Each flip of the switch adds up.

For one lightbulb, that’s just watts of power. But on your electric bill, it’s measured in kilowatts, and on the macro level, it adds up to megawatts.

While electricity can’t be saved in a warehouse for use later, not using it is a good thing. Each time you flip off the lights, that’s power the utilities don’t have to generate. And while that may seem like a tiny bit of power on an individual level, the individuals are piling up in Washington.

“The region is constantly growing,” Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman Dorothy Bracken said. “New customers are hooked up every day.”

Using less energy eases the pressure on existing power resources and the need to find more.


Skagit Warming Series:
Skagit Warming Page
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Temperatures rising, glaciers melting in Northwest
Nature's Laboratory
Researchers explore effects of climate change on health
Warming's impact on Skagit water
Climate change poses threat to regional icons
Warming shifts odds away from salmon survival
Climate change could have dramatic impact on local agricultural scene
Cashing in on global warming
Warming: A rising tide
Tribe, La Conner on front lines
Green Power
Nuclear power unlikely alternative
Skagit Warming: Government action
Climate and You
What You Can Do
Skagit Warming: Tell us what you think