Southface Institute: Blog

Electric Bills Decoded: How Home Batteries Can Cut Energy Costs

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(Post 6 of 6) ←Previous Post | The use of batteries, like the Tesla Powerwall or Enphase IQ10, for residential electricity storage is growing rapidly. The March 2023 edition of Wood Mackenzie’s “US Energy Storage Monitor” noted an 88% increase in residential battery storage capacity in the US in 2023 and projected a four-fold increase in residential battery installations from 2022 through 2027.   While battery storage is most often used to capture excess energy from solar panels and provide backup …

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Southface Honors Mercedes-Benz Stadium Green Team at 25th Visionary Dinner

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Southface Institute, a sustainable building nonprofit, held its 25th Visionary Dinner at Agnes Scott College on October 10. During the celebration, Southface presented Dawn Brown and the Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS) Green Team with the 2023 Argon Award for setting a new global sustainability standard for stadiums. Brown serves as MBS’ Senior Manager of Tours and Education Programs + Sustainability. With programs and policies to divert at least 90% of waste from landfills, incineration plants, and the environment, MBS is the …

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 Southface Launches BIT Building, Putting Operational Savings Within Reach

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Southface Institute, a sustainability nonprofit, has launched BIT Building – a program designed to improve the operational efficiency of any type of existing building or tenant-controlled space (except single-family residential) regardless of age or current performance. BIT Building equips users with the tools necessary to reduce energy, water, and waste consumption and provides verifiable recognition for those efforts via third-party certification.  Federal, state, and local governments are increasingly mandating higher building performance standards to meet climate targets. Companies are centering …

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Electric Bills Decoded: Different Rate Plans Benefit Different Customers

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(Post 5 of 6) ←Previous Post | Next Post → I hope that using my family’s data and writing about picking our residential electricity rate plan has made the process more accessible, but I recognize that what’s right for me is not necessarily right for you. To provide broader guidance, I asked people I know to share their hourly energy use data with me and developed five case studies that differ from my own.   For each case study, I’m using …

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Electric Bills Decoded: Which Electricity Rate is Best If I Want to Go Solar?

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(Post 4 of 6) ←Previous Post | Next Post So far in our Electric Bills Decoded series, we’ve covered electric rates and bill charges, how electricity is used at home, and how to use data to decide on a Georgia Power residential rate plan. If your goal is to shield your household budget from rising electricity rates, you might be wondering how much you can save by going solar at home. Loyal readers of this series won’t be surprised to hear …

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Electric Bills Decoded: Using Data to Decide on a Georgia Power Rate Plan

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(Post 3 of 6) ←Previous Post | Next Post → This blog series centers around a seemingly simple question: Can changing my electric rate plan from Georgia Power’s Standard Residential Service plan to one of the utility’s other residential options save me money? While I enjoy the suspense of a good mystery, I won’t keep you waiting—after crunching the data, it’s clear that the answer is no.  Shortest blog post ever? Not quite. I’ll take you through the options that …

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Electric Bills Decoded: Understanding How You Use Energy At Home

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Education
Policy

(Post 2 of 6) ←Previous Post | Next Post → Gaining a baseline understanding of the many types of electricity rates and bill charges is an important first step in determining whether a different Georgia Power rate plan can lower your utility costs. But how do these calculations shake out in a real-world scenario?    Perhaps you have a general sense of your monthly electricity use and how things like your HVAC system or your electric vehicle charger impact your …

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Electric Bills Decoded: Can Changing My Electricity Rate Save Me Money?

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Education

(Post 1 of 6) Next Post → There’s been a lot in the news lately about how Georgia Power is raising electricity rates over the next few years, and residential customers are increasingly wondering what they can do to lower their monthly electric bills to offset these rate hikes. Of course, using less electricity helps. There are all sorts of energy efficiency upgrades that can make a difference on your bills, like switching to LED lightbulbs, adding insulation, and buying …

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New Leaders Turn Over a New Leaf at Sustainability Nonprofit

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Over the past 45 years, Southface Institute has grown from a small group of solar energy advocates in Atlanta to a Southeastern sustainability leader with comprehensive expertise in transforming buildings, energy policy, and community infrastructure. Southface welcomed James Marlow as president in 2022 to lead the next phase of the nonprofit’s work and scale impact. In Q1 2023, four new members were appointed to Southface’s board of directors: Evelyn Bolden, Dylan W. Howard, Caroline Mahoney, and David Paull. “Southface is …

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Local Nonprofits on Target to Cut Utility Costs and Grow Impact with GoodUse Sarasota

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Youth centers need air-conditioned spaces for after-school programs. Rehabilitating injured sea turtles requires tanks with filtration systems. Food banks have refrigerators to run. Meeting urgent community needs costs money, and with limited funding, nonprofits often own or lease older buildings with exorbitant utility bills because of ongoing issues like air leakage. These inefficiencies also harm the environment by burning through natural resources and causing climate-warming emissions that are also hazardous to health.  Southface Institute has been tackling this problem since …

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