Are lower temps a sign of lower bills?
This video is no longer available.
JACKSON, Tenn. — With the coolest July in history, lower temperatures are even affecting nonprofits in the area – in a good way. RIFA gives away nearly a hundred fans every year to help those battling the blazing West Tennessee heat. This year, those fans are still sitting in storage. “I’m gonna ballpark and say we’ve only given out 10 to 15 fans this season so far, which is dramatically low,” Andrea Moore with RIFA’s Relief Services explained. Moore said they’ve been able to help the community in other ways. “It’s been able for us to target our efforts more elsewhere rather than just one big lump sum of something,” Moore said. Nonprofits aren’t the only ones getting some relief this summer. As of Thursday, records dating back to 1949 show this is the coolest July in history. The average this month is 74.1 degrees so far, which is 5.5 degrees below normal. “It’s been really nice. I haven’t been using my air at all. I’ve been using fans, so it’s really helping out a lot,” resident Veronica Wilkes said. That means residents are expecting cooler bills. Many West Tennesseans say with the mild summer, they’ve already seen a decrease in their utility bill just from the month of June, and they’re hopoing the month of July will be the same way. “I saw a decrease in my bill for last month and hopefully this month will be as small as the last one,” resident Simon Beard explained. As for RIFA, Moore says they can give greater help to those in need. “The less that apply, in one week we can make a bigger impact with the ones that do apply,” Moore explained. Jackson Energy Authority says they predict lower bills for July based on temperature, but they also say the facts and figures of a bill depend on customer usage.
