Tools to Manage the Meter
As a NEC member, you may be familiar with SmartHub®, NEC’s online self-service portal. Maybe you even pay your bill through SmartHub, which is one of the portal’s most practical and convenient features. If you sign up for automatic payment draft, SmartHub can even help make sure you never make a late payment. But what if SmartHub could help you use less electricity—reducing the cost of your average monthly bill?
Here in South Texas, summer is a time of intense energy demand. As the temperature goes up, so does usage—it’s only natural. That’s why summer is also a great time to refresh your memory on how SmartHub can help beat the heat when it comes to your electric bill. SmartHub features a suite of energy management tools that can empower you to take greater control of your energy usage during the height of Texas summer.
Usage Explorer
With Usage Explorer, NEC members can view how much energy they use by the month, day and even by the hour. You can generally see these stats within two days of the usage date. There are even options to see the average temperature, along with the high and low for each day, providing tangible indicators of how weather affects usage on any given day. Usage Explorer won’t tell you exactly how you used the energy, but it does provide valuable insight you can use to rein in usage. For example, maybe on one June Saturday the high temperature reached 103. What did your daily usage look like that day compared to other days that week? Most people spend more time at home on Saturday and Sunday compared to weekdays, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see that your household usage was higher that day—even if the weekday temperatures were about the same. Usage Explorer can be particularly helpful if you get into a habit of recording or at least knowing your routine. What day(s) of the week do you do laundry or use other major appliances? How often do you run the pool filter? How often do you cook meals at home each week? What are your thermostat habits like? Such information, used in conjunction with Usage Explorer, allows you to make changes in your consumption habits that can have a real impact on your bill.
Usage Alert
SmartHub gives you the power to set a range of alerts, but in terms of saving energy, the Usage Alert is probably the most helpful of these. All you need do is tell SmartHub the daily number of kilowatt-hours at which you want to be alerted. Any day when you hit this threshold, the system will notify you via email or a text. You can use that information for a greater understanding of what’s driving your usage. Learn how to set up Power Usage Alerts here.
Usage Comparison
Usage Comparison lets you compare any two bills from your entire usage history—April 2020 compared to March 2021, for instance, or maybe January 2021 to February 2021 and so forth. This tool includes charts that illustrate hour-to-hour and day-to-day usage, along with outside temperatures across and between months. With this information, you may be able to uncover patterns to help you better control usage in the current billing period.
Average Usage
The Average Usage tool lets you view your average energy consumption for a selected period of time. How much energy do you typically use during the weekends? How much during weekday evenings? Average Usage will show you such data and more.
Whether on Mobile or Desktop, SmartHub is Always Free
Use SmartHub from a desktop computer by logging in at nueceselectric.org. Download SmartHub’s free app to your smartphone or tablet from iTunes or Google Play by searching for “SmartHub,” and installing. Type “Nueces Electric Cooperative” into the search box when prompted to search by name.