Good advice for reducing electricity consumption:

Six months ago, a friend pressed on me a six-pack of compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Odd little pig-tail curls, but they fit in standard light bulb places. He’s a retired electrician, so I listened.. I followed his advice, added some aggressiveness turning off unused lights and “vampire” rechargers and “instant on” appliances. And now, I’m looking at an electric bill showing my usage is half — 50% — of what it was a year ago.

80 years ago, Alabama Power created Reddy Kilowatt, the little lightning-bolt figure, to promote electricity usage. Not surprisingly, today the electric utilities are less interested in encouraging conservation than promoting consumption, but they had the sensitivity to retire Reddy Kilowatt years ago…