POWERGRAMS

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 12 BIRMINGHAM, AL 600 North 18th Street Birmingham, AL 35203 Attn: MN-0668 Powergrams Staff Editor: Donna Cope, 205-383-5546 Writers: Javacia Harris Bowser, Anthony Cook, Yvonne Taunton Photo editor: Phil Free Layout: Brooke Lane With cold temperatures statewide, Alabama Power knows it's important to stay toasty warm, while also keeping an eye on the power bill. The company's online tool, My Power Usage, will help you monitor the use of electricity in your home and provide information to help guide energy consumption as you seek to lower your monthly bills. The My Power Usage tool provides real-time insights into your energy use: View and manage your daily energy usage, track and compare energy usage by day or by month and receive alerts for when dollar amounts you set are reached. Enroll for free by signing on to your online Alabama Power account or by downloading the Alabama Power mobile app. As temperatures drop, information that helps guide your usage becomes even more crucial. My Power Usage is one of many tools Alabama Power has that help customers manage their relationship with the company, including Paperless Billing, eHERs (Electronic Home Energy Reports), Online Energy Checkup, Budget Billing, FlatBill and a slate of residential rate options. To better understand all the ways My Power Usage can help manage electric usage, I looked at my personal account for December and found a ton of insight about daily energy consumption at my own house. It's obvious that my (our) usage went up on the days when the low temperature was colder, like Dec. 24 and 25 and Jan. 6 and 7 when the low temperature was around 30 degrees. Weekends tend to show higher energy use at my house because my wife and I are usually home. But my highest usage for the entire billing period was Thursday, Jan. 9, and Friday, Jan. 10, when the low temperature was 22 degrees and 29 degrees, respectively. My takeaway: The colder it is, the harder my heating unit, including the strip heating, works to keep my home warm and comfortable, which translates to a higher power bill. My bill for December was up 9% from the previous month, and it was even higher for January, which saw double-digit days dip below freezing, a snowstorm and a cold snap. Speaking of the bill, pricing information is also available on the My Power Usage tool. You can see the average daily cost of your usage; the monthly cost of your usage up to the current day; and whether your costs for the month are trending up or down compared to your last bill and by what percent. The tool also gives an estimated range of what your bill amount is going to be at the end of the month, based on your usage up to that current day. And you can set an alert to receive a text message when your usage reaches an amount that you set. Finally, you can choose a daily or monthly view of all this information, which lets you see and compare your usage in the way that's most valuable to you. Go to AlabamaPower.com to access your personal My Power Usage profile for your home or download the Alabama Power app for iPhone or Android and start monitoring your usage today. AlabamaPower. com/winterbill also has lots of energy tips to help get your monthly energy costs trending in the right direction. Using My Power Usage to manage energy and save money Appliances Electronics Furniture Home Goods Monthly payment plans added to your power bill Payroll deduct available for employees Stay in the know during storm season With outage alerts, you receive text messages or email updates as our crews work safely and quickly to restore service in your area. Our outage map shows which parts of our service area are currently without power. Both tools keep you informed during storm events. To learn more, scan the QR code or visit alabamapower.com/storm. By Anthony Cook

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