MD..my father works for one of the major elect. co. in NSW...it was his job many years ago to advise people how to save money on their bills, and how to reduce them etc. One of the biggest energy munchers is obviously heating and cooling....a/c's, heaters, ducted etc. Heating is much more expensive than cooling (your a/c works harder). If (like in middle of winter) you must have your heat on, dont haveit on the highest temp, reduce it a bit. Reverse for cooling....
Leaving appliannces on (eg kettle turned on at powerpoint etc), whilst we've been trained to turn the switch off, it costs like nothing to actually have it on.

We got a huge bill last winter.... Our energy company went thru every item in my house that i may use day to day....the culprit. Aircon...approx $7 per day (over winter, we have it on every day)....times that over a 3 mths period, along with the rise in energy costs...and this explained an awful lot.