Energy Analysis

Energy Analysis Offered Online

By Ray Tuttle, World Staff Writer

Do you know how many interior walls are in your house? How many windows? How thick is the insulation in your attic? How many meals do you fix in the microwave?

Answer those questions and you are on your way to nailing down your energy costs. Residential customers of Public Service Company of Oklahoma can scrutinize their energy costs by accessing one of the first online energy analysis services available in the United States.

PSO and its parent company, Dallas based Central and South West Corp., on Wednesday announced the release of HomeVIEW which can be found on CSW's Internet home page (http:/ /homel.viewtechfinancialservices.com/csw/intro.htm).

HomeVIEW is more interactive and comprehensive than similar programs, said Stan Whiteford, PSO spokesman. "One of the features the HomeVIEW supplies is 12 months of the customer's electricity billing information as part of the evaluation," he said. The analysis also provides an opportunity for the consumer to add other energy sources, such as natural gas usage, to produce a comprehensive picture of energy usage.

"The program is rate specific, using the customer's actual electric rate to analyze and calculate energy cost savings," Whiteford said.

After accessing the site, customers enter their PSO account number to keep the analysis secure and confidential. In addition, have your last 12 natural-gas utility bills handy.

Be prepared to spend at least 30 minutes answering questions about your home and appliance usage. The analysis walks you through your home -- square footage, insulation ratings, number of windows, etc. -- heating, cooling and lifestyle.

Participants receive a two page report enabling them to make adjustments in their energy usage. "This allows people to get something tangible from us over the Internet, that they can translate into cost savings, if they chose," Whiteford said. There are more than 4 million customers in CSW's four state service area of Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, said John Saenz, vice president of CSW Marketing in Tulsa.

"This program provides another way of serving and interacting with our customers. It's another step in moving toward time of-day pricing energy management for the home and remote metering," he said. It also takes into account 15 weather zones representative of the diverse weather throughout CSW's territory. Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. is planning to introduce interactive features on its home page in the future, said spokeswoman Charlene Bassett.

Oklahoma City based Oklahoma Gas & Electric has an Internet site, but no capability for customers to access their account information, said spokesman Grant Ringel.

Since the early days of energy conservation awareness, PSO has offered home energy audits, Whiteford said. "This is something our customers can do at their own leisure at home," he said.

Reprinted from Tulsa World,September 19, 1996.