I think it's important to practice what you preach. So I wanted to share a little about my families attempts to green up our energy.
The most recent step we've taken is to take advantage of the Maryland law allowing consumers to choose who produces their electricity. We've gone with Clean Currents which will allow us to have 100% wind power generated electricity for 10.8 cents/Kwh. It's a two year contract with the rate locked in. If BGE gets more expensive, it makes us look like geniuses. If BGE rates drop, then we get stuck with the higher bill. The important thing is that we made the choice.
The wind power is not necessarily generated in Maryland. In the small print the wind power may be generated in Texas and we're 'offsetting' coal power in Maryland.
Maryland is an energy deficient state. We use more electricity than we produce. I'd like to see Maryland change that. If government creates the right conditions, I believe that the private markets will take care of the rest.
We also recently had a solar hot water system installed at a total cost of $9,462. We used Solar Energy Services (www.solarsaves.net) based in Millersville. They did good work and they were very helpful with our follow-up questions. We were able to take advantage of tax incentives at all levels of government.
-The federal government gave us a tax credit of about $1,500.
-The Maryland government gave us a solar energy grant of $2,000.
-The Anne Arundel County government gave us a one-time property tax break of about $500.
That's almost 50% of the cost of the system. The rest of the savings comes from our decreased energy bills.
Had it not been for the government creating the right conditions for our family, we would not have been able to switch to wind power or install our solar hot water heater.
Incentives matter. Vote Chiappelli: He practices what he preaches.
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