Orange & Rockland Offers Cool Tips to Help Beat the Heat This Week

To help beat the heat during this week’s sizzling weather, Orange and Rockland Utilities (O&R) is offering some cool tips to help its customers try to stay comfortable and save money on energy.

Turn down or turn off air conditioning in your home while you are away or at work to help lower your energy bill.
Set your air conditioner to the highest temperature your comfort and health will allow to help you save cooling money.
Close all doors and windows in your home while the air conditioning is running to make things cooler at a lower price.
Cook, bake, or perform other household activities that produce heat and humidity during the cooler times of the day and night.
Pull your curtains and shades closed to help block out the sun and the heat of the day.
Take advantage of your smart meter by viewing your energy usage and customized energy savings tips located in your online account at oru.com/MyAccount.
Consider upgrading your older thermostats and appliances to ones that are more energy efficient. Smart thermostats can control the temperature in your home from anywhere. You can find customer-exclusive savings and rebates at MyORUStore.com

The heat, humidity, and increased demand for electricity to power air conditioners can pose challenges to the electric delivery system, in some instances, overheating electrical equipment and resulting in scattered power outages. O&R crews will be ready to respond to any, and all, issues that arise to make repairs and restore service.

If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that O&R automatically knows about it. You can report it and check to see when your lights will be back on through:

ORU.com/ReportOutage from any computer or web-based mobile device.
O&R mobile app from your iPhone, iPad, or Android device — download via Apple Store or Google Play
Text messaging by texting “OUT” to 69678 (myORU) or
Call 1-877-434-4100.

To prepare for summer’s peak electricity demands, O&R has invested nearly $180 million this year to fortify and improve the reliability of its electric system. This work also includes the development of energy efficiency and clean energy projects, contributing to the nearly $1 billion on electric system maintenance and reliability projects over the last 10 years.

O&R provides energy to nearly one million people, with fewer electricity interruptions and a response rate two times faster than other utilities nationwide.

For energy efficiency tips, incentives, and rebates, please visit: oru.com/save