One Way to Cut High Utility Bills

Marie Sheets, the woman pictured holding a one-month electric bill for $219 (“Sparks Fly as Utilities Vie for South County Area,” Feb. 17), should stop blaming San Diego Gas and Electric for her high utility bills and turn her attention instead to changing her energy use habits.

I lived in a 1,100-square-foot apartment (Sheets’ condominium is 1,200 square feet) in Irvine for five years and never paid, in terms of today’s SDG&E; rates, more than $60 a month. All of my appliances were electric, and so was my heating.

Sheets should stop worrying about being “hoodwinked” by SDG&E.; Rather, she should learn to turn down the thermostat (I assume she has electric heating), use non-wasteful cooking methods and incorporate other energy-efficient techniques into her everyday life. I am sure that SDG&E; would gladly send her a guidebook.

TOM WEISEL

Irvine