As frigid temperatures threaten the region, Appalachian Power is offering tips to customers for staying warm and saving money this winter.
To lessen the burden of seasonal spikes in bills, customers can sign up for the Average Monthly Payment (AMP) plan, which evens out payments through the year to account for upticks in usage caused by heating and cooling. Bills adjust on a 12-month rolling average and change only slightly each month. There’s no settle-up month. To sign up for this plan, customers can visit www.AppalachianPower.com/AMP or call 1-800-956-4237.
Other tips for customers to prepare for frigid weather:
- Limit your use of space heaters. Electricity to run just one 1,500-watt space heater can cost more than $4 a day, or $30 a week and $130 a month. If you use more than one space heater, your costs go up even more.
- Have your furnace and ductwork inspected annually and change filters regularly.
- Caulk, seal and weatherstrip openings from your home to the outside.
- If you have a heat pump, change the heat setting very gradually to avoid putting it into costly emergency heating mode. Know that in very cold weather, the emergency or auxiliary mode will run, increasing electricity usage.
TakeCharge, Appalachian Power’s energy efficiency program, offers many programs to help customers save money on their energy bills. For more information, visit www.TakeChargeWV.com.
Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric companies in the United States. AEP is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to customers. AEP’s more than 18,000 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 219,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 32,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 4,340 megawatts of renewable energy.