solution.

Run your hands along ducts to see if you can feel areas where air is escaping and seal accordingly. ENERGYSTAR.gov offers a helpful brochure on where to look for leaks – ducts in garages, crawl spaces, attics and unfinished basements are all easy to access for a do-it-yourselfer. You may need to call in a contractor to inspect hard-to-reach ducts located in your walls.

In through the outlets

Did you know that electricity outlets can allow unwanted warm and cool air into your home? By design, there’s typically a lack of insulation behind outlets, wall switches and phone jacks so installers can get electrical boxes into your walls more easily. Luckily there’s an easy and inexpensive fix. Foam gaskets can be placed behind wall covers, or you can buy wall covers that are already insulated. It’s a project that even the most novice do-it-yourselfer can take on, as all it takes is a screwdriver.

Proper sealing is one of the most effective ways to reduce your energy bills. These simple home improvement projects are a great place to start.

Much like the infrastructure needed to get homes and businesses high-speed Internet and cable, developing a network of charging stations to make Texas an EV-friendly state will take time, effort and investment. Infrastructure can be costly, but the rewards of clean air and cheaper travel will pay off for all current and future Texans.

TXU Energy is continuing their commitment to making the future a reality by placing EV charging stations across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Most recently, the TXU Energy EV Accelerator Program^SM placed two charging stations at Dallas City Hall allowing locals to charge their EVs free of charge for an entire year. See the TXU Energy press release or visit NBCDFW.com.

Ease of recharging is essential to increasing the use and production of EV’s.  Have you considered trading your vehicle in for an EV? What’s holding you back?

But some new portable sound systems are tapping into a never-ending source of energy — the sun. For example, the Eton Rukus Solar boombox features a solar panel across the top of the radio to soak up energy from the sun as you’re catching rays. And if you do happen to venture out on a day when the sun’s not shining, it can also be charged with good old-fashioned electricity before you leave home.

Already have a stereo you really like but need a way to power it on the go? There are a multitude of solar powered juice packs – like solar powered backpacks or tote bags – that can keep you running for hours. And for the fashionista in you – there’s also the solar powered bikini.

Have any good recommendations for solar-powered gadgets to bring to the beach or elsewhere? Share them with us!

Historically, treating wastewater doesn’t provide the same renewable energy benefits since treatment plants themselves rely on large amounts of electricity to complete the treatment process. However this could be changing soon, according to a recent article in Popular Mechanics:

“In a study published last week, Penn State University researchers outlined a system called the microbial reverse electrolysis cell (MRC) that uses bacteria to both clean water and creates electricity.” The university’s tests were able to generate 0.94 kWh hours of electricity per kilogram of waste material. Fitted over a wastewater treatment plant, this technology could potentially generate enough electricity for 11,000 people.

While production capacities are not yet ready for market, the MRC technology of converting what goes down your toilet into electricity that powers the lights over your vanity are very appealing.

Read more about MRC technology

• Popular Mechanics

At Catholic Charities Fort Worth (CCFW), it’s our goal to break through the darkness of poverty in order to end poverty. We do this through financial coaching in budgeting, taxes, financial institutions, and insurance, as well as credit counseling, financial assistance, connections to resources and more. We could not do this without TXU Energy.

TXU Energy brings light to thousands of Tarrant County homes every year through its TXU Energy Aid^SM program. Just like flashlights illuminating the darkness, we have been blessed to direct the light of TXU Energy on over 120,000 of the clients we serve every year. Through our Financial Assistance program, families are able to receive one-time electricity bill payments, sponsored by TXU Energy Aid^SM. Last year we helped over 3,500 individuals in our diocese with TXU Energy Aid^SM funding. Through funds provided by TXU Energy, we also distributed 400 box fans and installed 40 A/C window units into clients’ homes.

These one-time contributions can mean a resettled refugee family from rural Africa has another month where they are not subject to the elements they have been vulnerable to for so long. These payments mean that a retired couple, now victims of a struggling economy and health issues, have just the extra financial support they need to get through another month and back on their feet again.

Over the last year, we’ve seen how extreme the weather in Texas can be. From ice storms in January to record-breaking summer heat, Texas weather can have drastic impacts on heating and cooling costs in a home. Many in our community are in the dark about preparing for and protecting themselves against these extremes.

Through our partnership with TXU Energy, we have been empowered to make available resources to our community and provide light to those in need through TXU Energy Aid^SM. It means more than just an electricity bill for so many families. These services mean so much more than just an electricity bill for so many families. It’s an end to darkness and a new start to a brighter and warmer life.