RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Do you know what uses the most energy in your house?

October is National Energy Awareness Month and Dominion Virginia Power and North Carolina Power are encouraging customers to think about energy; where it comes from, how much it costs and how we can all use less of it to help save money and help protect the environment.

Want some tips for saving energy and money?  Want to brush up on your energy awareness and knowledge? Visit www.dom.com/about/conservation/energy-saving-tips-and-information.jsp.  

Ever since electricity was harnessed more than a hundred years ago, the best and easiest way to save energy – and money – on your electricity bill is to follow your grandfather's advice: turn off unused lights and appliances, and in this digital age, unplug electronic devices you're not using. Significant savings have been reported just from turning off unused lights.

Here's a brief quiz to increase your energy awareness quotient.

• In Virginia and North Carolina, what typically uses the most electricity in your home? (A) Heating and cooling typically use the most energy and can account for 46 percent of home energy use.
• How much electricity does a typical CFL light bulb save vs. an incandescent bulb?  (A) About 75 percent. Replacing all the incandescent bulbs in your home with CFLs could cut your lighting costs by up to 75 percent.
• How much does it cost to power a large screen TV for three hours a day or to recharge your cell phone?  (A)  It costs about 4 cents to power a typical flat-screen TV for three hours. That amounts to about $14.60 per year, based on the national average cost of 11 cents a kilowatt-hour. Charging a cell phone for three hours a day costs less than a penny per recharge. These costs would be slightly less for Dominion Virginia Power and North Carolina Power customers since the companies' average residential rates are less than the national average.
• In the past three years, what has increased in price the most: gasoline or electricity?  (A) Gasoline, by far. Since July 2009, gasoline prices have increased about 47 percent on average, while Dominion Virginia Power's electric rates are up less than 1 percent.
• Fossil-fueled power stations produce various emissions in making electricity. How much did Dominion spend on new environmental control equipment and activities to protect the environment in 2011? (A) The total for 2011 alone was $587 million. By 2015 we expect to have spent more than $3.6 billion on environmental improvements across all of our power stations in Virginia and elsewhere.
• Is Dominion investing in renewable power sources? (A) Yes, in Virginia Dominion has committed to getting 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025. In North Carolina, the company has committed to 12.5 percent by 2021.
• Is the air we all breathe cleaner today than it used to be even though the population has grown?  (A) Yes, the air is significantly cleaner today than it was several decades ago thanks to a series of clean air laws passed starting in 1970.

You also can test your energy knowledge with an interactive quiz at http://www.eei.org/ourissues/EnergyEfficiency/Pages/EfficiencyQuiz.aspx

During National Energy Awareness month, strengthen your energy knowledge at www.dom.com.  Also, find out more about Dominion Virginia Power's new conservation programs, energy calculators, energy-saving tips and more at https://www.dom.com/savenowVA

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,400 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

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SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power