How can you cut electric costs in the Central Valley during the summer?

Liz Swenson’s family has been setting the thermostat of their Merced home at 84 degrees to avoid using the air conditioner and causing a spike in their electric usage. Sometimes the temperature in their home rises as high as 89 degrees.

“So, it’s getting really hot in the house, like, we’re sitting there sweating,” Swenson said.

Raising the thermostat is one way Central Valley residents try to lower their electric bills, which soar in the triple digit heat.

“Oh, crap,” is what Gabriella Coronado said goes through her mind whenever she sees her June and July electric bills.

An average winter bill of $120 a month for a Merced Irrigation District customer rises to $172 during the summer. That’s an increase of about 43%.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are several strategies that can help reduce electric costs, such as raising the temperature setting on your thermostat, closing window coverings during the day, using appliances at night and installing solar panels.

The ideal temperature setting for a home is 78 degrees, spokesmen for MID and PGE say.

“For each degree above 78 degrees, you can save approximately one to three percent on your cooling bill,” Jeff Smith of PG&E said.

Smith further recommends raising your thermostat to 80 to 85 degrees when you aren’t home, unless of course you have pets.

Indoor temperatures should not exceed 80 degrees when a cat or dog is home for a long period of time, said Adam Lauppe, a veterinarian at Valley Animal Hospital, Merced. He also recommends 78 degrees for pets that will be indoors most of the time.

“Over 80 degrees and you can encounter more issues with sicker dogs,” he said.

In addition to that temperature sweet spot of 78 degrees, Smith and MID’s Mike Jensen offer other recommendations to help cool your home while monitoring your electric usage:

• Opening your windows overnight to let cooler air in,

• Using ceiling and box fans to circulate air,

• Sealing gaps around doors and windows

• Running major appliances at night to reduce heat buildup during the day.

“One thing that I, you know, I try and do personally, and that I recommend that folks do is take advantage … of those early morning, or you know, overnight hours to turn your air conditioning off,” Smith said.

Solar energy can also be an avenue residents can take to lower their electric bill and even provide steady pricing.

Merced resident Miguel Samano has solar panels installed on his home. His bill this month? $50. For the prior two months? Zero.

“It’s great,” Samano said.

Even the Mayor of Merced has elected to go solar.

“I was able to get a pretty good rate on (solar panels). So, I’m very fortunate to have steady pricing personally because of solar panels,” Mayor Matthew Serratto said.

If solar isn’t an option for you, PG&E customers can minimize spikes in their bills through the Budget Billing Program. The program calculates a resident’s average energy costs over the last 12 months and adjusts payments each month accordingly to reduce spikes in bills.

“I mean, who wants to give more money to PG&E, but you need to,” Rebeca Antoine, who uses the budget billing program, said. “... It’s better than having the huge spikes in the summer.”

Relief from high electric bills would mean more than comfort for Swenson– it would mean stability.

“Less stress, less worrying about paying the bill. Money we could spend on other things that we need, like eventually replacing our A/C unit already,” Swenson said.

This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 1:00 PM.