The health and safety of our environment is important not only to Grand Bahama Power but also to many of those in our region. In an effort to reduce energy consumption and preserve our environment, please consider the ways that you can make a difference.
Energy Saving Tips
- Lower the temperature on your electric water heater to 120 (F) degrees. Turn it off when leaving or extended periods of time. Electric water heaters can be set on timers; gas heaters must be set manually.
- Set refrigerator temperatures between 37 and 40 degrees (F). Clean the coils. Keep the refrigerator stocked; it takes more energy to cool an empty refrigerator.
- Consider replacing your older model refrigerator, especially if older than 10 years. Older models can often use over 3 times the energy of newer models.
- When washing clothes, use warm or cold water and rinse with cold. Air dry clothes, but not indoors as this creates unwanted mold and moisture problems.
- Shut off lights, computers and other electronic appliances when you’re not using them. Many computer monitors have a sleep mode setting which, when activated, greatly reduces energy consumption.
- Use a microwave or toaster oven for smaller items.
- Examine and adjust, if necessary, weather stripping, door sweeps, and thresholds.
Water Heating Tips
- Use low flow fixtures/faucet aerators.
- Don’t let hot water run when shaving, doing dishes, etc.
- Do only full loads of wash.
- Use cold or warm water wash instead of hot to save.
- Water heating accounts for as much as 20 percent of your utility bill. Insulate the hot water tank to reduce heat loss and save energy.
- Gradually turn down the temperature on the hot water heater until you just barely run out of hot water. Then, turn it back up just a notch for comfort.
- Fix leaky faucets. One drop per second can add up to 165 gallons a month – that’s more than one person uses in two weeks.
- Take a shower instead of a bath and you’ll use less hot water.
- An old hot water heater builds up deposits inside and becomes less efficient. Install a new energy efficient, well-insulated hot water heater.
- An effective energy saving tip is to compare the Energy Guide labels before buying a new hot water heater.
- Don’t replace the hot water heater with a bigger one than you really need. Select the proper size to save energy.
- When your old hot water heater breaks, replace it with a tankless model
- One of the little-known ways to save energy is to drain a quart of water from your hot water tank every few months to remove sediment that impedes heat transfer and lowers its efficiency.
- Lighting accounts for about 15 percent of a typical residential utility bill. So, turn off the lights when not in use.
- Electric lighting also adds extra heat to a space that must be cooled by air conditioning in the summer.
- Recessed can lights typically use 75- or 100-watt incandescent floodlight bulbs. Replace them with 50-watt halogen floodlight bulbs to enjoy a 30 to 50 percent energy savings – and improve the quality of the light.
- To improve energy efficiency even more, replace the incandescent light bulbs in your home with energy saving compact fluorescent lamps.
- Under-the-counter fluorescent lights in the kitchen give great energy savings. Most of the time, you can get by using them alone.
- Install dimmer switches to save energy and extend the life of light bulbs
- Removing one light bulb from your garage door opener is a creative energy saving tip.
- For more energy efficiency, remove both light bulbs from your garage door opener and replace the garage wall light switch with a motion sensor control. The light will come on when someone enters the garage and go off more quickly, automatically.
- Install low-voltage lighting for outside illumination.
- For outdoor security lights, install lights with motion detectors so they only come on when needed.
- Look for the Energy Star label for when buying home appliances.
- Use energy saving products such as small electric pans or toaster ovens to cook small meals instead of heating your large stove or oven.
- Save considerable energy by using your microwave oven and pressure cooker whenever possible. They cook quickly using less energy.
- Foods and vegetables will take less time to cook if they are cut into small pieces.
- Foods will cook faster and use less energy if you put lids on the pots and pans and make sure they’re the right size for the burner.
- Preheat the oven only when the recipe calls for it. There’s no need to preheat the broiler.
- Save energy by baking an extra dish or cooking entire meals in the oven at the same time.
- When you open the oven door to peek at food inside you lose 25-75 degrees of heat. Look through the oven window or wait until the food is almost done before opening the door.
- If you have a self-cleaning oven, clean it immediately after use. Because it’s already hot, it will take less energy to get to the heat cleaning stage.
- Let hot foods cool on the counter before putting them in your refrigerator or freezer. Hot foods cause the unit to work longer and harder.
- If cold air is escaping around the refrigerator door seal, adjust or replace the seal. To check, close the door on a dollar bill. If it’s easy to pull out, cold air is escaping.
- Remove old items from the refrigerator regularly, so you don’t waste electricity keeping them cold all the time.
- Set the temperature in your refrigerator between 35 and 38 degrees F.
- Keep the temperature on the freezer between 0 and 5 degrees F.
- Turn off the “heat dry” feature of your dishwasher. Then, when the load is finished open the door and let the dishes air-dry on their own.
- Run the dishwasher only with a full load.
- Using the garbage disposal less and the garbage can more is a good energy saving tip.
- Turn off the TV, VCR, stereo or radio when not in use.
- Turning off the water when brushing teeth or shaving.
- Don’t use the toilet as a wastebasket or ashtray – it wastes water every time you flush it.
- Activate the “sleep” feature of your home office equipment (PC, fax, printer, scanner, monitor) so they automatically power down when not in use.
- Turn off your home office equipment when not in use.
- Purchase a good selection of high-quality rechargeable batteries and a charging unit. You’ll save money in the long run and keep hazardous materials out of our environment.
- Reduce the number of hours your equipment is left running unnecessarily. TVs, computers, monitors, printers, copiers and scanners should be turned off if they are not needed.
- Avoid leaving transformers and charging units for appliances and battery-operated devices (e.g cell phones, tools) on when they are not being used.
- Use your microwave oven as much as possible in the summer rather than your regular oven. You’ll stay cooler and save energy.
- Defrost your refrigerator’s freezer regularly so it can operate more efficiently.
- Use the right temperature setting for your refrigerator and freezer. Keeping foods colder than necessary costs more and rarely pays off in extended shelf life.
- Vacuum and clean the condenser coils, motor and evaporater pan of your refrigerator once or twice a year.
- Leave space between your refrigerator and the surrounding walls and cabinets to allow air to circulate around the coils.
- Organize your refrigerator and freezer to avoid leaving the door open while you locate items.
- Thaw, or partially thaw, frozen foods in the refrigerator before cooking. The frozen food will reduce the cooling requirements. Avoid putting hot dishes in the refrigerator.
- Put full loads in the dishwasher and use the ‘energy saving’ setting for the drying cycle or let dishes air dry.
- Freezer efficiency is increased by keeping it full.
- Use the energy-saver feature of your computer monitor (if available) to turn it off after it is not in use for more than 15 minutes if you leave your computer on.
Fuel Charge Information
Like many other jurisdictions, Grand Bahama Power recovers the amount it spends on fuel through a Fuel Charge. This is an open, transparent process that is calculated in accordance with a formula approved by Grand Bahama Power’s regulator, the Grand Bahama Port Authority.
The fuel charge is determined each month based on two factors:
The actual cost Grand Bahama Power paid for the fuel it is now burning; and,
The amount of fuel Grand Bahama Power uses in that month to produce electricity.
The total amount (cost x amount used) is divided by the total kWh’s used on the island during that month to arrive at a cent per kWh cost (¢/kWh) that is charged to each customer.
2017 Average Fuel Charge: 10.00¢/kWh
2016 Average Fuel Charge: 9.88¢/kWh
2015 Average Fuel Charge: 12.61¢/kWh
2014 Average Fuel Charge: 15.49¢/kWh
2013 Average Fuel Charge: 16.79¢/kWh
2012 Average Fuel Charge: 20.69 ¢/kWh
2011 Average Fuel Charge: 20.6981 ¢/kWh
The amount paid for fuel is based on world oil market prices. Grand Bahama Power does not profit from the price or quantity of fuel that it uses.
GBPC’s hedging program, which began in 2013 has allowed GBPC to stabilize the cost of fuel for customers and provide protection from the volatile oil market. The program is a success and has helped to manage electricity costs to customers, and provide a significant degree of price predictability.
GBPC’s fuel charge of 10.00¢ has remained unchanged from 2017 and rates will remain unchanged to 2021.
Customer Rate = Base Rate + Fuel Charge
The rate that is paid by Grand Bahama Power customers is calculated in two parts:
The base rate reflects GBPC’s operating expenses, depreciation of capital assets, and a return on capital investment. The fuel charge is the actual cost of fuel used to generate electricity and is a full pass-through mechanism which generates no profit to the utility.