Conservation Gauge

View today's gauge

While Dakota Electric encourages members to conserve energy year round, some days will require simple actions on your part to keep electricity usage and costs down.

Because the next-day wholesale price for electricity is based on forecasted energy usage, Dakota Electric developed the conservation gauge to inform members of changes in the market price of electricity and the need for additional conservation efforts on high usage days. Every home and business implementing these simple conservation measures can make a huge difference in saving energy.

Gauge Levels

The conservation gauge has three levels:

Read tips for each usage level

Why Change the Gauge in the Afternoon
Dakota Electric updates the gauge every afternoon to reflect conservation needs for the next day. For example, Dakota Electric updates the gauge on Tuesday afternoon to reflect the conservation needs for Wednesday. Every afternoon, Dakota Electric's wholesale power supplier receives the forecasted usage and price of electricity for the following day. Informing members of the next day's forecasted electricity usage allows members to plan and prepare for energy conservation measures. For example, a member may wake up early to do laundry or close the blinds before going to work on a peak electricity usage day.

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