HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — With temperatures surging into the 90’s, the urge to crank up the air might result in steep increases to energy bills throughout the Valley.

Energy experts say a good way to save money is to keep the thermostat set between 75 to 78 degrees during the peak summer usage hours between 4 and 8 pm.

Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative’s Greg Rogers says keeping energy use below 800 kilowatt hours will help the entire community.

“Practice practice practice those conservation levels. It does turn into dollars not only through the Beat the Peak program that would apply to all of the cooperative members but also on your own bill, if you can keep the kilowatt hours low,” Rogers says.

With SVEC’s “Beat the Peak” program, energy users can sign up to receive alerts shortly before the cooperative anticipates a period of peak demand giving residents the opportunity to reduce electrical usage and avoid rate increases.