With temperatures in Georgia surpassing 60 days above 90 degrees since May and with severe thunderstorms in the forecast for this week, Georgia Power is reminding customers of a number of tools to keep safety first and help reduce the impact of the hot weather on power bills.

As part of continued efforts to help customers save energy and money and to prepare for severe weather year-round, the company has made it easy to find energy efficiency solutions and safety tips at www.GeorgiaPower.com.

Tips, Tools & Resources for Energy Efficiency

Georgia Power offers tips, tools and resources that can help all customers save money and energy during the heat of summer, and when severe weather strikes.

Hundreds of useful tips, whether you own a home or rent, are available atwww.GeorgiaPower.com/Save:

Do not leave electronics on – Turn off televisions, computers and other electronic devices when not in use.

Protect appliances with SurgeDefender – Georgia Power offers a state-of-the-art product, SurgeDefender, to single-family homeowners including individually metered, owned townhouses and condominiums to help protect motor-driven appliances such as refrigerator, HVAC, washer/dryer from power surges entering on the electric lines.

Install storm doors – A storm door creates a pocket of insulated air space between itself and your house’s exterior door. This reduces heat transfer into and out of your home, lowering heating and cooling costs.

Only use surge protectors with internal circuit breakers – These units will trip the breaker if the power strip is overloaded and shorted to prevent overheating.

Focus on the fridge – Proper cleaning and maintenance of the refrigerator, such as dusting the dirt from the refrigerator coils and removing food to allow air to circulate, can reduce its energy consumption.

Tips & Resources for Severe Weather Preparation:

With temperatures continuing to rise above 90 degrees, the National Weather Service is forecasting severe weather this week. Georgia Power reminds customers to keep safety first during a storm and offers the following videos and tools to prepare for severe weather year-round:

Outage Alerts – Subscribe to the free Georgia Power Outage Alert service to receive personalized notifications and updates via text message.

Build an Emergency Kit – A well-built kit should contain enough supplies to get you and your family through three days without electricity or running water.

Power Restoration Process – Georgia Power crews focus on repairs that return power to the greatest number of customers in the least amount of time.

Assessing Conditions – Before restoration crews can get to work, damage assessment teams identify trouble spots and the resources needed to fix it.

Downed Tree Safety – Downed trees are usually the cause of an outage after a storm. Never attempt to pull tree limbs off wires yourself.

Generator Safety – Never use generators in an enclosed space. They produce dangerous carbon monoxide that can't be seen or smelled.

Storing Food and Medicine in an Outage – During an outage, it's important to know how to safely store your food and medicine.

Georgia Power constantly monitors changing weather conditions and remains prepared to respond to any service interruptions that might occur because of severe weather. Customers can subscribe to Georgia Power's YouTube Storm Channel for the latest safety videos and can connect with Georgia Power on Facebook and Twitter for helpful information every day, and restoration updates during severe weather.

Customer Resources No Matter the Season

Regardless of the season or the weather, Georgia Power encourages customers to take advantage of these resources to save money and energy throughout the year:

Take an online energy checkup – Georgia Power’s quick and easy online energy checkup provides a customized report to help you understand your energy use and find ways to save money. Energy Checkup can use your actual power bills to give you a customized report. Just enter information about your home and family to measure how you use energy.  

Conduct a rate plan review: Georgia Power offers a variety of flexible and customizable rate plans to fit every lifestyle. Ensuring that you are on the most economical rate plan for your use is one of the most effective ways to keep your energy costs low. Customers can explore Georgia Power rate plans here and at www.GeorgiaPower.com/Pricing.

Bill payment assistance: Georgia Power works with customers to coordinate payment arrangements and discounts such as the Low-Income Senior Citizens Discount, and can connect them with community organizations that may be able to help them pay their bill including The Salvation Army's Project SHARE program. Additional information is available atwww.GeorgiaPower.com/Assistance or via phone at 888-660-5890.