News Release

Oct. 31, 2005

As Winter Heating Season Begins, PNM Offers Top 10 Money Saving Tips

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NEWS MEDIA CONTACT Susan Sponar Telephone: (505) 241-2768

Albuquerque: Lower temperatures and rising natural gas prices will result in substantially higher bills in November, unless customers take action to reduce their consumption of natural gas.

PNM today notified state regulators the November price of natural gas is $1.14 per therm, resulting in an average residential bill of $75.55. This is a 41 percent increase from the November 2004 average residential bill of $53.43, when natural gas cost 70 cents per therm. The average residential customer uses 45 therms of gas in November.

By law, PNM purchases natural gas on behalf of its 471,000 customers and passes the cost along to customers without adding a profit. This winter, the cost of natural gas is expected to comprise more than 70 percent of the average residential bill, state-regulated PNM delivery fees about 20 percent, and taxes and government fees about 10 percent.

The 10 best tips for saving you money this winter

PNM analysts recently evaluated a variety of money-saving tips for winter and have compiled a list of the 10 tips that will save customers the most money. Here are the tips, ranked by potential impact on customers' monthly bills. These tips and more ideas to save money this winter are available on PNM.com.

1. Install a programmable thermostat and set it to reduce your temperature at night and when you are away from home. Programming the thermostat to turn the heat down to 62 degrees overnight when it would otherwise be at 70 degrees could reduce your heating bill by 16 percent. For the average residential customer, this means a savings of $100 this winter.
2. Weatherize your home. Do anything you can to reduce drafts in your home, including caulking, weather-stripping and installing temporary plastic film on single-paned windows. This will save you money and make your home more comfortable. PNM estimates weatherizing can save you between 5 percent and 30 percent this winter, lowering your winter bill by $31 to $188.
3. Close off seldom-used or unused rooms. If you have a forced-air furnace, closing off one 100-square-foot room in an 1,800-square-foot home could save about 4 percent, or $25, on your heating bill this winter. The thermostat should not be in the room you close off, and no more than 20 percent of the total living area should be closed off.
4. Wash clothes in cold water instead of warm or hot water. About 90 percent of the energy used for washing clothes is for heating water. Switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut wash-related energy use in half. Cold water saves even more. Try to wash and dry only full loads. Dry towels and heavier cottons separately from lighter-weight clothes.
5. Insulate your hot water heater. Install an insulation blanket around your water heater if it is more than five years old and located in an unheated portion of your home. Water heating is the third-largest energy expense in your home, typically accounting for about 6 percent of natural gas use. Be careful not to cover the water heater's top, bottom, thermostat or burner compartment.
6. Install a low-flow showerhead and low-flow aerators on your faucets. A family of four, each showering for five minutes a day, along with other water use, uses about 700 gallons of water a week. You can cut that amount in half and save natural gas to heat the water by installing low-flow showerheads and aerators on your faucets.
7. Turn the thermostat on your water heater down to 140 degrees. Some water heaters are shipped from the factory at higher settings. Turning it down saves natural gas and provides enough heat for most uses. For each 10-degree reduction in water temperature, water-related energy consumption can be reduced 3 percent to 5 percent. If your water heater does not have a temperature display, use a thermometer at the faucet to measure the temperature and adjust accordingly.
8. Close off your evaporative cooler. If your evaporative cooler uses the same duct work as your forced air furnace, you must close the appropriate damper leading to it before you turn on your furnace. Otherwise, your heating system will push warm air into the cooler and then outside.
9. Seal off unused fireplaces. Don't use a standard fireplace for space heating when you use your natural gas furnace. A traditional open fireplace is one of the most inefficient heat sources you can possibly use if you also are using natural gas to heat your home. In one hour, a roaring fire can move as much as 24,000 cubic feet of air from inside to outside the home.
10. Use electric space heaters correctly and safely. Using an electric space heater in small spaces can be cost-effective when done correctly. Other heating systems, including central heating, should be turned down to 62 degrees or less when a space heater is being used. The space heater should be used for personal comfort when a room is occupied, not for general space heating. It should not be used at night when sleeping. Safety precautions should always be taken when using space heaters. A 1,500-watt space heater costs 12 cents per hour to operate at current PNM residential electric rates. For four hours per day for a month, the cost would be about $15.00.

PNM is the principal subsidiary of PNM Resources, an energy holding company based in Albuquerque. PNM provides electric utility service to 419,000 customers and natural gas service to 470,000 customers in New Mexico. The company also sells power on the wholesale market in the Western U.S. PNM Resources stock is traded primarily on the NYSE under the symbol PNM. For more information, see the company's Web site at PNM.com.