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Doing Laundry At Night And
Not Cooking During the Lunch
Hour Can Save On Electrical
Bills
Doing your laundry at night and
avoiding cooking lunch between
10am and 12:30pm, the Compañía
Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL)
says you can reduce your
electrical energy costs
considerably, but it means
making some sacrifices.
Henry Solís, commercial director
for the CNFL, says that the
500.000 customers of the
Metropolitan Area (San José)
should avoid doing the laundry
and ironing during the day, best
done after 8pm when the price of
electricity goes down.
Solís explains that the CNFL has
a plan to help customers save
energy by buying last year 5.000
digital electrical meters, but
only 1.950 or 0.5% of the
customers have signed up.
The CNFL has two rates for
energy - one for residential and
the other for commercial
customers. Solís explains that
the residential rate drops after
8pm and families who use more
than 300KwH per month can save
more than 22% on their energy
bill by avoid doing chores like
laundry and baking during the
day.
The director added that the CNFL
is considering making a request
of the Autoridad Reguladora de
Servicions Público (Aresep) for
an increase in the residential
rate for those customers who use
more than 500KwH during peak
times.
For example, residential
customers who sign up for the
energy savings plan and use more
energy during evening hours will
pay ¢10 colones per KwH for use
between 8pm and 6am, but get
penalized with paying ¢53.4
colones using energy between
10am and 12:30pm, and 5pm and
8pm
Residential customers not on the
energy savings plan pay ¢26.1
colones per KwH for the first
200 KwH and then jumps to ¢44.4
per each KwH.
The Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE), parent of
the CNFL, has initiated a
campaign to reduce electrical
energy consumption by attempting
to modify the use habits of its
customers with a program called
"Apague la luz" (turn off the
light). The plan is not only to
save on energy but for the
institution to be able to meet
the peak demands of summer
during the next two years,
hoping to avoid blackouts that
have been common of years.
The Apague la luz campaign hopes
to reach the conscience of the
consumer that will force a
change of habit and save on
electrical energy. ICE says it
is possible is enough customers
are conscious of their
electrical use and turn off just
one light to start with.
To sign up for the CNFL savings
plan call: 800-Energía (800-363
7442).
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