Hawai'i most expensive state to deck the halls with lights
Associated Press
If you live in Honolulu, decking the halls for Christmas can set you back $160 — twice as much as in Knoxville, Tenn., or Seattle.
The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee examined the cost of running a light display similar to Clark Griswold's monstrosity in the movie "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and found that the expense varies sharply from region to region.
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In Knoxville, for example, a display of 100 strings each with 100 miniature lights (41 watts per string), one 100-watt Santa figure and a 450-watt set of floodlights illuminating a nativity scene would generate added costs of $63. That's assuming the lights are on seven hours a day for 30 days.
In New York, the same display would cost an extra $136 and in Hawai'i $160. But a homeowner in Seattle would pay just $50 and in Idaho Falls $53.
The highest electricity rates in the nation are in Alaska and Hawai'i, where residents pay an average of 14.42 cents per kilowatt hour, researchers say. The lowest rates, 6.43 per kilowatt hour, are in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Much of that South Central region is served by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public power producer.
While gaudy Christmas displays throw a lot of light, they require a relatively small amount of power, said TVA spokesman Terry Johnson. Even the grandest ones barely make a dent in power demand.
"People with large displays may notice it in their electric bill, but for TVA it's not a significant change," Johnson said.
Chuck Smith of Franklin, Tenn., expects an electric bill of about $56 for his massive Planet Christmas display south of Nashville, which draws such a crowd that police have to come to his home every year to keep traffic moving.
Smith says he uses 134,055 miniature lights and nearly 8 miles of wire. The display includes 138 strobe lights, a gingerbread house, a four-horse carousel, elves building a snowman and Santa in a helicopter.
"If you watch the display carefully, never are all of the lights on at the same time," Smith says on his Web site. "It just looks that way because there are so many and they're blinking. If they were all on, the display would draw 110 amps of current, equal to about 10 hair dryers working at the same time."
And no, Smith says, contrary to what people may think, he doesn't get a discount from the electric company because of volume.
"I wish!" he said.
