Rec’d a letter from our electric utility, ComEd, a while ago — a “Home Energy Report,” it says, for the period October 25 to December 26. I don’t remember seeing one before. Could be members of utility middle management cooked them up for the purpose of better serving the energy-consuming public. That or keeping busy.

The letter says we’ve used 2 percent less electricity than my “efficient neighbors” for the two-month period above. Who? It helpfully explains the universe of neighbors in this case is about “100 occupied nearby homes that are similar in size to yours and have gas heat.” Efficient neighbors are the “most efficient 20 percent from the All Neighbors group.”

Ah, but over the last 12 months, we’ve used 20 percent more electricity than those efficient people, the letter also says (yet still less than the universe of 100 neighbors). Makes me think the most recent months are a fluke. Can’t think of anything we’ve been doing to cut electric use, though I’ve switched off a lot of lights in empty rooms. But I’ve always done that.

Never mind, we can still claim to be righteously green. A nice letter is one thing, but what about a rate reduction. No? I didn’t think so.