Save now & later

We all know we save money by using less electricity.

What some of us might not know is just how much we stand to save.

We had an interesting conversation about that subject recently with Werner Buehler, the general manager of Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative.

OTEC supplies power to most of Baker County, and to parts of Union, Grant and Harney counties as well.

OTEC, unlike private companies such as Idaho Power, doesn’t actually generate electricity.

Rather, OTEC buys electricity from the federal Bonneville Power Administration, then sells those kilowatt-hours to us.

And BPA, as it has been for decades, is the best deal going, Buehler said.

OTEC pays BPA about 2 cents per kilowatt-hour.

But here’s the rub: BPA will sell only a certain amount of electricity to OTEC at that dirt-cheap rate, known as “Tier 1,” Buehler said.

If OTEC needs more power, it will have to either buy the electricity from BPA or from another supplier.

In either case, Buehler said, that extra power is likely to cost OTEC at least three times as much, and possibly more than that.

Put simply, thriftiness pays OTEC customers in two ways.

First, and obviously, the less electricity you use the lower your bill.

Right now OTEC’s supply needs are comfortably below the threshold above which the Tier 1 rate no longer applies.

That’s due in large part to the recession and recent closures of major power users such as factories and mills in Union County.

OTEC’s revenue last year was about $42 million, Buehler said, down about $6 million from the previous year.

Fortunately, Buehler said BPA will set OTEC’s Tier 1 threshold based on the former year rather than the latter.

That gives OTEC and its customers a thicker cushion, as it were — even as the economy rebounds and energy demand rises, OTEC should be able to buy all its power at the Tier 1 rate for at least a few more years.

And even if OTEC passes the Tier 1 threshold, the effect on customers’ bills won’t necessarily be dire and immediate. OTEC would still get the Tier 1 deal for the bulk of its supply — it would pay more only for the kilowatt-hours in excess of the BPA threshold.

Still and all, if that electricity costs OTEC three times more than the Tier 1 rate, then the excess demand would not need to be a significant amount to potentially force OTEC to raise rates for all its customers.

The bottom line here is that by turning lights off in empty rooms, and turning down the thermostat a degree or two, we can save money not only now, but in the future as well.