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How To Get FREE Electricity From Your Power Company – Legally!

Cut your Electric Bills by 20%, 30%, even as much as 50%…

How to Get FREE Electricity from your Power Company – Legally ! ! !

A Step-by-Step Guide to Buying Discounted Electricity from Power Companies

2nd Edition, Published April 2003

by Dan Vester, BSEE Copyright © 1994-2003

© Dan Vester 2003 – All Rights Reserved. www.howtogetfreeelectricity.com

Unauthorized duplication or distribution is strictly prohibited.


NOTE: Throughout the book, you will occasionally find blank

pages. These have been placed in the book so that if you choose to print the manual out like a normal book (double side printed), the book will be formatted correctly, and sections will always start on odd (right hand) pages.

When viewing the book electronically (on your computer screen),

you can easily skip a blank page by simply clicking on the words “Blank Page” and you will be taken right to the beginning of the next page or section.

If you single side print the book, simply remove the blank pages

after printing, and you won’t have to put up with them while reading. Try it below to see how it works!

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Table of Contents (Click on any entry to go directly to it)

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 3

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ........................................................................................................ 7

HOW TO GET FREE ELECTRICITY FROM YOUR POWER COMPANY -- LEGALLY!.............................................................................................................................. 9

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FREE ELECTRICITY FROM YOUR ELECTRIC COMPANY? ......................................................................................................................... 9 LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE TO REALLY DRIVE MY POINT HOME..................................... 11 STEP 1: FIND OUT WHAT RATES ARE AVAILABLE. ............................................................. 17 STEP 2: PROFILING YOUR HOME'S ELECTRICAL USAGE....................................................... 23 STEP 3: DETERMINING YOUR BEST ELECTRICAL RATE. ...................................................... 29 STEP 4: SOME FINAL THOUGHTS BEFORE CHANGING RATES. ............................................. 31 STEP 5: IMPROVING YOUR SAVINGS .................................................................................... 35

Manual Control Of Peak Demand .................................................................................. 36 Using Timers And Electrical Interlocks To Control Peak Demand ............................... 37 Peak Demand Control With A Load Controller ............................................................. 39 Computer Control Of Your Home's Electrical Usage .................................................... 41

THE FREE ELECTRICITY INCOME OPPORTUNITY............................................................. 44 IN CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 45

APPENDIX............................................................................................................................ 47 APPENDIX A -- ELECTRIC BILLS SHOWING SAVINGS FOR DAN VESTER .............................. 48 APPENDIX B -- SAMPLE ELECTRIC RATE SHEET .................................................................. 51 APPENDIX C -- HOW TO READ AN ELECTRIC METER .......................................................... 52 APPENDIX D -- ELECTRIC METER READING LOG FORMS..................................................... 53 APPENDIX E -- SAMPLE LOG SHEET AND WORK SHEET ...................................................... 54 APPENDIX F -- LOWEST & HIGHEST TYPICAL MONTHLY ELECTRIC BILLS.......................... 56

IF YOU DECIDE TO DO NOTHING!............................................................................... 57


Unauthorized duplication or distribution is strictly prohibited. - 1 -


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Introduction

In 1987, as I laid plans to build a new home in the beautiful mountains of

northern Arizona, one of the goals I set was to build an energy efficient home

for my family of 7 (now 8) that would be comfortable to live in and economical

to own.

In the process of accomplishing that goal, I began researching ways to keep

my electrical costs down, and as I dug into this subject, what I discovered

stunned, amazed, and quite frankly, angered me. I discovered that there were

special electrical rates that a few knowledgeable people were quietly taking

advantage of, that permitted them to get their electrical power at costs

approaching 50% less than what most other consumers were paying.

It stunned and amazed me, because I’m an Electrical Engineer, and I

thought I knew a lot about the electrical generation and distribution business…

I was wrong, dead wrong, and my lack of knowledge had cost me literally

thousands of dollars… hard earned dollars that I had paid to my electric utility

company over the years that I could have used for other purposes had I known

earlier what I know now … and what you are about to learn for yourself in this

ebook.




It angered me, because I realized how much the working people of America

could benefit from learning about and using the information I was uncovering

on how to get their electricity bills cut by 20%, 30%, even as much as 50% in

some cases, and it seemed to me that no one, especially those in the utility and

government arena, was really making a serious effort to educate people to the

facts.

Thus began my quest to learn more myself, to put it to use to PROVE that

the average person could drastically cut their electric bills, and to share what I

have learned with others, so that they might also benefit from lowering their

electrical bills without having to install huge solar arrays, or fry in the summer

and freeze in the winter trying to ‘cut back’ on energy use.

I first published this information in the fall of 1994 in a printed publication

that I began selling on the Internet on Compuserve, and hundreds of

Compuserve users gobbled up the 500 copies I had printed.

At that time, I was starting an ISP business in northern Arizona, and it

consumed me 18 hours a day for quite a few years. I never got back to pursuing

my goal of letting other people know what I had learned until, in the summer of

2001, after selling off my ISP business, I began publishing the report again, and

selling it on a new forum called eBay. I hadn’t updated the report, but the

information was still valid… I was still saving well over a thousand dollars a

year in electrical utility bills using what I had learned in the late 80’s.




I finally decided to update the publication, and to put it into a more modern

format, an eBook, so that distribution and order fulfillment could be handled in

a more expeditious manner. So here I am, in the spring of 2003, spreading the

word again to people about how they can save a lot of money on their electric

bills, and how they can get free electricity from their power company, all the

while distributing this information using electricity! Who says you can’t teach

an old dog new tricks!

I hope you enjoy, and find useful, the information in this ebook. It has

served me well over the years, and it can serve you well also, if you will put

into practice what I try to teach you here.

Dan Vester




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About The Author

Hi, I’m Dan Vester.

I was born in Ohio in 1949, and developed an early

interest in electronics. My father was a Ham radio operator i

the early days of that hobby, having obtained his first lice

around 1935, and he went on to become a commercial radio operator flying o

DC-3’s during and after World War II with Braniff Airlines. I came along 4

years after the war, the 3rd of 4 boys (no girls).

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At the age of 7, I obtained my Novice Ham radio license (KN7JGA), and

my love affair with things electronic has never faded. My folks (and I) headed

west in 1957, and I have spent the rest of my life since then in Arizona and

southern California, other than short periods away on consulting jobs.

I attended grade school and high school in Thousand Oaks, California with

my classmate and Disney movie star Kurt Russell, dated his sister Jill, and

eventually met Meg, my wife of 32 years.

I attended college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, graduating in 1972 with a

Bachelors degree in Electronic Engineering. Over the years I’ve worked for the

US Navy as a civilian at Pt Mugu, California in their Missile Test Center,




Motorola, General Electric, and my own consulting business. I’ve been

involved in the development of Electronic Warfare systems (radar jammers),

energy monitoring systems and electrical submetering projects, (including the

installation of an electrical submetering system in the WaterGate building in

Washington DC – if you know what that building was, you’re probably at least

as old as I am!), two way radio systems, founded and grew an ISP business

from the first customer to over 6000 subscribers before selling it off, did a short

stint as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), built my own home, and

I’ve raised a family of 6 children -- 4 boys and 2 girls.

Today, I live a quiet life in the beautiful cool mountains of northern

Arizona, where I continue to pursue my love affair with electronics, radio

controlled model gliders, Harley Davidson and their grand 2 wheeled machines,

and being a grandfather.

Am I qualified to write about the subject of getting Free Electricity? I think

my technical background, and my 13 year history of obtaining it myself are

evidence enough to answer that question.

Is this for real? It is for me, and for many others who have done exactly

what I teach you to do in this book. It can be for you, but only if you apply what

you learn. Knowledge in and of itself is useless without correct application.

Lets get to it, time’s a wasting!…




How To Get Free Electricity from your Power Company -- Legally!

Would you like to get FREE electricity from your Electric Company?

It is possible to do just that. In the past 13 years I've received over $16,436

worth of FREE electricity from my local electric company for use in my

home!... and YOU may be able to receive free electricity from your electric

company, just like I do, by following these simple instructions!

It took me 5 years and hundreds of hours of work to research and confirm

what I'm about to share with you.

Although I originally started to do this research for my own benefit, as I got

into it, I decided I wanted to share the results of my research so that some of my

friends and neighbors and others, like you, could benefit like I have.

Rather than just tell them, I decided to put the details in writing. One thing

lead to another, and the result is the ebook you are reading.

Now that you have this book in your hands, you can benefit too!




Is this Legal?

YES, it's completely legal, and the power company will even help you get

your free electricity.

Why will they do this?

Because frequently, they have a surplus of electricity, and if you follow my

simple instructions in this report, you can get the power company to give you

some of this surplus electricity free.

Can I get all of my electricity free?

No, but if you can get 50%, or 40%, or even 25% of the electricity you're

currently paying for absolutely free, it would be well worth it, wouldn't it?... Of

course it would, and you would have to be crazy not to take advantage of it!

Incredibly, many people today are not taking advantage of their opportunity

to get a portion of their electricity free, and it's mostly because they don't ask

for it. Many of them don't know how to ask for it, or how to get it. The

information you’re reading right now will solve that problem for you, if you

follow my instructions.




Let me give you an example to really drive my point home.

Suppose you're standing in the checkout line at your local grocery store, and

you notice that your neighbor ahead of you has exactly the same items in her

grocery cart as you do in yours. The clerk finishes ringing up her items, and it

comes to $140, which she pays and goes on out to her car.

The clerk smiles brightly at you, rings up your exact same items, and

announces that your total is $200... "Wait a minute!" you say, "Mrs. Jones just

paid $60 less than that for the exact same items. What's going on here?"

"Ah", says the clerk, "Mrs. Jones is a special customer, and gets a break on

her grocery bill. You can too, if you want. Just see the manager and he'll set it

up for you. Mrs. Jones has been doing this for years... She gets the equivalent of

$60 worth of free groceries every week, just like clockwork. Last year she took

her whole family to Hawaii for 3 days on the money she saved. You really

ought to go see the manager and start saving money like she does. Like Ben

Franklin said, 'A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned'. Well, thanks Mr.

Schmidlapper, I'll see you next week!"

Now what are you going to do, walk to your car or go see the manager?

I don't care how you cut it, whether you call it a discount, a break, an unfair

advantage or whatever, Mrs. Jones is getting $60 worth of FREE groceries

every week that you're not getting!




If you don't go see the manager at this point, you've got holes in your head...

or money to burn!

Well, that's exactly what's happening in many areas of the country today

with electricity. That's the stunning information that I discovered when I was

researching how electric companies are operated.

There are thousands of people getting their electricity for a lot less than

their neighbors!

I mean, these people live in their comfortable homes, exactly like their

neighbors, getting, on average, the exact same amount of kilowatt-hours as their

neighbors... but their electric bills are 25% to 50% less than their next door

neighbor!

After I discovered this, I went to my electric company, got set up to buy my

power cheaper, and started saving big bucks… and so can you!

I could have been doing this for several years prior to 1990 (when I went on

the cheaper rates I’m going to tell you about in this report), but my power

company had never told me! All I had to do was ask, and I got my power

cheaper, but until I knew what to ask for, I couldn't get the savings.




Today, my 5000+ square foot home uses between 3000 and 4000 kilo-watt-

hours (Kwh) of electricity a month, for which I pay a little more than $250 a

month. Many of my neighbors use the same amount of electricity I do, but they

pay over $350 a month...

…in other words, I'm getting more than $100 a month in FREE Electricity

compared to what my neighbors are getting, just like Mrs. Jones at the grocery

store was doing in my example above.

My electric company even calculates my savings, and shows the value of

the free electricity I've received in the past year on some of my monthly

statements.

Take a quick look at the copies of some of my electric bills in Appendix A

to this report...

…as you can see, I save more than $1200 every year over people who are

on the standard rate!... and that information is straight from the power company,

not me blowing smoke about some pie-eyed theory...

I've put this in practice for 13 years, starting in 1990, and have saved

over $16,436 on my electric bills in that time!




NOTE: You may wonder why I have shown electric bills from 1992 to

1994, when this is 2003 as I write this. My electric Company (for reasons I

don’t know) stopped printing the savings on electric bills in 1994. I wanted you

to see an actual bill from them that showed THEIR calculation of the savings,

thus I used the bills from those years when they were showing the savings. I am

still getting these kinds of savings monthly, but I have to figure the savings

myself if I want to know.

As a current example, for the month of February 2003, I paid $223.96 for

my electricity while other people on the standard rate paid $306.42 for the same

amount of electricity… That’s $82.46 worth of FREE electricity I received

compared to my neighbors. That’s $989.52 per year if my savings were like

that every month… and actually my savings per month are higher than that in

the summer months. This is as valid TODAY, in 2003, as when I first went on

these discount rates in 1990!

My neighbors are paying nearly 37% MORE for their electricity than I

am!

While the actual numbers may be different in your neighborhood because

your standard rates are higher or lower than mine, the same principle

applies...some folks are getting their electricity cheaper (a LOT cheaper) than

others.




To see for yourself, look at Appendix F in the back of this report. It's a table

from a Federal Government study showing the highest and lowest monthly

electric bills for the same amount of electricity consumed, tabulated by state.

In virtually every state listed, there's a difference of 50% to 300% between

the lowest and highest bill! Yes indeed, even in your state, some folks are

getting a LOT of FREE electricity compared to their next door neighbors! If

you haven’t already looked at your state, go check it out in Appendix F and see

how big the spread is in your own state… I think you’ll be surprised!

If you want to estimate how much you can save on your electric bills, go get

some of your recent bills, or if you can remember about how much they run

without digging them out, do this from memory:

Assuming that you get just 25% of your electricity free, that’s the same as

having NO ELECTRIC BILL for 3 out of every 12 months. So multiply your

average monthly electric bill by 3, and that’s how much you would save

EVERY YEAR. Multiply that figure by 10, and that’s how much you would

save over 10 years… for many folks, that’s a staggering number… $16,436 in

13 years in my case!

…Is that figure big enough to interest you in getting your hands on that

money instead of letting the power company have it?




The average homeowner in this country can save anywhere from $2,000 to

over $12,000 during that 10 year period by following the steps I'm about to

outline for you!

Let's get started...




Step 1: Find Out What Rates Are Available.

Nearly all utility companies are regulated by a state board.

In some states, it's the Public Utility Commission, in others it's the

Corporation Commission, and in others it's some other agency.

If you don't know what agency regulates your electric utility, look in your

phone book under state government. You'll usually find either an information

number, or a listing that shows regulatory offices.

Call that phone number and find out who regulates electric companies in

your state.

When you know what agency regulates your electric company, contact that

agency by phone or by letter, and tell them that you want copies of ALL of the

residential electrical rate sheets (or commercial rate sheets if you're doing this

for a commercial property) that govern the utility company that you buy your

power from.

Don't let them tell you that they'll send you the most common ones... you

want ALL of them. Sometimes you'll find a real sleeper that lets you save big

bucks on your bills!




You may have to pay copying costs to get them, or you may end up getting

them free.

If you have difficulty getting them from your regulatory commission, you

can also get them from your electric company... just be sure that you get ALL

the rates from them, even if you have to ask them 3 or 4 times while you're

there!

In some cases, they may even be available right on the Internet. For

instance, you can click on the link below and see my power company’s rates

(Arizona Public Service, or APS as we refer to them) on the web at:

http://www.aps.com/aps_services/residential/rateplans/resrateplans_11.html

As an example of the diversity in rates, in my home state of Arizona, there

are more than 15 different electrical rates that can be applied to Residential

service, and the cost per Kwh ranges from 2.5 cents per Kwh to 14 cents per

Kwh!

That's a BIG range... the highest rate payers are paying more than 5 times

what the lowest rate payers are paying!



http://www.aps.com/aps_services/residential/rateplans/resrateplans_11.html


If you looked at the APS website above, you saw only 11 rates listed, but

there’s a little note on the web page that says that these are only the “MOST

WIDELY USED” rates, and it gives you an e-mail address to get other rates not

listed. Hmmm, just like I said, keep hammering on your utility until you get

ALL the rates, not just the most widely used rates.

The 'Standard' rate that most people are on in Arizona (the E-12 rate)

averages about 10 cents per Kwh, (but peaks at 12 cents in the summer) so you

can see that there is a lot of room for savings!

If you look at one of my typical electric bills (Appendix A), you'll see that

in 1994, I was paying an average of 4.4 cents per Kwh for my Kwh used. As I

write this in 2003, I’m paying an average of 5.7 cents per Kwh according to my

most recent electric bill (February 2003)… not as good as 1994, but I’m still

saving a lot of money… over $1200 a year!

In Appendix B, you'll find a sample rate sheet for a residential rate (EC-1)

here in Arizona. The sheets you get from your local regulatory board should

look similar, or contain similar information.

The rate sheet shows the basic service charge, monthly minimum, the cost

per Kwh, and the monthly charge for peak capacity used.




This happens to be the rate that my home is currently on, so lets take a

closer look at it for a moment.

You'll note in the rate section, that there are different rates in winter and

summer, which is quite common throughout the country.

Looking at the winter rate, you'll note that I get charged 3.6 cents for each

Kwh, plus I pay $7.64 a month per Kilowatt of Capacity.

“What's a Kilowatt of Capacity?” you ask... good question!

The answer can save you a bundle of money.

Basically, it's a measure of how much electrical generating capacity that the

power company must have available to service your home... and you can easily

control that peak demand... it's determined by the largest electrical load your

home places on the power lines at any one time, averaged over a one hour

period, as explained in the ‘Determination of KW Capacity’ section on the

rate sheet.

In practical terms, here's what it means: If you turned on 3,000 watts worth

of lights and appliances and ran them for 1 hour, that would be a 3 kw demand

(which requires a 3 kw capacity on the part of the power company).




If you ran your 3,000 watt load for 30 minutes, it would be a 1.5 kw

demand, because the capacity is determined by the average load over a 1 hour

period. (3,000 watts on for 30 minutes and off for 30 minutes averages out to

1,500 watts, or 1.5 kw).

I know this may sound confusing to you, but bear with me.

If you decide to go onto the EC-1 rate (or a similar rate in your area), the

power company replaces your regular power meter with a special meter called a

Peak Demand meter, which automatically and continuously measures the 1 hour

Average Peak Demand that your home places on the power lines.

Each month, the meter reader reads both your total electrical consumption

(Kwh), plus your Peak Demand (Kw Demand), then resets your meter, so your

peak demand starts out at zero every month.

If you look again at my sample electrical bill (Appendix A) you'll see two

lines under THIS MONTH'S ELECTRIC BILLING INFORMATION, one

showing total Kwh usage of 2756 Kwh, and one showing Kw demand of 7.6

Kw. These two numbers are used to calculate my electric bill.

Some rates include Time-of-Day usage charges and some combine all three

elements. You'll be able to determine what's available in your area once you

have the rate sheets from your regulatory board or power company.




Now here's where things get interesting.

Many homeowners find that by changing to a peak demand rate like the EC-

1 rate, their electric bills go down without doing anything else!

Why?

Because in many cases, their average peak demand is considerably less than

the average peak demand used by the regulatory board to establish the

'Standard' electric rate... so when they switch from the standard rate to the peak

demand rate, their bill goes down!

"Wait a minute, Dan... that's great if my bill goes down, but what if it goes

up instead of going down?"

That’s another good question! I don't know which way your bill is going to

go, but I'll tell you how you can find out BEFORE you ever have the power

company make any changes, which leads us to Step 2...




Step 2: Profiling Your Home's Electrical Usage.

Before you can determine which electrical rate will get you the lowest

electric bill, and thus the maximum amount of free electricity, you have to

know the pattern of how your home and family consumes electrical energy. It's

easy to find out by reading your electric meter and recording the results, then

doing some simple math to arrive at your peak demand.

To find out your home's typical electrical usage, you'll need to take a

reading from your electric meter once an hour for a 24 hour period. I suggest

you do this for 2 different days, first for a typical weekday, and then for a

typical week-end day.

If you really want to be sure of what you're doing before changing rates,

you would do this for 2 days (weekday and weekend-day) during the summer

and for 2 days during the winter (4 days total), but that might mean waiting 6

months or more before changing rates and starting to receive your free

electricity. I'll leave that choice up to you.

For many people, doing it for just one weekend day (which is a heavy use

day for most people) will probably give you a pretty good idea of your usage so

you can make some decisions about rates.




If you don't know how to read your electrical meter, refer to Appendix C for

instructions. The instructions there are for a typical electrical meter.

If your meter is different than the one shown in Appendix C, contact your

electric company for a brochure or instructions on how to read your own meter.

Most utilities have such a brochure available for the asking, and in addition

will often teach you how to read a meter right at the electric company office on

a demonstration meter.

By the way, some utilities will even set a peak demand meter in your meter

socket for you without changing your rate so that you can take readings and

determine before-hand if it's to your advantage to change rates or not. Check

with your utility to determine if this service is available in your area.

So now you're ready to start taking readings!

Using the print function of your Acrobat PDF reader, print out one of the

Log sheets in Appendix D to record your readings.

Record the time and the Kwh reading each hour, as close to being 60

minutes apart as possible. (Appendix E shows a sample log sheet all filled out).




If you have a watch with a timer on it, set it to go off every 60 minutes (use

the hour chime feature if it has one), and go take your readings every time the

watch goes off.

If you're a few minutes late with a reading, don't worry, everything will be

calculated out OK in the end... just get back on schedule and keep going until

the 24 hours is up.

You might get a family member or neighbor to help if you don't want to

stay up 24 hours... each of you could take a shift. I know it's a little

inconvenient, but for thousands of dollars in free electricity, you can afford to

be a little inconvenienced for a day, can't you?... Just keep thinking about that

trip to Hawaii you're going to take with all the money you'll be saving!

Once you've completed your readings, calculate the number of minutes that

elapsed between each reading by subtracting the time for the previous reading

from the time for the current reading and recording it in the 'Elapsed time'

column. Be sure to record this time in minutes, not hours and minutes. (for

example, 75 minutes, not 1 hour 15 minutes). I’ll explain why in a minute.

Next, subtract the Kwh reading taken the previous hour from the current

Kwh reading and write the result in the 'Kwh Consumed' column.




You can also calculate the Total Kwh Consumed in 24 hours by subtracting

the first Kwh reading from the very last one, and write that total on the line

provided at the bottom of the log.

Now calculate the peak demand for each line in the log and record the result

in the 'Peak Demand Kw' column by using the following formula:

Peak Demand = (Kwh Consumed x 60) / (Minutes Elapsed)

For example, using the figures from the second line (10:04 AM reading) of

the sample log sheet in Appendix E, the Peak Demand would be 2.9 times 60

divided by 64 minutes = 2.7 Kw peak demand.

Finally, look carefully at the numbers in the 'Peak Demand Kw' column,

pick out the highest number you calculated, and write that number on the line

labeled 'Maximum Peak Demand' at the bottom of the log sheet.

Congratulations! You now have a very accurate record of your electrical

consumption on an hour by hour basis. It's the key to determining what your

best electrical rate is.




You know what your peak demand is, you know how much electricity you

consume each hour (information you need when analyzing Time-of-Day rates),

and you know how much electricity you consume in a 24 hour period.

Your results would be even better if you did this every day for a month, but

for now, a single day is close enough.

99.99% of the homeowners in America don't have the information you now

know about your home, and have no basis (other than the power company's

averages, which seldom match most peoples usage) for determining which rate

they should be on.

You are now in a position to determine your best electrical rate, which leads

us to step 3…




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Step 3: Determining Your Best Electrical Rate.

Using information from the log sheet that you prepared in step 2, you can

now complete a worksheet for each electrical rate that your electric company

offers for residential service.

Appendix E shows a sample completed log sheet, and a worksheet based on

the EC-1 rate sheet shown in Appendix B.

Because every rate sheet is going to be different, you'll have to prepare your

own worksheet format based on the conditions of the rate sheet you're

considering.

It's not practical to have a sample work sheet included in this book for every

possible rate sheet in the USA, but by looking over the sample I've prepared in

Appendix E, you should be able to prepare worksheets on your own for the

specific rate sheets you obtained in step 1.

If this seems over your head, perhaps you're not good with math, or none of

this makes sense to you, here's how to get it done the easy way: Go to a local

junior college, get the name of one of the electrical engineering professors, and

talk to him about what you need done. Ask him to give you the name of an




engineering student who would like some extra credit, and have him assign the

preparation of your worksheets to the selected student.

In a few days, you'll have all the answers you need.

Some bright and eager young person will have participated in a real life

engineering exercise, and it will make them feel great!

You might even pay the student a few dollars for their effort and really

make their day!

Another alternative is to take your log sheet and your rate sheets to your

electric company, show them what you've done, and ask for some assistance

from one of their engineers in determining the best rate for your circumstances.

I think you'll find that they'll be absolutely amazed at what you've done, and

will bend over backwards to help you.

My experience has been that they are most helpful, particularly when you've

shown some initiative in taking the measurements and doing your homework by

learning about the rates available.




Step 4: Some Final Thoughts Before Changing Rates.

OK, you've taken all your readings, prepared your worksheets, and you're

about ready to change to that great rate that's going to get you Thousands of

dollars in Free Electricity! Before you actually make the change, here's some

things to consider:

1. Remember that your usage in the winter will be different than your usage

in the summer, spring and fall. Make sure that you have considered the

ramifications of such things as Heat Pump heater strips kicking in on cold

winter nights (these can send your peak demand right out through the roof!),

pool pump motors running in the summer, etc.

2. In some areas, once you change to one of these discount rates, you may

not be able to change back to the standard rate for 12 months.

Be sure you really want to make the change before you actually do it. DON'T

RUSH INTO THIS WITHOUT DOUBLE-CHECKING EVERYTHING.

I spent over a year taking readings like those on the log sheets every few weeks

and doing calculations with a spreadsheet program to make sure that I wanted to

change rates. Obviously, it has paid off big for me (over $16,436 saved to date)




and it can pay off big for you... just be sure about your figures before making

any changes in your electric rate.

3. Realize that there are a number of things that can be done to considerably

improve the savings you receive on these special rates.

While many homeowners can achieve good savings simply by changing to a

more favorable rate as shown by the log sheet and work sheet analysis you've

gone through, some homeowners will need to make changes to equipment in

their home to achieve worthwhile savings on their electrical bills. These

changes are discussed in detail later in the section titled ‘Improving Your

Savings’.

4. Finally, and most importantly, discuss your proposed rate change with

someone knowledgeable in your community on the rates available and the

experiences other homeowners in your area have had when using these special

saving rates. Talk to some homeowners already on the rates, and find out what

savings they have achieved, and find out if they had to make any special

changes in their homes to get those savings.

Talk this over with someone in the customer service or engineering

department of your power company, find out what special programs they have

for homeowners like you who are interested in saving money.




Some power companies have excellent programs for helping you make the

right choices, and may even offer low-cost or no-cost financing for special

equipment... some will even buy it for you and invoice you for it with low

monthly payments on your electric bill over 2 to 4 years time (essentially no

cost financing).

These special electrical rates were set up by the power companies to help

them solve the problem of keeping peak demand down, and they will do

everything possible to help you take advantage of these special programs... all

you have to do is ASK!




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Step 5: Improving Your Savings

OK, you've changed to one of these wonderful dollar saving rates and it's

working out great so far. You're getting free electricity, and lovin' every minute

of it!

I have good news for you... it can get better... a lot better, in fact, with a few

simple steps.

Remember when I was talking about peak demand?... Peak demand is how

much power your home demands from the power lines during any one hour

period.

Many of the dollar saving rates (you notice I call them 'dollar saving

rates'?... most people care more about saving DOLLARS, not energy, so I think

'dollar saving rates' is a more appropriate term)... anyway, most of the dollar

saving rates will involve a peak demand charge, so you need to learn how to

control that peak demand in your home and keep it as low as possible.

In my home, every Kw of peak demand that I can eliminate gets me 225

Kwh of free electricity... that's 2 or 3 DAYS of FREE ELECTRICITY EVERY

MONTH FOR EACH Kw OF PEAK DEMAND I ELIMINATE... MONTH

AFTER MONTH AFTER MONTH! Now that’s exciting!




You can control peak demand manually, through the use of timers and

electrical interlocks automatically or through the use of a device known in the

industry as a load controller. Lets talk about them in that order.

Manual Control Of Peak Demand

This one is easy to talk about, but maybe not so easy to implement...

because if you forget even once a month, your peak demand meter reading can

go up several Kw and cost you $40 or $50 that month.

To implement manual control of peak demand, you simply make sure that

you don't run high-energy consuming appliances all at the same time.

For example, don't run the dishwasher when your electric oven is on. Don't

run the vacumn cleaner in the bedrooms when the washer is running or

someone is using the electric oven or stove.

You get the idea... look around your own home, make a list of the high

energy consuming appliances, and try to run no more than one of them at a

time.

Manual control of peak demand is possible, but it's awkward, and the

change in lifestyle required to implement it is more than most folks care to put

into practice.




Using Timers And Electrical Interlocks To Control Peak Demand

Controlling peak demand this way is much easier for most folks, and it can

be implemented for less than $200. That investment can be easily recovered in

4 to 6 months, and then it continues paying $30 to $50 dollar a month dividends

for years to come... you'll be hard pressed to find ANY investment that I know

of that returns your principle in 6 months and then continues doubling your

original investment every year, year after year!

Timers can be purchased for $10 to $40 each at most electrical supply

houses or home improvement centers and wired to such appliances as water

heaters, pool pumps, dishwashers, heat pumps and air conditioners.

Once you have several timers installed, simply set them so that none of the

appliances come on at the same time.

Set the Water Heater to run in the early morning and late afternoon hours so

you have hot water for morning and/or evening showers and washing clothes.

Set the A/C or heat pump timer to come on when the water heater is off, and

the dishwasher to come on at night when everything else is shut off.




If you get everything set up right, you'll rarely have any inconvenience, and

you won't have to worry about forgetting and running up a big peak demand bill

like you can with manual control.

Electrical Interlocks are even better than timers, because they reduce the

inconvenience factor to almost zero.

An electrical interlock consists of an electrical relay that is controlled by

one appliance to disable another appliance. For example, a relay can be

installed in the electrical supply to your water heater in such a way that when

the compressor in your heat pump (or Air Conditioner) comes on, the water

heater heating element turns off, thus preventing both from being on at the same

time.

Since the heat pump or A/C cycles on and off according to the setting of it's

thermostat, the water heater gets to heat water during the off cycle of the heat

pump.

I use this type of an interlock in my home. It works great, it results in

almost $20 a month in peak demand cost reduction, , and in 13 years, we've

seldom run out of hot water (and I have a family of 8) so it’s well worth the $20

investment in the interlock!




This type of interlock can also be installed between the water heater and

washer, water heater and dishwasher, heat pump and pool pump, etc. Cost is

about $20 for the relay, which most electrical supply houses will carry.

Timers and electrical interlocks can be combined together also.

If you're on a rate that has Time-of-Day charges either separately or

combined with peak demand charges, timers can really save you a lot of money.

If you can't do the installation of these yourself, any electrician worth his

salt can install several timers and relays in half a days time.

Peak Demand Control With A Load Controller

Load Controllers are really the cats meow when it comes to getting you free

electricity, especially if your home frequently experiences a high peak demand

right now.

Load controllers work by continuously monitoring the electrical peak

demand your home is asking for, and automatically turning off one or more

high energy consuming appliances when the demand starts to go too high.

Usually the load controller is wired to control your water heater, your heat

pump or air conditioner, and one or two other big appliances.




If somebody turns on a bunch of lights, or a hair dryer, toaster or electric

range, the load controller will first shut off the water heater, and then continue

monitoring the peak demand.

If the demand remains too high, the load controller will start shutting down

the rest of the appliances it can control until it gets the peak demand down

where you've told it to keep it.

Most of the time, you won't even know it's working. It will cycle the

appliances off, then on, over a several minute period, until whatever caused the

big demand in the first place is finally shut off, and then the load controller

turns all of the appliances back on.

A good load controller can take a home with a 15 or 20 Kw peak demand

and keep it down in the 5 to 7 Kw range, totally automatically and without

affecting your lifestyle.

If you're paying $10 a month per Kw of peak demand like we do here in

Arizona, that can mean as much as $150 a month in free electricity.

Load controllers range in price from $500 to over $2,000, but they can put

thousands of dollars worth of free electricity into your home over the years, so

they're usually well worth the investment.




Many utility companies, and some state agencies can arrange low-cost or

no-cost loans for these devices.

Some utility companies give full or partial credit on your electric bill if you

show them a receipt for buying one, and some utilities will even install them for

you and spread the cost over many months by adding a small charge to your

electric bill until it's paid off, frequently at no interest.

The savings generated by these devices normally more than pay for their

monthly payments, so they are an excellent investment.

Check with your utility company first about these devices before hiring a

contractor, you may be pleasantly surprised.

If your electric company doesn't handle load controllers, they may be able

to give you a list of contractors in your neighborhood that sell and install them,

or you can find companies that deal in load controllers in the Yellow Pages

under 'Load Controllers' or under 'Electrical Contractors'.

Computer Control Of Your Home's Electrical Usage

If you really want the ultimate method of controlling your home's electrical

usage, it's definitely computer control.




There are a variety of software programs that will run on either Apple or

IBM computers that permit real-time interactive control of your electrical

usage.

Most use what's called the X-10 system, which consists of receiver modules

that control electrical loads (such as lighting, heating, washing machines, etc.)

and transmitters that send signals over your existing power lines to the

receiver/controller modules to control the loads.

A typical receiver module has 2 dials on it to set it's 'address', and plugs into

a wall outlet. The load to be controlled then plugs into the module, and the

module is turned on or off remotely by a transmitter console.

In the early days of these systems (mid 1980's) control was done with a

console that had 4, 8 or 16 buttons on it where each button would control one

remote module by sending signals to it's specific address to turn it on or off, or

dim it in the case of incandescent lighting.

Since then, several companies have developed software that allows a

computer to send signals over the power line and control the loads. Because the

computer is 'intelligent' and can make decisions based on input from various

sensors, it can work continuously to manage your home's electrical load. It's

really a glorified load controller, but far more flexible and configurable by the

homeowner.




Another variation on this theme is a dedicated 'black-box' that is

programmed by a personal computer, then disconnected from the PC and the

black-box continues doing the control of the house without tying up your

personal computer. Prices range between $300 and $1000 for these types of

dedicated devices.

If you're interested in this type of system, a good source of information on

computer control of your home is a magazine called Electronic House. They are

one of the best resources for home automation information I have found. You

can click the link below, or copy and past it into your browser:

http://www.electronichouse.com



http://www.electronichouse.com/


The Free Electricity Income Opportunity

There is an exciting opportunity to earn a substantial income by helping spread the news about discounted electricity to people throughout the United States. Many people, regardless of whether they live in areas where discount electric rates are available or not, remain completely ignorant of the fact that these discount rates exist, and how to go about taking advantage of them

You more than likely received this report as a bonus for subscribing to The MoneyMinder Report, which is a paid subscription online newsletter published twice monthly devoted to educating people about how to save money around their homes, and how to make money on the internet.

Subscribers of The MoneyMinder Report can easily earn monthly residual incomes ranging from a few hundred dollars a month up to thousands of dollars a month simply by referring people to our website. The MoneyMinder Report pays out more than 50% of it’s monthly subscription fees to it’s subscribers, who are also affiliates, as monthly recurring commissions for life!

If you are not familiar with this program because you received this report in some other way than as a subscriber to The MoneyMinder Report, you should immediately go to our website and learn more about this exciting income opportunity. It could make you financially independent! The address is: http://www.HowToGetFreeElectricity.com



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In Conclusion

Like all information that we accumulate in our brain, you have to do

something with it for the knowledge to be of any value.

You now have the key of knowledge on how to get free electricity in your

home... what you do with that key is completely up to you.

I know that what I've revealed to you is worth thousands of dollars, because

it's already put that much money in my pocket, and it can do the same for you if

you will simply take action on what you now know.

I would be very interested in hearing what your experiences are as you

implement what you've learned. Just drop me an email at the address below and

let me know how things turn out for you.

[email protected]



mailto:[email protected]?subject=Feedback about Free Electricity


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APPENDIX

Appendix A .......................... Electric Bills Showing Savings for Dan Vester

Appendix B ..........................................................Sample Electric Rate Sheet

Appendix C ..................................................How To Read an Electric Meter

Appendix D ............................................. Electric Meter Reading Log Forms

Appendix E ............................................. Sample Log Sheet and Work Sheet

Appendix F ......................Lowest & Highest Typical Monthly Electric Bills




Appendix A -- Electric Bills Showing Savings for Dan Vester




Appendix A (continued) -- Electric Bills Showing Savings for Dan Vester




Appendix B -- Sample Electric Rate Sheet




Appendix C -- How To Read an Electric Meter

You read the pointers fromleft to right. The readingabove is 66,482 kilowatt-hours

The new reading above is66,649 kilowatt-hours. Thedifference 167 kilowatt-hours is the amount ofelectricity used.

Simply read the pointers from left to right, and then record the smaller of the two numbers on either side of the pointer.

When the pointer seems to be directly on a number, look at the dial to the right; if the pointer on the right side dial has passed zero, then write down the number that the left side dial pointer seems to be pointing to; if the pointer on the right side dial has NOT passed zero, then write down the lower number from the left side dial.

You will need to subtract the previous reading from the new reading to determine the number of kilowatt-hours used since the previous reading.

Some larger users have meters that require the reading to be multiplied by a multiplier in order to figure kilowatt-hours. To find out if you have a multiplier greater than one, check the space on your bill that is labeled “meter multiplier”, or call your power company.




Appendix D -- Electric Meter Reading Log Forms Month: ________ Recorded by: _______________________________ Meter # ______________

Property Description: _______________________________________________________________

Time of Reading Kwh Reading Elapsed time Kwh consumed Peak Demand Kw (minutes)

Total Kwh Consumed (24 hours): ____________ Notes: _______________________________ Maximum Peak Demand: ___________________ _______________________________




Appendix E -- Sample Log Sheet and Work Sheet Month: January Recorded by: Dan Vester Meter # 814722 . Property Description: Residence in Dewey . Time of Reading Kwh Reading Elapsed time Kwh consumed Peak Demand Kw (minutes)

9:00 am 45128.3 10:04 am 45131.2 64 min 2.9 2.7 11:00 am 45133.9 56 min 2.7 2.9 11:59 am 45136.6 59 min 2.7 2.7 1:15 pm 45140.9 76 min 4.3 3.4 2:00 pm 45144.5 45 min 3.6 4.8 3:00 pm 45147.9 60 min 3.4 3.4 4:05 pm 45151.0 65 min 3.1 2.9 5:00 pm 45155.1 55 min 4.1 4.5 6:03 pm 45162.9 63 min 7.8 7.4 7:01 pm 45170.3 58 min 7.4 7.7 8:00 pm 45178.1 59 min 7.8 7.9 9:03 pm 45184.0 63 min 5.9 5.6 10:00 pm 45189.1 57 min 5.1 5.4 11:05 pm 45193.2 65 min 4.1 3.8 12:03 am 45196.6 58 min 3.4 3.5 1:00 am 45201.2 57 min 4.6 4.8 2:13 am 45206.4 73 min 5.2 4.3 3:00 am 45211.8 47 min 5.4 6.9 4:03 am 45216.2 63 min 4.4 4.2 5:00 am 45222.6 57 min 6.4 6.7 6:01 am 45231.4 61 min 8.8 8.7 7:03 am 45240.2 62 min 8.8 8.5 8:10 am 45247.2 67 min 7.0 6.3 9:00 am 45251.3 50 min 4.1 4.9 Total Kwh Consumed (24 hours): 123.0 Notes: Sample Log Sheet . Maximum Peak Demand: 8.7 Kw _______________________________




Sample Work Sheet

This is a sample worksheet for Arizona Public Service Rate Schedule EC-1 (shown in Appendix B). This worksheet is based on data from the Sample Log Sheet on the first page of Appendix E for January for Dan Vester's residence in Dewey, Arizona. A worksheet similar to this should be done for each rate schedule you have available for electrical service in your area, and comparisons made between each work sheet to determine the rate that will provide the most free electricity (lowest bill).

Step A: Use the November-April (winter) rate from the EC-1 rate sheet

(Appendix B) since the readings were taken in January. The first item listed is the basic service charge.

Basic Service Charge = $10.00

Step B: Calculate the charge for peak demand by multiplying $7.64 (from EC-1 rate sheet) by the 8.7 Kw peak demand noted on the Sample Log Sheet.

Demand Charge = $7.64 x 8.7 Kw = $66.47 Step C: Calculate the charge for Kwh consumed by multiplying $0.036684

(from EC-1 rate sheet) times 123 Kwh consumed as shown on the Sample Log Sheet, and multiply that figure times 30 days, which is the average number of days in a billing cycle.

Kwh charge = $0.036684 x 123 Kwh x 30 days = $135.36

======

Step D: The total monthly bill equals the amounts calculated in Steps A, B and C added together.

Total Monthly Bill (excluding taxes) = $211.83

NOTE: A quick calculation from the Standard Rate sheet (E-10) for Arizona Public

Service shows the bill would have been $320.12 under the standard rate. The EC-1 rate therefore provided $108.29 worth of FREE Electricity in January to Happy Homeowner Dan Vester!




Appendix F -- Lowest & Highest Typical Monthly Electric Bills

Lowest and Highest Typical Monthly Electric Bills (in dollars) for Residential Service at the 500-kWh and 750-kWh Levels within State

State 500 Kwh Lowest Bill

500 Kwh Highest Bill

750 Kw h L ow est B i l l

750 Kwh Highest Bill

Alabama 26.62 36.89 39.10 52.75 Alaska 36.00 56.53 51.00 78.27

Arizona 30.94 58.96 45.36 82.71 Arkansas 22.33 51.25 30.45 73.19 California 23.70 58.45 35.13 95.37 Colorado 17.00 44.25 23.75 64.88

Connecticut 36.22 54.76 51.63 71.70 Delaware 40.99 48.35 56.01 67.54

District of Columbia 25.97 25.97 37.65 37.65 Florida 27.30 54.01 39.45 76.58

Georgia 16.00 46.44 24.00 63.91 Hawaii 45.11 62.87 64.66 91.81 Idaho 20.35 29.57 29.03 44.35

Illinois 26.56 46.35 38.34 67.40 Indiana 26.93 53.42 34.56 76.60

Iowa 21.50 46.32 29.75 60.99 Kansas 24.86 57.60 35.11 82.52

Kentucky 21.78 40.86 28.49 54.19 Louisiana 22.72 56.39 34.08 81.59

Maine 34.15 47.93 50.44 71.89 Maryland 31.93 48.21 41.37 63.38

Massachusetts 25.45 61.39 34.45 83.61 Michigan 20.50 56.39 29.25 81.59

Minnesota 14.95 44.53 21.45 59.32 Mississippi 26.27 49.32 38.65 62.28

Missouri 18.23 50.49 25.73 69.55 Montana 20.50 37.86 29.25 55.29

Nebraska 23.30 41.89 30.65 56.77 Nevada 22.00 50.28 31.25 74.27

New Hampshire 36.97 55.96 50.17 72.74 New Jersey 43.49 55.23 58.65 80.66 New Mexico 25.58 54.15 30.23 76.29

New York 10.68 62.35 17.06 82.69 North Carolina 33.80 51.05 47.04 73.33

North Dakota 22.50 40.18 30.00 53.72 Ohio 22.81 52.63 32.07 73.01

Oklahoma 25.69 46.40 35.04 66.90 Oregon 15.83 29.00 21.50 40.97

Pennsylvania 18.00 57.54 25.50 70.68 Rhode Island 42.73 50.68 53.36 75.99

South Carolina 29.79 47.05 41.67 67.58 South Dakota 16.75 51.81 23.63 73.13

Tennessee 25.97 32.56 38.27 46.52 Texas 19.44 51.54 25.39 76.21

Utah 23.80 44.79 29.39 66.31 Vermont 27.45 56.50 43.83 66.94 Virginia 27.62 40.25 39.93 57.50

Washington 8.90 29.80 13.35 39.70 West Virginia 28.06 42.06 39.72 59.02

Wisconsin 21.10 35.85 30.16 48.75 Wyoming 21.50 47.69 30.00 63.20

kWh = Kilowatthour.

Note: Data are typical net monthly bills based on the rate in effect on January 1 of the reporting year that is applicable to the majority of consumers either for the annual period or for the utility-specified winter period.

Source: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-213, "Typical Net Monthly Bills."




If You Decide To Do NOTHING!

Some folks who read this book will decide that this may be too difficult to

do, they won’t understand it, or for a variety of other reasons, they end up doing

nothing with this information.

If you find yourself in that category, let me suggest that you do just this one

thing… Call your Power Company and tell them that you need to lower your

electric bill, and could they please discuss alternate rate plans and other

suggestions for how to reduce your electric bill.

I know from experience that the steps I’ve outlined in this book will result

in nearly MAXIMUM savings, but there are other ways to accomplish the goal

of reducing your electric bill. Don’t give up, at least call your power company

and discuss it with them!

I wish you the best!

Sincerely

Dan Vester



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