Between 1976, when we started Cadence, and 2010, our electric bills have increased almost twenty- to twenty-five-fold. It got to the point where we were paying more for electricity each month than I ever paid on a mortgage.
Almost four years ago we began investigating alternative energy sources (we already use wood to heat our facilities), first looking at wind power but eventually settling on solar. We finally went online at the end of this past June. How substantial our savings will be remains to be seen but it’s comforting to know that the sun’s energy is helping to reduce our dependence on more finite sources of energy. Hard to estimate the difference in usage but from what I can discern it seems we are drawing 60 percent less energy from the power company.
Cheers
Bob Rusch