On average, heating and cooling your home contributes to about half of your energy costs.

According to the Department of Energy, lowering your thermostat 7-10 degrees for 8 hours a day can save you 10% on your energy bills. But remembering to turn that dial can be harder than it seems. Smart thermostats can help you do just that without having to think about it when you’re in a rush to get out the door or ready to hit the hay after a long day.

While a programmable thermostat allows you to set a schedule with various temperatures for when you are home, away, and asleep, most people don’t follow the same routine every day and improperly program their devices. Those extra hours of heating can add up on your energy bill.

A smart thermostat learns your habits and programs itself automatically. It also allows you to program the temperature of your home remotely from your phone, so that even when you’re away, you can make sure you’re not unnecessarily using energy. Nest, one smart thermostat brand, published a white paper estimating annual savings of about 10%-12% on heating and 15% on cooling.

As a part of SVCE’s ongoing rollout of programs to support our carbon-free mission, we are pleased to announce that we have issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) for a consultant to help us develop an electric vehicle charging infrastructure plan.

Transportation electrification is the single largest opportunity for decarbonization in our area, and this plan will keep us moving forward strategically on behalf of our member communities. The RFP will help us understand the current state of the electric vehicle market, what the barriers are to successfully transforming it and some specific programs that we can launch quickly to make a big impact.

If you’d like to read more about this effort, please visit our Solicitations webpage.