It’s January in Iowa – always a good time to remind your customers about how they can save on their utility bills. Include tips on utility statements, social media platforms (if you have them), websites, on-hold recordings, in the signature block on your emails, etc.

Here are a few to consider:

• Seal around openings, such as electrical outlets, baseboards, and attic hatches, to make your home less drafty. Caulking leaks can save an average household 10 to 20 percent on annual heating and cooling bills. Weather-stripping windows can save you an additional 5 to 10 percent annually on heating and cooling bills.
• Close curtains during the winter to reduce heat loss up to10 percent. However, you may want to open curtains on sunlit windows during the day to boost temperatures from solar energy. Just be sure to close curtains at night or on windows that don’t get much sun.
• Lower your thermostat by seven to 10 degrees Fahrenheit for eight hours a day to save up to 10 percent annually on your heating and cooling bills.
• Lowering the thermostat by 10 to 15 degrees while you sleep can also help save roughly10 percent on your heating bills.
• Inspect and replace your furnace filter regularly. Make sure your furnace filter is clean, so the equipment isn’t working harder than it needs to be.
• Use the energy saver mode on your devices, appliances, and even some heating equipment to easily reduce energy consumption without sacrificing performance.
• Use cold water for laundry and wash full loads to save on energy and water heating.
• Don’t open the oven door to check on food. This could cause the temperature to drop as much as 25 degrees, requiring more energy to heat up again.
• Lower the temperature on your water heater from 140 degrees to 120 degrees. You can save on energy without noticing a difference in temperature.

Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities’ (IAMU) Members:

IAMU will hold its Annual Meeting of the membership:

Date: January 28, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.

Location: 1735 NE 70th Avenue, Ankeny, Iowa 50021

Per the IAMU By-Laws, each member utility gets one vote per utility type membership. For example, a member with electric and water utility memberships gets two votes. A member with an electric, natural gas, water, and broadband gets four votes.

ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED

All member representatives must be registered in advance to attend. Although as many member representatives may attend the meeting as you wish, each utility member will need to designate a voting delegate in advance as set forth below. Each voting delegate must be employed by the member. Members may not vote by proxy. Members may register at the IAMU website under events. Click HERE for registration and additional information.

The agenda, and any supporting materials will be sent out to registered member representatives 24 hours in ad­vance (by 1:00 p.m., January 27, 2022).

If you have questions, please contact IAMU Executive Director

Troy DeJoode at 515-289-1999 or tdejoode@iamu.org.

This meeting is open to all current IAMU members, but voting is only open to IAMU Utility Members.