Besides the few rogue smart-A$$ comments (pool skating, oxymoron, etc), I’m pleased there has been so many helpful comments. Thank you.

My wife thought I was nuts yesterday when I came home from work and unplugged all chargers, TVs in extra rooms, told her to shut lights behind her, etc. Who knows how long it will last, but I told her I wanted to try this for a full billing cycle (which starts Feb 16, we are just getting a head start). I’ll be sure to update the forum when that bill arrives.

Here is the electric portion of my last bill (note that the cost of going over 130% of the baseline is what really kills me (jumps from $0.064 to $0.22). 60% of my usage last month was over 200% (it would be very hard for me to completely remove usage over these baselines)

ELEC/DR 12-16 to 01-16
1,792 kWh $304.31

Baseline Allowance 357 kWh
Baseline 357 kWh @ $.04363 16/ 31 Days
101% – 130% of Baseline 107 kWh @ $.06380
131% – 200% of Baseline 250 kWh @ $.21818
Over 200% of Baseline 1,078 kWh @ $.23818

On top of the base kWh charge, there are $102 of “electric energy” charge added for the amount over 130%. Total Electric Charges 451.14

Additional Comment from above replies:

– SOLAR: house is not faced in ideal direction for solar, and even if it was, it would be MAJOR expense that would take 20+ years to breakeven. I looked into it on purchase
– SQ FT: I realize it is a lot of house, but we moved from 3100sf to get here, so that was by choice and I wouldn’t change it. Family is growing and we all value our space.
– LIGHTS: we’re running 65 watt bulbs mostly. Rooms where I don’t think dimming is of benefit I will probably switch to CFL and remove dimmers (bathroom, closet, office, halls). Some rooms require dimmers (bedrooms, kitchen, theater) so bulbs can’t go to CFL.
– FRIDGES: there are also two extra fridges in the garage that came with the house (those cool Gladiator freezer/fridge ones) that I do not use do to cost. The WINE fridge is full, we are not big drinkers, but I’d fear the wine would go bad if it wasn’t used. The BEVERAGE fridge holds overflow wine, sake, vodka, and sodas. It is used daily (sometimes though my wife accidently leaves the door cracked open). Kitchen fridge is likely NOT all that efficient (anyone know about the GE Monogram line?)
– SMALL APPLIANCES: I’ve shut off the dehumidifiers. I think I’ll add timers to them so they are not on 24 hours/day, but maybe half the day only.
– POOL PUMP: when it is really cold out like now I can reduce the filter hours, right? Maybe down to 3.5/day, from the 5-6/day needed in warm weather. Anyone know the recommendation? We NEVER use heater (only blue cover in summer)
– HOT WATER HEATER: it is in an inside room, so same temp as house (housed with washer/dryer, furnaces, soft water system). It is 75 gallon, not sure the setting, but no insulation blanket.
– FIREPLACE: none in the house.
– Other monthly house charges to deal with: Water ($300+/-), Landscaper ($250), Pool Guy ($80), TV/Internet/Phone ($210)

Thanks everyone for the good comments, this will really push me to see how big a difference we can make in the bill. Any extra ideas are welcome!