Would you put money into a savings account and never withdraw it?

That’s actually similar to what most Massachusetts utility customers end up doing when it comes to paying their electricity bill.

Here is the scoop: Not that long ago, I was having my home insulated and it seemed miraculous that out of a $5,000 job, all I had to pay was less than $1100.  On top of that, I got about 20 free LED bulbs that are reducing my electricity bill noticeably. I found myself marveling about these incentives to a friend: “The utility companies seem to be shelling out thousands of dollars to their customers. There seems to be lots of money in Massachusetts for energy efficiency.”

The reply came quickly: “Well, it’s really not a miracle. The state makes sure that the utilities add a surcharge on every household’s electric bill and that money is handed back to customers in the form of energy efficiency audits and improvements or assistance in energy expenses.”

Curious? Have a peek at the back of your electricity bill and you will find that every month, depending on your energy use, you are paying a small amount into a fund for energy efficiency and green power.

This so-called energy conservation charge is collected to promote energy efficiency and is then returned back to customers through energy-efficiency programs, services, incentives, and rebates – the benefits you have access to when having an energy audit through the utilities’ programs, insulating your home, or replacing your appliances with more efficient models.

So in a certain way, without doing a thing, you are already participating in moving Massachusetts towards a less costly energy future.

And doesn’t this make energy efficiency even more of a no-brainer? If you are a customer of any of the major utilities, you can easily calculate how much you personally have been paying towards the utility’s fund.  Why not get that money back – and more. In fact, relatively few people actually make use of the programs so far.  It’d be in all of our interest to change that! A local non-profit, call ener-G-save can help:  www.ener-G-save.com. Find out more about the programs and start saving on your utility bills.