Electricity rates going up as well

[Lucky Star]

I don't know whether other parts of the country are seeing this, but here in Northern California PG&E announced today that they are planning to increase their rates on average by 10.8% next year (and we already have some of the highest prices in the country!).

So between soaring gas prices (which will lead to higher prices on just about everything else) and now the hike in the cost of electricity, people are going to be really squeezed.

We've already started taking steps to reduce our electricity usage, but we may need to get even more serious about it. Here are some of the things that we do (it's not much):
~ turn off lights when not in use
~ put PC on stand-by when not in use
~ no-heat dry in dishwasher
~ wash most clothes (except towels and sheets) in cold water

We don't have an a/c (and don't really need one here) but in winter it usually gets pretty ugly as we have electric heat in our house.

What are some of the things that you do to reduce your energy usage?

[Telephus44]

Here's what we've done:

1. Turn off the "heated dry" on the dishwasher.
2. We only run 1 A/C, in the evening, and its set to 80.
3. Unplug things that we aren't using. I've heard even having things plugged in if they're turned off drains a little bit of power.
4. Switched to CF lightbulbs. A few years ago they were on sale near us for $1 each (instead of the $7-$10 that they usually are) so we bought up a dozen or so.
5. Try and combine cooking things in the oven, so that I'm not just cooking one thing.
6. Not using the "self-cleaning" part of the oven.