Author Archives: FirstChoicePower

Texas Wind Farms

Here in Texas, we’re known for farming cotton, corn, wheat and hay. But did you know we’re also the nation’s biggest farmer of wind? That’s right—Texas has a production capacity of more than 10,000 MW (that’s megawatts), followed not-so-closely by Iowa with around 3,700 MW. All that wind production not only gives us great green energy (have you checked out the great rates on our … Read More…

Can We Vent?

A better title for this post might actually be Can Your Dryer Vent? Your dryer works by using heated air that evaporates water from your wet clothes. If that moisture-rich air can’t escape from the dryer vent, it stays in the dryer and your clothes stay wet. So what clogs up your dryer vent? In a word: lint. ENERGY STAR estimates that cleaning the lint … Read More…

#EcoMonday: Finding Oil in Texas

You might recycle cans, cardboard boxes or glass bottles. But many of us haven’t thought about recycling another common kitchen waste—used cooking oil. Restaurants often have a grease trap that’s regularly emptied by a recycling company. But what’s the home cook to do, especially one who has fried up a Thanksgiving turkey? For average folks, disposing of large quantities of used cooking oil can be … Read More…

It’s Audit Time (Energy Audit, That Is)

Taxes done? Congrats! Here’s another item for your to-do list before the Texas heat starts blasting down on us full force. April is the perfect month for a home energy audit! Do you really want to wait till August to start thinking about putting insulation in your attic? Why Hire a Pro? An unsealed house is kind of like a leaky air mattress – no … Read More…

Powering the Future

One of the things we love about being a retail energy provider is learning about exciting new advances in science and technology. That’s why we were excited to read a Bizmology article recently about a California start-up company that’s exploring gallium nitride as a substitute for silicon in converters, transistors and switches. The chemical properties of gallium nitride make it more efficient than silicon in … Read More…

A House That Talks

At First Choice Power, we’re always thinking about home energy efficiency and ways to help our customers save electricity and money. That’s why we were really excited to see this cool video about a special house that the University of Texas has developed to measure energy usage and indoor air quality. Located on the J.J. Pickle Research campus, the UTest House measures everything from different … Read More…

#EcoMonday: Kitchen Composting 101

Can you believe that half of all food that’s produced or consumed in this country gets thrown away? And a typical household tosses over 400 pounds of food waste a year. Composting your kitchen scraps saves energy and landfill space – plus you get natural, homemade fertilizer to enrich your garden, lawn or potted plants. Kitchen composting doesn’t stink, if you do it right. And … Read More…

We’re Going Nuts!

April isn’t just a month for fools—it’s also National Pecan Month! Considering that a bounty of pecans are grown right here in Texas (and it’s our state health nut), we at First Choice Power thought it was a good time to celebrate. Whether you cook up pecan-crusted chicken, whip up a pecan pie or just eat ‘em straight out of your yard, pecans are a … Read More…

Don’t Forget Your Energy Credits!

As we get closer to April 15, many of us at First Choice Power are putting the finishing touches (or, um, just starting) on our federal tax returns. It’s a good time to remember that if you bought an ENERGY STAR rated product for your home in 2011, you might be eligible for a tax credit. Claiming your energy efficient tax credits is pretty simple, … Read More…

Going Back to School

We had a great visit today at Northside Elementary in Texas City visiting Amanda Ewer’s first grade class. Earlier this year, Ms. Ewer received a Texas City ISD Foundation for the Future grant to fund the purchase of MathStart books. Ms. Ewer had titled her grant application “AHHHH! The Math Book Is Alive,” and as one of the sponsors of the grant, we wanted to … Read More…