| ComEd plans to push efforts that cut bills
ComEd customers may pay more for new conservation programs but could save in the long run, consumer advocates and the utility said Thursday. The Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates ComEd, has approved energy efficiency programs proposed by ComEd, downstate utilities and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Different programs will roll out at different times. They include discounts on energy efficient light bulbs; the pick up and recycling of older, inefficient refrigerators; air conditioning "tune ups" and other measures designed to reduce energy consumption. ComEd said consumers overall could save roughly $155 million during the lifetime of the programs, possibly up to 10 years. That could save 1.2 megawatts of power, or enough to power 140,000 homes for one year, ComEd spokesman John Dewey said.
Kids Huff Freon to Get High
CARBONDALE, Ill. - During these 'dog days of summer' air conditioning units are working overtime trying to keep homes and offices cooled down. But many of those air conditioning units are becoming the target of kids wanting to drain the freon gas from inside and inhale it, sometimes with deadly results. "They feel a euphoria, light-headiness and they may pass out. But it's that euphoria that they're going after. Unfortunately what these kids don't know is there is long term damage to the body from breathing in freon gas," said Doctor Donna Carney at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. Authorities say the way the kids are using the gas to get high is by placing a plastic bag over their head. Then they fill the bag with freon gas. It's heavier than oxygen so it forces the oxygen out of the bag, leaving only the dangerous gas.
Revolution in the power lines
A QUIET revolution in the way the nation plans for its future electricity needs took place in Holyoke earlier this month, when the operator of the region's power grid held an auction for the cheapest ways to meet demand until 2011. The big winner was conservation. The recent auction by the nonprofit Independent System Operator New England was the first in the country in which bidders could propose ways to cut demand and increase efficiency, instead of just increasing supply. The auction proved that it can be cheaper for a system to arrange, for instance, for big power users to ease off the air-conditioning on the hottest days than for the system to look to other options, such as the construction of new peak-power plants that burn costly natural gas. Looking ahead to 2010 and 2011, the ISO had decided it needed about 1,800 new megawatts of capacity - enough to power about 1.3 million homes.
Middle-class autoworkers cling to way of life amid benefit cuts
Just two weeks after his 18th birthday, Randy Horter started his first factory job, helping make clutches and air conditioning systems at an auto parts plant. Since then, the 49-year-old Chrysler line worker has cobbled together a career working at various manufacturing plants and made a nice, middle-class life with his wife, Candace, who works at the same Chrysler plant in Belvidere, Ill. The couple earns about $75,000 a year, unless one or the other is laid off. They own two used cars and their home. Between them, they raised five children, now grown, and were hoping to start preparing for retirement. .
|
