AskDrPower.com: Lowering Energy Bills

AskDrPower.com, an educational website about lowering energy bills, talk with Lisa from HomeIntel. She and her husband started a program to help Californians lower energy bills without spending much money upfront. Usually, people think of big home upgrades to cut electric bills, but Lisa tells us that there's a much easier and cheaper way with $25 devices. The trick is to figure out where to put them in your home. In the past 10 years, she worked with the State of California and utility companies to pay for a professional service that does just that. The program is called P4P or "Pay for Performance." Her professional service paid for by the government to lower energy bills is called HomeIntel.

AskDrPower.com talks to Bruce Mast today. Bruce has been in the clean energy business for nearly three decades. He's dedicated his life figuring out win-win solutions for people to live more comfortable and affordable lives while still pitch in to mitigate climate change. His latest project is Peninsula Climate Comfort, a program in the Bay Area helping homes switch out gas furnaces and appliances. Bruce talks about the switch to electric heat pumps and how they work.

Claudia Richter, who heads up Product and customer experience for OhmConnect, drops by and discusses how Demand Response works and the future of a smarter electric grid. You will learn about how to make money while at the same time help utility companies and the planet with times of peak demand. Claudia also share how some have turned their participation in Demand Response into otherwise neglected family time.

Our guest on AskDrPower.com today Patti Sexton has been involved with climate change and energy efficiency initiatives in the Bay Area for nearly two decades. She shares her philosophy about energy efficiency, and saving real money on high bills. Patti focuses on finding energy use she calls "vampires," sucking money and energy in homes.

AskDrPower.com sat down with James Tuleya today to talk about his more than a decade work in energy efficiency. First, he helped run customer solutions for PG&E and then as an energy coach for HomeIntel. James explains that utility companies are paid more for saving energy use, so they pay for programs like energy coaches to help California residents save energy and lower their bills.