With three days of more than 100-degree, potentially record-breaking heat on the horizon for Colorado, Colorado energy bills are ready to skyrocket. Here’s how to save money during the extreme heat.

Home cooling can account for about half of most consumers’ summertime electricity bills, according to Xcel Energy officials.

To use less energy and save money, the energy service provider said customers should:

Close the blinds or shades to keep rooms cool during the day.
Open interior doors to help circulate cool air throughout the house and use weather stripping to seal exterior doors and windows to prevent cool air from escaping.
Improve the insulation of walls, crawl spaces, floors and vents. Improving insulation is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to reduce energy costs, saving up to 10% on your monthly energy bill, according to Xcel.
Turn off unnecessary lighting and replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs, which use 75% to 80% less energy than traditional bulbs and last 15 times longer.
Run washing machines, dishwashers and clothes dryers with full loads after the heat of the day to help keep the house cooler and reduce strain on the local grid.
Install a programmable thermostat, and set it to raise the home’s temperature when everyone is away and lower it when people are home.
Use a ceiling fan to circulate air throughout the home. During warmer months, running ceiling fans counter-clockwise will circulate cool air from the bottom of the room to the top.
Replace air filters. Replacing a dirty air filter can lower your air conditioner’s energy consumption by 5% to 15%, according to Xcel.

Xcel announced a new program — Energy Action Days — in June and may roll it out for Colorado customers this weekend. The program has been used in other states Xcel operates in, but this is the first year it’s being used in Colorado.

“An Energy Action Day occurs during select extreme weather events when there’s undue stress on the energy grid,” the utility said in the program announcement. “You will receive a notification from Xcel Energy encouraging you to join your neighbors in saving energy by shifting energy usage for a few hours.”

Xcel said the company hopes to have very few Energy Action Days, but the frequency of the program relies largely on weather and temperature patterns. The company noted that these days are typically the five to 10 hottest afternoons of the summer.

The goal of Energy Action Days is to ensure everyone in the community — including homes, businesses, schools and hospitals — can access the power they need, Xcel Energy officials said.

Participation in the program is optional, and Xcel said there is no penalty if residents choose not to participate.

When action days start, customers will get an email notifying them of the potential strain on the grid and giving them tips on how to temporarily reduce their energy use, the energy utility said.

Reducing energy use in the afternoon can save Xcel consumers on the “time-of-use” pricing model, Xcel officials said.

Between June and September, the summer time-of-use rates are:

Off-Peak: 7 p.m. to 1 p.m. — $0.12/kWh
Mid-Peak: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. — $0.22/kWh
On-Peak: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. — $0.32/kWh
Residential Opt-Out: $0.16/kWh

Weekends and holidays are billed at the off-peak rate.

Xcel customers on the time-of-use model can also lower their overall energy bills by pre-cooling their homes during off-peak hours and allowing temperatures in the home to rise during peak hours, Xcel said.

Customers can also enroll in programs like the Saver’s Switch and AC Rewards, which offer discounts or rewards for customers’ participation. However, it could mean that Xcel will lock your thermostat on extremely hot days or during “system emergencies.”

“On a few hot summer days a year, we may activate Saver’s Switch,” Xcel said. “The switch cycles your air conditioner off and on generally at 15 to 20-minute intervals. However, the fan stays on, circulating already-cooled air throughout your home.”

For customers participating in AC Rewards, adjustments are made to consumers’ smart thermostats during the hottest summer days, according to the energy utility. When the demand for electricity is the highest, “control events” will cut back on the time residents can use central air to cool their homes.

In case the weekend’s extreme heat causes blackouts or power outages across Colorado, Nextdoor announced Tuesday that the social media platform will partner with PowerOutage.us — an organization that collects live power outage data from utilities throughout the United States — to give real-time alerts.

“The alert will provide information that helps neighbors best navigate the outage, including the areas and the number of neighbors affected, the cause of the outage and projected time until power is restored,” Nextdoor said in a news release.

Colorado residents can also check Xcel’s live electric outage map, which shows the impacted areas, the number of customers impacted and where crews are working in the area to restore power.

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Originally Published: July 10, 2024 at 10:42 a.m.