Consumers Energy Customers Get A Good Value From The Energy Needed To Cook Thanksgiving Dinner

JACKSON, Mich., Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sharing a Thanksgiving feast with friends or family can create priceless memories. Consumers Energy reminds customers this holiday season of the energy value it provides. The energy cost of preparing the entire meal ranges from 59 cents with natural gas to $1.57 with electricity.

The costs to cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal for 12 guests break down as follows:

• Roast stuffed turkey in an electric oven: 97 cents; in a gas oven 37 cents.
• Large pan of mashed potatoes cooked for 20 minutes: about 5 cents.
• Giblet gravy cooked on the stove for 10 minutes: about 2 cents.
• Homemade dinner rolls baked for 30 minutes: 12 cents with electricity or 5 cents with natural gas.
• Re-heating pre-baked rolls in the microwave oven: less than half a cent.
• Vegetable baked in casserole in an electric oven for 30 minutes: 8 cents.
• Two pumpkin pies baked in an electric oven: 24 cents; with natural gas 9 cents.
• Glass and ceramic dishes hold heat better and allow you to lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
• The oven temperature drops 25-75 degrees each time the oven door is opened, so monitor cooking time and peek through the oven window, if possible, to check on your food.

While dinner is cooking, holiday guests may gather around the television to watch a parade or football game. The cost of electricity to power a standard TV for four hours is 13 cents. A plasma TV uses four times more energy than a standard TV and will cost 52 cents.

"Our promise at Consumers Energy is to work hard every day to add value for our customers," said Dan Malone, senior vice president of distribution and customer operations. "We feel truly blessed to be part of so many Michigan families' celebrations during the holidays as their provider of safe, reliable and affordable energy."

Additionally, the utility offers several strategies to keep energy costs down during the holiday season:

• Use your microwave for defrosting and cooking small portions.
• Plan to bake more than one dish or cook an entire meal in the oven to save energy.
• Using roasting bags reduces cooking time in the oven by nearly one-half.

Consumers Energy, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy, provides natural gas and electricity to 6.8 million of Michigan's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

For more information regarding Consumers Energy, visit us at: www.consumersenergy.com or join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/consumersenergymichigan

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