Ohio Natural Gas Commerical Service

South Star Energy's Georgia Natural Gas and its Ohio company, Ohio Natural Gas, recently launched its commercial natural gas product at OhioNaturalGas.com, a site dedicated to helping the lovely people of Ohio switch or connect their natural gas service.

Ohio Natural Gas currently serves half-a-million residential and business customers in both Georgia and Ohio. Business customers at OhioNaturalGas.com will need an account with Dominion East of Ohio prior to entering their address to switch to Ohio Natural Gas service. Fixed and variable rate plans are offered as well as a $25 Visa Gift Card.

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Have a Green Thanksgiving Holiday

Yea! Turkey, family, friends and pie — oh my! I do hope all of you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, but just because it's a holiday doesn't mean I don't have some green tips for you.

I know that energy conservation and being green is hard to keep in mind when your house is filled with relatives, there's food to prepare, kids to corral and merriment to be had, but it has to be done, for the sake of our planet. Um.. yeah, no pressure.

Don't worry it's easy. You can do simple things like carpooling with relatives or friends when going to Thanksgiving dinner, bring your own re-usable plastic containers for leftovers instead of using foil or making no bake dishes so the only energy being used is the whirling power of the spatula in your hand.

For more easy green holiday tips read Don't Let Thanksgiving Ruin Your Carbon Diet.

Black Friday and Electronics

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and you know that means? Eating until you can't do anything else. While many of us are excited about time with family and a day off or two from work, that's not the only thing that people get worked up over around this time of year. You see, Black Friday looms just after Turkey Day, and consumers are already gearing up for the savings.

According to Consumer Reports, about 85 percent of shoppers this year are aiming to buy electronics like MP3 players, HD TVs, video game systems, phones and more. With all of the deals that I've already seen in my local catalogs, you can bet that I may join the swelling ranks of the Black Friday mob.

If you plan on participating in the frenzy of shopping, there are plenty of options not only in savings, but also in terms of ways that you can ensure that you're getting the best deal possible. Consumer Reports has a guide on "11 Ways to Strike Gold on Black Friday" that has all kinds of valuable tips such as visiting the retailer's website, asking for a price guarantee and more. Make sure that you are prepared and equipped to tackle the day and give it a read.

Anyone planning on going out on Black Friday? Any particular purchases in mind?

Bright House Gets a PowerBoost ™

Bright House Networks recently announced their launch of PowerBoost™.  The company says this technology, first deployed by Comcast, will allow their Turbo customers to temporarily experience download speeds significantly faster than their current speed at no additional charge. Currently, Road Runner Turbo with PowerBoost™ is available exclusively from Bright House Networks.

“We are very excited to be delivering this free, time-saving feature to our Road Runner Turbo customers,” said Kevin Hyman, Executive Vice President, Cable Operations of Bright House Networks. “PowerBoost will jumpstart a large file download reducing overall download time, and give users more time to enjoy the multitude of media available online.”

The speed provided by PowerBoost is available to customers who subscribe to Road Runner at a specific level. For example, Road Runner Turbo customers with a current speed of up to 15 Mbps will be able to experience  PowerBoost speeds up to 22 Mbps; and customers in Tampa Bay with a current speed of up to 20 Mbps will see PowerBoost speeds up to 30 Mbps.  Once a PowerBoost is completed, a download in progress will continue at the normal speed.

If you are not currently a customer, you can check out Bright House Network high-speed Internet plans and pricing to see if their service is available in your area.

Comcast Makes $10 Million Commitment to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Comcast Corporation recently announced that they have entered into a three-year, $10 million partnership.

Comcast says it will provide Big Brothers Big Sisters with airtime for public service announcements; program sponsorships; national and local board member support; and Comcast University leadership development and training scholarships for the organization's staff leaders. Big Brothers Big Sisters and Comcast will also partner to launch at Comcast, Beyond School Wallssm, Big Brothers Big Sisters' nationwide mentoring program in which companies give back to their communities by hosting and mentoring children from area schools at their offices.

"We are delighted that Comcast is taking a leadership role in supporting this unique evidence-based approach to solving serious problems too many American youth face," said Judy Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. "This partnership is a powerful example of a collaborative effort with many supporters working together—families, schools, government, philanthropists and of course, committed corporate leaders such as Comcast, making a measurable difference with children and in our communities."

For more information on Big Brothers Big Sisters, check out www.bbbs.org or watch this nice PSA by Paul Rudd:

AT&T; Launches Beta Video Search App

Having trouble finding and sharing your favorite online videos? AT&T is hoping they can help. The telecom giant recently launched a beta version of VideoCrawler, a site they touting as, "a customizable, easy to use, web site that allows users to search, view, listen, collect, share, rate and comment on the web's hottest media."

Developed in a collaboration between AT&T and Silicon Valley-based startup Divvio, the free application is supported by banner advertising and indexes hundreds of websites that feature rich media including video, audio, Internet radio and TV, games and ring tones. However, the creators stress that the site does not actually host any content. Users that sign up for the service can create their own collections to share with other visitors to the site, as well as rate and comment on the content they find and view other users' comments.

"We want to do everything possible to connect customers to the content they want, and today more than ever, what they want online is social media," said Sean O'Leary, vice president, AT&T Business Development. "With thousands of popular video Web sites, it's become more and more challenging to find, sort and manage all of the best clips that are out there. That's exactly what we're working to solve with VideoCrawler by allowing users to search from an index of the most popular media sources from across the Web."

To particpate in the public beta of the new site, just surf on over to www.videocrawler.com.

Bounce Energy Brings Innovative, Flexible Plans to Texas Electricity Market

Texas-based and privately-owned Bounce Energy is now offered through WhiteFence, bringing a unique approach to electricity service right here in the great state of Texas. We're talking 50 years of energy experience, local customer service representatives, 24/7 online account access, innovative products and incentives, and a whole lot more.

Here's a rundown of some of the finer points of Bounce Energy:

• Competitive rates on month-to-month plans with no contract terms
• Fresh Start Plan—NO deposit required
• Green plan with electricity generated from solar, wind, hydro and biomass
• Truly unique incentives like free companion airfare, $50 bill credits, magazine subscriptions and more

Login Here to See Bounce Energy's Unique Electricity Plans

I'll keep you updated as Bounce Energy continues to roll out additional options, as well as any information regarding specials and incentives. Thanks for stopping by!

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Green Mountain Energy Wins National Green Power Award

Green Mountain Energy - 2008 Market Development “Green Power Pilot Award – Honorable Mention” from the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) for its first-ever Hispanic Marketing campaign in Texas. The award recognizes companies and organizations for their efforts to spread awareness of renewable energy, and marks the culmination of Green Mountain's implementation of an integrated marketing and sales campaign targeting the Hispanic market in Houston and South Texas, using bi-lingual advertising, a Spanish-language microsite and other efforts to expand it's market.

For further details on the Green Power Leadership Awards:

EPA
The Green Power Network - About the Awards
National Renewable Energy Marketing Conferenece 2008

TXU Wants to Help You Brighten the Holidays Without Emptying Your Wallet

For those of us that enjoy decorating for the holidays, finding the right balance between fun and festive decorations and watching our spending and energy consumption can be tricky. Do I dare fill my front yard with a full Santa scene? Or should I just go with a string of small blinking lights draped across the window?

This year, TXU has offered their help in solving this dilemma. Before you string up your holiday wares, check out their Light Calculator. Just enter the number of bulbs your tribute to Frosty the Snowman requires and TXU will tell you the approximate kilowatt-hour (kWh) usage per day as well as your approximate cost per day and per month!

In addition to this handy calculator, TXU also offers a guide to choosing your lights and other holiday decorating tips. Check out their Holiday Guide to Lights for more.

Repowering America

Now that the election is over, the folks that brought us www.wecansolveit.org have created a new site called Repower America that focuses on the goal of 100% clean electricity within 10 years.

Their plan to Repower America outlines immediate investments in three areas: energy efficiency, renewable generation and transmission.

• Energy Efficiency: A national upgrade to eliminate waste, save money, and improve comfort. Make every bit of energy we produce work harder for us.
• Renewable Generation: Accelerate the ramp-up of clean, renewable electricity sources through policies that support increased private and public investment in technologies that work, like wind, solar, and geothermal.
• Unified National Smart Grid: Modernize transmission infrastructure so that clean electricity generated anywhere in America can power homes and businesses across the nation. National electricity ‘interstates’ that move power quickly and cheaply to where it needs to be; local smart grids that buy and sell power from households and support clean plug-in cars.

For more information and to learn how you can take action, check out www.repoweramerica.org.