Winter 2010

Minnesota Power’s Conservation Incentives can help you save High Efficiency Furnace with Electronically Commutated Motor $200 rebate through Dec. 31, 2010.

Drain Water Heat Recovery (DWHR) $400 rebate through Dec. 31, 2010 for Minnesota Power customers who heat their water with electricity for installation of DWHR systems by trained installer. Bonus of $50 through Feb. 28, 2010.

Air Source Heat Pump $300 rebate for furnace-integrated systems (ductwork) and $500 rebate for mini-split ductless systems, installed by program-trained contractor. Electricity must be a primary heat source. Through Dec. 31, 2010.

Your Home Energy Report Free, customized report detailing how energy is used in your home and ways to begin saving. Go to www.mnpower.com/homeenergyreport gy Repo

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Visit www.mnpower.com/actionplan for more tools to help you make energy-saving investments.

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You can help keep your neighbors warm this winter

Cold Weather Rule

Here is an opportunity to turn spare change into a warm home for your neighbors in need this winter. Minnesota Power gathers voluntary contributions from customers by “rounding up” their monthly bills to the next dollar.

Money raised will be donated to the Salvation Army’s HeatShare programs throughout northern and central Minnesota.

The Cold Weather Rule (CWR) regulates the conditions under which gas and electric utilities may disconnect residential service in the winter months (from October 15 to April 15).

The Salvation Army will use the funds to help warm the lives of the elderly, disabled and others by providing funds for heating bills and heating-related repairs. HeatShare is a last resort for many who have no other resources available.

Should you receive a disconnection notice from Minnesota Power, you must contact us to set up a CWR payment plan to avoid disconnection.

Call 1-800-228-4966.

In 2009, MP customers helped keep their neighbors warm by contributing $12,094 to the Salvation Army’s HeatShare program. To learn how you can help, or for additional program details, call 1-800-228-4966.

The CWR requires that customers who have difficulty paying paying your utility bills contact their utility to work out a mutually acceptable payment plan to keep their heat on.

You may also wish to contact the state’s Energy Assistance Hotline at 1-800-657-3710 to find out if you qualify for funds to aid in paying your electric heating bills.

Receive future issues of Energizer electronically by sending your request to keldien@mnpower.com View past issues at mnpower.com/customer_service and click on the Energizer link.

Do homework when shopping for electric space heaters With the cold winter months upon us, there have been a number of advertisements for electric space heaters that claim significant savings in heating costs. While there is savings potential with space heaters, it is important to understand the circumstances necessary to reap those savings and consider potential safety hazards that come with using a portable heater.

Space heaters can effectively take the chill out of the air in a single room and even maintain the desired temperature, depending on the model and assuming you keep doors to other rooms closed. The cost savings may occur if you turn off the heat or turn down the temperature in other rooms.

The size of the room and the outdoor temperature will also affect the performance of a space heater.

There is some basic functionality common to all electric space heaters. For example: • • •

They all efficiently turn electricity into heat.

They convert one watt of electricity into 3.4 British thermal units (Btu) of heat.

Plug-in space heaters are limited to 1,500 watts or 5,120 Btu/hour. A 1,500 watt heater, based on current electric

To help you weather a storm, keep a Lights Out kit handy •

Keep at least one flashlight, a battery-powered radio and extra batteries in an accessible place.

•

Use candles or camping lanterns with caution.

•

If you have a fireplace, keep matches and firewood handy so you are prepared to build a fire to keep warm.

•

Turn off televisions, stoves, microwave ovens, stereo equipment and other appliances—except your refrigerator and freezer.

•

Leave on at least one light so you will know when power has been restored.

•

CAUTION! If you intend to use a standby generator, be sure it is isolated from electric lines feeding into your home. During an outage, the electric energy from the generator could back feed into the power line and seriously injure or kill a line worker trying to restore your power.

For more information, visit www.mnpower.com/customer_service/safety

prices, costs approximately $0.11/hour to operate.

Based on these figures, running it eight hours per day for 30 days would cost $26.40/month.

Features such as resistance coils or quartz lights shining on a “cured copper element” or “ceramic quartz tubes” do not change the amount of heat a space heater can produce.

The wattage consumed determines heat production. A 1,500 watt heater will produce the same amount of heat, regardless of its cost or other unique features.

Safety Tips. According to the National Fire Protection Association, space heaters are the cause of nearly 3,000 home fires each year; so here are some safety tips when using space heaters. Keep space heaters away from damaged power cords or excessive wiring, stacks of paper, wood, or other combustibles and clothing.

Space heaters should be equipped with a tip-over switch; should NOT be used with extension cords; and should NOT be used with missing or broken parts (such as nobs, grills, or stands).

If you are in the market for a space heater, there are a number of factors to consider when making your selection, including temperature control, safety features, convection versus radiant, portability and cost. For more information about space heaters and their ratings, you may log on to www.consumerreports.org and search for “space heaters”.

For more information about space heaters or heating and cooling options, visit www.mnpower.com/powerofone

Most power line right-of-way is private land Minnesota Power maintains about 7,500 miles of power line right-of-way throughout northern and central Minnesota. And most of it is owned by private parties. Minnesota Power has been granted rights permitting the electric line to be constructed and maintained on the private land.

Because of this, rights-of-way are not public thoroughfares. If you make use of rights-of-way for recreational purposes such as snowmobiling, hunting, or all terrain-vehicle riding, you must first obtain the landowner’s permission. Failure to get permission from the landowner can be considered trespassing.

PowerGrant Conservation Program helps businesses of all sizes businesses demonstrating the

Whether your business employs less than 10 or more than 100, the PowerGrant team can help you develop a conservation strategy to fit your unique energy and business needs.

Contact Minnesota Power early in your projects to ensure maximized savings

Twin Ports weatherline: 218-733-0300

opportunities and incentives. For further details or to read PowerGrant Profiles featuring customer projects, visit Minnesota Power at www.mnpower.com/powergrant or call 218-722-5642, ext. 2759.

Lights Out: 1-800-30-POWER (1-800-307-6937)

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