Gore feels the heat over fuel bills

Updated 09.52 Wed Feb 28 2007

Keywords: climate change, Al Gore

Climate change campaigner Al Gore is facing embarrassing claims about the size of his energy bill.

According to reports, the former US Vice-President's Nashville mansion burns more electricity a month than the average US household uses in a year.

"Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk" - Drew Johnson

His Oscar-winning documentary - An Inconvenient Truth - urged Americans to reduce the amount of power they use at home.

A US think tank, the Tennessee Centre for Policy Research, has obtained Nashville Electric Service figures apparently showing that Mr Gore's home devoured nearly 221,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2006.

That is more than 20 times what US Department of Energy says is the national average of 10,656 kWh.

In August alone, Mr Gore got through 22,619 kWh, and since the release of An Inconvenient Truth his energy consumption has apparently increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

TCPR president Drew Johnson said: "As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use."

Kalee Kreider, a spokesperson for Mr Gore and his wife Tipper, did not dispute the figures, but told ABC the couple both worked at home, implying that made them likely to use more energy.

Ms Kreider said the Gores had taken steps to reduce and offset their carbon footprint by purchasing their power from a programme offering electricity generated by renewable resources.

"In addition, they are in the midst of installing solar panels on their home, which will enable them to use less power," she added.

"They also use compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy efficiency measures and then they purchase offsets for their carbon emissions to bring their carbon footprint down to zero."