Les Jones: Winners and Losers: Al Gore's Utility Bill Revealed

February 27, 2007

News > Winners and Losers: Al Gore's Utility Bill Revealed

Following Al Gore's Oscar win for An Inconvenient Truth, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research sends out a press release: Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”:

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year. In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

I don't have my kilowatt totals handy, but I can see in Quicken what I paid in January. Our electric and water bill was $79.68 and our natural gas bill was $75.72. Gore is using roughly 2000% of the energy of our family of four in a house that's roughly 600% bigger, so basically three times as much energy even after adjusting for square footage. Does he have a 24 hour disco or something?

Winners

- People who hate Al Gore's hypocritical guts
- The Tennessee Valley Authority
- Those greedy energy companies

Losers

- Environmentalists who applauded Al Gore's Oscar win
- Mother Earth

UPDATE: Here's the electric bill. It turns out part of Gore's electric bill (about $430 month) is because he's paying extra for green power, but that doesn't explain all of it, and it doesn't explain his natural gas bill.

Previous Oscar 2007 posts:
- Ron Rosenbaum's Moral Relativism
- Word of the Day: Sangfroid
- Mark Wahlberg Trivia You Don't Wanna Know

Posted by lesjones | TrackBack

Comments

Saw some dip the other day on some other blog I can't recall talking about how Gal Whore, I mean Al Gore, buys "carbon credits" to offset his high personal usage and that Gore makes the rest of his family drive hybrid cars to offset his armored SUV.

Can someone please get these kind of people to quit drinking the Kool-Aid?

Keep up the good work Les.

Posted by: -B at February 27, 2007

Aha! The big chunk is the GAS bill! I suspect Big Al has a big heated pool out back of that big ol' house of his. Someone who's into this sort of stuff should check it out--maybe on Google Maps?

Posted by: Mike Anderson at February 27, 2007

Pay no attention to that man behind the carbon offsets!

Posted by: Jim Treacher at February 27, 2007

He can probably deduct it all as a business development expense. The Goracle is chairman and a founding partner of Generation Investment Management LLP, an international boutique investment fund that places other peoples' money, for a fee, into the stocks of 'green' companies. (Check their website for details.) When Al is beating the drum for possible future global warming, he's also drumming up business. As for his 'carbon offsets' - well, the definition is rather elusive.

Posted by: Robert McConnell at February 28, 2007

Two words: grow op

Posted by: Jay Currie at February 28, 2007

"Does he have a 24 hour disco or something?"

More likely a tanning bed.

And more evidence that The Left Doesn't Really Believe In The Things They Lecture Us About

Ya, I know. Still too long for a book title. Sigh.

Posted by: Fen at February 28, 2007

Hmmm, last time I remember a story out of Tennessee with some using that much electricity, the DEA got involved
http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/outdoors/caving/marijuana-pot-cave.html

Posted by: roger at February 28, 2007

It's Tipper's house. Al lives in an outbuilding heated by unused PMRC stickers.

Posted by: persimmon at March 01, 2007

I've been in that house on Lynnwood Blvd. before it was became Chez Algore [a client was considering buying it before Tipper OD'd on the smoking room, if you know what I mean] and I think you're being unfair.

The light switches only go UP! That can't be Al's fault, even though he's spent the big bucks on all sorts of upgrades. He'll get around to it eventually...no, really, he will.

Cut the man some slack...everybody knows the rules are for the common folk, fer pete's sake.

Posted by: Alex the Gripaholic at March 01, 2007

part of doing a story right is actuallly telling the truth....not adding little "projective ideantional creations" or whatever his spinner called it when the movie was being imagined.
and as dylan noted back when the gores were opposed to that not no nice music, "to live outside the law, you must be honest."

Posted by: gabriel bear at August 05, 2007