Now, power is not universal - it doesn’t freely flow across state lines and around the whole nation. There’s a price tag on it, and if other localities can undersell Georgia power plants, then a power plant might cut back on it’s production. Additionally, if a plant is particularly inefficient and consumption drops, it makes financial sense to reduce the production of energy at that plant.

There may also be state or local regulation that requires a power company to reduce production if consumption falls (but I don’t know that for a fact - just throwing out the possibility).

Assuming we use less power, does that mean they will generate less electricity and use less water - or will they just send the power elsewhere on the grid??

I’m not against conservation - I just want to know if I sacrifice that there is an impact.

“Interesting pics and soon all the lakes/reservoirs in North Georgia could be bone dry. Gov. Perdue just prays for rain and wants unending development.”

While that might be true, it has little or nothing to do with the problem. The water usage by the Atlanta metro is a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the water required downstream, and the same crisis would exist for both Florida and Alabama even if Atlanta didn’t exist at all.

Please stop the inflammatory rhetoric. It really doesn’t help your case.

I did not communicate clearly what I meant. I should have mentioned metabolism rates and not core body temperatures. I’m talking about the fact that people who eat very unhealthy diets usually get very hot easily and have to have the AC on. I can replicate that myself by eating unhealthily for a couple of days. Anyway, it’s their metabolism revving to keep their bodies going and eliminating the excessive amounts of waste byproducts being generated, whereas I would have very little to generate. An example would be my former bandmates (rock’n roll). They drink beer a lot and eat crap. I’d be the last person sweating in the practice room, if at all, even though I have the most physical instrument to play (drums). They’d be sweating like they were working outside in the heat. When I’d hug them bye bye after a practice, their bodies would radiate all that heat like a furnace! There would be some exceptions, like my Mom, who couldn’t keep warm no matter what because her circulatory system was so damaged.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_plant#By_fuel would indicate that indeed, most of the water is returned to the watershed:

“Where economically and environmentally possible, electric companies prefer to use cooling water from the ocean, or a lake or river, or a cooling pond, instead of a cooling tower. This type of cooling can save the cost of a cooling tower and may have lower energy costs for pumping cooling water through the plant’s heat exchangers. However, the waste heat can cause the temperature of the water to rise detectably. Power plants using natural bodies of water for cooling must be designed to prevent intake of organisms into the cooling cycle. A further environmental impact would be organisms that adapt to the warmer plant water and may be injured if the plant shuts down in cold weather.”

And if they did, they would crank the AC. Ever had a fever? As your body temperature rises the air around you feels colder. People with fevers bundle up (although they shouldn’t). Likewise, hypothermics stop shivvering in the cold, and are known to cast off their clothing because they feel overheated. Many frozen mountain climbers are found without their shirts, having died trying to cool off.

A hypothetical vegan with an abnormally low core body temperature would seek to get colder, and turn on the AC.

The rest of Stephanie’s ideas (the ones that don’t involve basic medical science) are great ideas. I’ll add one more - turn off your Dolby Sound Surround system, if you have one, particularly if it has a subwoofer. Next to your fridge and thermostat, it’s about the biggest “continuous use” source in your home.

There are a number of things I do because I live on a budget.

First off, I live in a downstairs apartment that faces the rising sun in the east. I have units on both sides of me, behind me to the west, and above me. I’m insulated from the sun except for the east side (it’s cooler and I don’t have to turn on lights in the living area/bedroom until evening).

I changed out the fridge for my own dorm-sized fridge (it’s only me, and I eat everything I buy in serial fashion, plus the empty full-size fridge has to work longer to keep itself at the same temp than a full one does. Not to mention full-size fridges use larger motors which give off more heat in the kitchen).

Because I am vegan, I have a cooler body temperature, I can leave the AC off the entire year (which I did this year) and only use the heat for getting ready in the morning and bundle up the rest of the time. I don’t ever use the fans here, no need to.

I unplug everything I don’t use, including my alarm timer (because it has a battery backup), monitor, computer, shredder, EVERYTHING except some speed-sensitive stuff.

My electric bill runs about $25 in the spring to about $33 in the winter.