Saving Electricity

This week in Physics we had to bring in our electric bills into class.  We then talked about our electricity and how much we use it.  The amount we pay shows us whether or not we use a lot of electricity.  Compared to one of my friend's electricity bills, the amount my family pays was low, but, compared to another friend, my electricity bill was high!  My family pays about $360 a month for electricity.  The person who's electricity bill was lower than mine only pays about $16 a month.  But, this is because they have solar panels on their roof.  We learned a little bit about the solar panels and how it saves us money.  It uses the sun's energy to create energy we need to run the electric utilities in our house.  The use of the sun isn't limited at all! Electric bills have been going up recently though because Hawaiian Electric paid borrowed money in advanced, thinking they would get their money back over the months, but since this new solar panel technology has come out, people pay much less for their electricity so Hawaiian Electric has raised their prices and taxes for those who do not have any panels on their roofs.  My family is currently looking into putting some panels on our roof so we won't have to pay as much.  But for now, I have challenged myself to try and save electricity.  I have been unplugging things from the walls when I am not charging them and taking shorter showers and turning off the lights when I'm not using it.  Hopefully this works and my parents won't have to pay as much this month!