Thousands of Indiana residents save money by asking their local electric co-op to install a simple switch that reduces energy use when energy demand — and cost — surges.

The switch also helps members and everyone else in their community save even more all year long by adjusting energy consumption during specific times. When you add up the more than 25,000 switches members within Wabash Valley Power’s service territory have added to air condition­ers, water heaters, irrigation systems, pool pumps and even entire homes, it adds up to 53 megawatts of energy. That is a significant amount of power that Wabash Valley Power doesn’t have to build or buy.

Today, the typical American family spends 20 percent of its budget on energy. As energy demand increases, such as during peak times each day when people are home and appliances are on, energy costs also rise dramatically. PowerShift, available through your local electric co-op, can help you shift your energy use to lower cost times of the day.

“Co-ops are committed to helping their local members to reduce their costs as much as possible,” said Andrew Horstman, manager of load response for Wabash Valley Power, which manages PowerShift for co-ops in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. “PowerShift is one way that they are able to do that.”

Your electric co-op installs a switch on your water heater, air conditioner, pool pump, field irrigation or even your entire home. When energy demand is at its peak (and most expensive), appliances are switched off for short amounts of time to reduce use, helping you save energy when it matters most.

“It’s a simple tool that helps keep our energy costs down, which leads to lower costs for thousands of families and businesses,” Horstman said. “It’s something that every­one can do to lower overall energy demand and keep us from needing to run or build a power plant.”

PowerShift is designed to minimize disruption. The switches will not turn off appliances on weekends or holi­days, and they do not harm appliances or collect data. They are simply designed to receive a signal to turn appliances on and off.

“Using energy efficiently helps lower everyone’s cost, from families and business owners to local electric co-ops and even the energy producer,” Horstman said. “It costs more for increased infrastructure to meet higher demand. The PowerShift and POWER MOVES® programs, which offer incentives to make homes and businesses more energy efficient, help us minimize those potential demand surges and help our members keep their costs low.”

This program is available to you now! Contact your elec­tric co-op’s energy advisor and ask about how you can par­ticipate in PowerShift and other POWER MOVES® programs, or visit www.powermoves.com/powershift today.