At least we don’t live in Siberia

Published 8:49 pm Monday, February 10, 2014

The cold weather we’ve experienced of late has kept plenty of folks shivering in the last month and a half or so. It seems there have been very few days since Christmas that were even fit for living things to be outside.

The low temperature of negative 4 degrees we hit a couple weeks ago, however, seemed downright balmy compared with the negative 49 degrees recorded in Siberia when Mary Carillo, that Olympics-coverage staple next to Bob Costas, visited a while back to film a special to run during the prime-time broadcasts from Sochi. I was interested to learn that more than 38 million people actually live in Siberia — and, unbelievably, they like it there.

The relative warmth here compared to Siberia didn’t stop Dominion Virginia Power customers from breaking an Olympic-sized record of their own on Jan. 7. Between 7 and 8 a.m. that day, the millions of us who draw our power from Dominion used 19,730 megawatts of electricity. Company spokeswoman Bonita Harris tells me that was a record for electricity demand in the wintertime.

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But it got better three weeks later when, on Jan. 30, we broke our own record, using 19,784 megawatts of electricity. Yep, you guessed it — that was the day the mercury plummeted to negative 4 and, I hear, at least one Suffolk resident called a friend to ask if the friend’s thermometer showed the same temperature because the caller feared his thermometer was broken.

Unfortunately, all this cold means many of us will be shelling out for our heating bills when they arrive in our mailbox this month. Since it doesn’t look like the cold is letting up anytime soon, Harris gave me some tips for reducing the pain next month. They range from the obvious, like turning off lights and appliances when you don’t need them, to things many people may not think about, like closing the flue on your fireplace to prevent heat from escaping. The full list of tips is on Dominion’s website, www.dom.com.

For those who heat their homes with electricity, Dominion also offers budget billing, which allows you to pay the same amount throughout the year based on your average usage in the last year. At the end of each 12-month period, the average is re-calculated, and any overpayment or underpayment is accounted for in the new monthly payment. This can also be helpful for folks who like their homes cold in the summer but don’t want to see their bill go up.

The company also offers several conservation programs to offer financial incentives that help make a home more energy efficient. Again, you can check their website for details on these programs.

And there’s always Dominion’s EnergyShare program, which assists families facing financial challenges or crises who are having trouble paying their heating bill, regardless of whether the bill comes from Dominion or they heat their home through another source like oil or wood. You can help your neighbors stay warm by donating to EnergyShare. Mail a check to EnergyShare, P.O. Box 91717, Richmond, VA 23291-9717.

Those needing assistance from EnergyShare should contact the Salvation Army, 539-5201 or 400 Bank St., to be screened for eligibility.