Keep your car tuned up, to improve fuel efficiency, and avoid buying gas-guzzling vehicles such as SUVs. Use low-wattage lighting, such as compact florescent lights, when possible. Try the low-power air conditioner setting. Run the washing machine, the dishwasher and other high energy-use appliances late at night, when electricity prices drop. If electricity has been deregulated in your area, shop to get the best deal.
Many utility companies offer free home inspections, to suggest energy savers.
Check out the Web sites of the Energy Department and the Consumer Energy Council of America . The price of natural gas is also up, having doubled in the last two years. To complicate matters, natural gas markets were rocked by last Saturday's deadly pipeline explosion in New Mexico. In California, electricity is the big issue. As the economy and the population there boom, demand for power is rising at the same time the market is undergoing deregulation.