Switching to more energy efficient appliances

Appliances are the largest source of electricity usage, said Simi Hoque, a professor at Drexel’s department of civil, architectural and environmental engineering. The refrigerator is the most energy-hungry of them all, but you can’t turn it off. Hoque said switching to more energy-efficient appliances will save money, but only if the current models have reached the end of their life.

“If your water heater or your washing machine or your dishwasher or refrigerator have reached their end of life, then it would be important to try to make sure that you find an appliance that is an Energy Star- certified appliance,” Hoque said. “You’re not going to be able to recoup the cost of a new appliance if you haven’t reached the end of life of your existing appliance.”

One exception may be an old window unit air conditioner, Hoque said.

“Those things live for a really long time, but they become extremely inefficient over time,” Hoque said. “And so if you have an old window air conditioning unit, even if it’s not at its end of life, it may be worthwhile to look and see if it’s possible to buy a newer window air conditioning unit to install. I would actually buy a small one because generally those are pretty good. If you put a fan to move air around, the air conditioner can work towards reducing the humidity inside the space, and then the fan can just kind of move the dried cooler air around, and that is enough for comfort on a hot day.”

Hoque also encourages signing up for time-of-use pricing, which allows customers with smart meters to pay lower rates if they use appliances like dishwashers and dryers during offpeak hours.

Home energy audit/weatherization

A home energy audit can help pinpoint areas where expensive heat and cooling are escaping from your residence. Weatherizing your home by sealing drafty windows and doors can make a difference. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that adding insulation to attics and crawl spaces can save up to 17% on heating and cooling costs.

Hoque said one of the most important parts of weatherization is making sure to insulate the top part of the house beneath the roof. And in a rowhome, it’s helpful to have a white- or silver-coated roof.

“This is more about being sure that you’re insulating the most vulnerable part of your building in the summertime to avoid overheating, and that’s the roof,” Hoque said.

Pennsylvania provides free energy audits and weatherization to those who make 200% or less of the federal poverty level. And some utilities offer services that will assess where you could save.

Shopping for alternative electricity suppliers

Pennsylvania’s deregulated electricity market means that while utilities have a monopoly on distribution in specific territories, ratepayers can still shop for alternative suppliers. Electric bills are generally split in half between the energy supply costs and the distribution costs of sending it through power lines. Utilities make their profit on distribution, and simply pass on the supply charges.

Choosing default service means going with the same provider for both supply and distribution, for example PECO or PPL Electric Utilities. This is the simplest option and one that consumer advocates recommend because the utilities are required to shop for a good price. The alternative suppliers, however, often have varying rates and cancellation fees.

Still, Lancaster County resident Bruce Blom said he’s been shopping for years through the Public Utility Commission’s PAPowerSwitch and saves about $80 to $100 a year. The process is known as “price to compare” where ratepayers can see the different rates and compare them to their default service provider.

“It’s pretty easy,” Blom said. “I always only look for a fixed rate and ones with no penalty for cancellation. And for anything for three months to a year. For the last two years, your best deals are only three months of a fixed rate.”

The key is to put reminders in your calendar when the fixed rate ends so you can make sure you’re not facing surprise rate hikes, Blom added.

“Frankly, I don’t care if they have some kind of reward,” he said. “Okay, fine, if they want to give me something, fine. But you got to keep checking because rates go up fairly rapidly.”

Blom had high praise for the PAPowerSwitch website, saying it was very user friendly.

“It’s the best thing I can do,” Blom said. “That’s the only control I have other than, of course, my own personal control of usage in my house.”

Pennsylvania taking down the USA All-Stars, at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic, has happened a few times over the years, going back to the Dapper Dan Days, but the 2026 version at Peter’s Township High School in McMurray, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening would end with another win in the book for Team USA, 23-19. 

USA Turns Mid-Match Surge Into Winning Edge

After splitting the first four matches, leading to a 6-6 tie, USA won five straight to go up 23-6 and then held off a late rally where the home state won the last three on the card, but not with enough bonus points to overtake the USA squad. 

Pennsylvania’s Late Rally Falls Just Short

The match ended with three consecutive Pennsylvania victories, but PA needed bonus points in the final three bouts. Faith Christian’s No. 2 Adam Waters edged Lawrence North’s No. 1 Michael White of Indiana, 8-7, but left Pennsylvania without enough points available to overcome their deficit.

White is an explosive wrestler, capable of putting points up in bunches, but Waters was able to slow him down in the first frame. White gained a late takedown when he finished off a sweep single with about 10 seconds left. Waters chose down, and got an escape point, some hands to the face preceded a shot from Waters, that in our opinion, should have been whistled dead after Waters inadvertently poked White in the eye. With White calling for timeout, the referee allowed the action to continue, and Waters easily put him on the mat to tie it at four.

White went down for the third and hit Waters with a reversal. Waters would escape and then gather the winning takedown on a reattack to a double for an 8-6 advantage. White would get free but could not add any more points in an 8-7 Waters win. 

Their only meeting prior to this one occurred at Fargo, where Waters jumped out to an early lead before suffering a hamstring injury. He tried to work through it but was hobbled and White came back to take the lead before Waters threw in the towel on an injury default. Waters fell to Delbarton’s No. 3 CJ Betz in the semis and did not get a chance to face White in the Ironman Finals. White beat Betz to claim the number one ranking.

Jayden James Tested, Responds Like a Champion

World Champ, No. 1 Jayden James (Delbarton, NJ) has been a bonus point machine this year, even taking down the number two guy in the country, Birmingham, California’s Slava Shahbazyan by tech fall in the 165-pound Doc Buchanan Final. So, it was reasonable to expect more of the same when James took on No. 9 at 157 pounds, Reagan Milheim (Warrior Run) at 160 pounds. 

It seems Milheim did not agree to keep that script going and instead challenged James like he hadn’t been challenged this year, wrestling to a 10-10 tie in the third period that contained two takedowns earned by Milheim.

It looked like it would be a normal showcase for James as he started off in his typical manner and began to do the “take ‘em down, and let ‘em up” thing, building to a 6-2 count when Milheim surprised his foe with a dump to the back, although he was not able to secure back points, but was now only down by one as the first closed, 6-5.

The second period began with James back to attacking but he was held to just one takedown as Milheim, buoyed by his big move at the end of the first, was wrestling with renewed vigor. It was 9-7 at the start of the third, James got an escape point and then Milheim countered a shot from James with a simple spin behind to electrify the crowd.

Would they see James fall for the first time in two years to a high school grappler? With 1:21 left to go, James got it together and shut down Milheim, scoring a takedown on a spin behind of his own then adding three back points for the final, 17-10, tally. 

Bonus Points Fuel Pennsylvania’s Final Push

No. 5 Elijah Brown of Belle Vernon put on the kind of display we’re used to seeing from James in his encounter with Valiant Prep, Arizona’s Kal-El Fluckiger. Valiant wrestlers don’t wrestle a high school schedule, so they are removed from the rankings during that period. 

If Fluckiger was in the report, he would have been number five pushing everyone else down (Brown to six). The reason for that being Fluckiger won a Super 32 Belt and beat DuBois’ Kendahl Hoare there. Hoare dished Brown his only loss this year in an early season dual meet, 10-8.

Brown hit a blast double immediately and then started piling up back point going up 7-0 after 17 seconds. Two more sets of tilts would propel Brown to a quick, 15-0 tech of Fluckiger in 1:12. 

No. 4 Dean Bechtold (Owen J. Roberts) followed Brown at heavyweight with an almost identical state line that culminated in a 15-0 technical fall of unranked Cliff Nicholson III (Medina, OH) in 1:31. Lake Highland Prep, Florida’s Tyler Dekraker is rated third at 144 pounds but competed here at 139 and dropped an 18-3 tech on No. 33 Dalton Wenner (Cranberry) in 4:23. 

Trinity’s Will Detar (No. 12 at 132 pounds) provided the home crown a boost when he authored the first upset of the dual in his meeting with No. 9 Mason Jakob (Dobyns Bennett, TN) at 127 pounds. 

Overtime Drama Highlights Competitive Night

Detar and Jakob took turns earning escapes but other than that just jostled for positioning over regulation. That changed in overtime as Detar got in on a low single and worked to the winning finish in the 4-1 win. 

Bethlehem Catholic’s No. 4 Keanu Dillard followed Detar and also went into overtime to gain his win over Illinois’ No.7 Nicholas Garcia (Marmion Academy) at 133 pounds.

Like the previous bout, these two exchanged nothing but escapes during regulation. The similarities ended there as these two wrestled through a scoreless first overtime period and the Dillard took over with an escape and a spin behind following a poor shot from Garicia in the middle portion of OT. Dillard contained Garcia in the final frame for a 5-1 win in the tiebreaker.

Key Wins Spark USA’s Decisive Run

There were two 139-pound matches and in the first, No. 1 Moses Mendoza (Gilroy, CA) survived an early threat from No. 5 Camden Baum (Bishop McDevitt) to gain an 8-6 win and halt Pennsylvania’s streak at two and begin a run of five straight wins by the national squad. 

Baum started off with a slick double leg and ended the first up 3-1. Mendoza started down in the second and hit a quick turn-in to a smooth single. After a Baum escape, Mendoza got right back in on a double for his final points. Baum added a third period escape to his total.

Oklahoma’s No. 4 Joseph Jeter (Edmond North) picked up the final USA win at the end of their five-match run with a 13-7 decision of No. 13 Gage Wentzel (Montoursville) at 172 pounds. It was all Jeter for two periods and after gaining four back points on an Assassin, he was up 11-0. Wentzel made a late charge in the third but was kept at bay. 

A match between two guys who wrestled 150/152 pounds all season was held at 145 instead of having a second 152-pound bout as they did at 139. Wolbert (Oconomowoc, WI) is rated second and beat No.19 Michael Turi (Wyoming Seminary) 4-1 with the winning points coming in the first period. 

At 121 pounds, No. 8 Alex Rozas (Teurlings Catholic, LA) greeted Chestnut Ridge’s Dominic Deputy (No, 12 at 132) in his match and kept the local grappler off the board in a 4-0 win where the big points came on a takedown in the final round on a heel pick. 

The 152-pound matchup lacked the firepower of the others as the favorite, Hunter Stevens (Mt. Horeb, WI) was ranked 15th and was facing No. 30 Hudson Hohman (Grove City). Stevens’ 4-1 win came in the middle of Team USA’s winning streak.

Team USA 23, PA All-Stars 19

(match started at 121)

121-Alex Rozas (USA) dec Dominic Deputy, 4-0

127-Will Detar (PA) dec Mason Jakob, 4-1 SV OT

133-Keanu Dillard (PA) dec Nicholas Garcia, 5-1 OT TB2

139-Moses Mendoza (USA) dec Camden Baum, 8-6

139-Tyler Dekraker (USA) tech fall Dalton Wenner, 18-3 (4:23)

145-Kellen Wolbert (USA) dec Michael Turi, 4-1

152-Hunter Stevens (USA) dec Hudson Hohman, 4-1

160-Jayden James (USA) dec Reagan Milheim, 17-10

172-Joseph Jeter (USA) dec Gage Wentzel, 13-7

189-Adam Waters (PA) dec Michael White, 8-7

215-Elijah Brown (PA) tech fall Kal-El Fluckiger, 15-0 (1:12)

285-Dean Bechtold (PA) tech fall Cliff Nicholson III, 15-0 (1:31)

• A Greencastle fire company received $16,000 in unclaimed funds from the Pennsylvania Treasury.
• Pennsylvania currently holds about $5 billion in unclaimed property, with one in ten residents estimated to have a claim.
• Unclaimed property can include uncashed checks, old bank accounts, and tangible items from abandoned safe deposit boxes.
• Residents can search for and claim property online or through treasury outreach events.

An oversized check presented to Greencastle’s Rescue Hose Co. by Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity on Thursday, March 26, 2026, is a small representation of billions of dollars of unclaimed property her office wants to return to its owners.

The $16,000 was uncovered by Larry Booker, who works in regional outreach for the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, during an unclaimed property event hosted in Greencastle by state Rep. Chad Reichard, a Republican who represents part of Franklin County.

“Near the end of the event, Larry asked for the local municipalities and fire stations so he could look them up,” according to Josh Peters, Reichard’s district director.

When Reichard’s office called the Rescue Hose Co. with a message about the money, Bill Hull, president, recalled he quickly asked, “What do we have to do?”

America250: Where did Franklin County boroughs and townships get their names?

Paperwork was completed, a regular check deposited in the general fund and the money will be used to pay bills, according to Tom Bricker, fire company treasurer.

Garrity, a Republican who took office in 2021, is running for governor of Pennsylvania this year. She stopped by the Rescue Hose Co. before attending the Franklin County Republican Committee’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner in the Marion Fire Hall.

What to know about unclaimed property

At the check presentation, Garrity took some time to talk about unclaimed property in Pennsylvania, some $5 billion, including $17.5 million in Franklin County.

One in 10 Pennsylvanians has unclaimed property, she said.

“It’s not the state’s money, it belongs to the hard-working people of Pennsylvania,” Garrity said. It also belongs to municipalities, organizations, fire companies and other groups. The total includes $17.5 million in Franklin County.

Antrim Township Administrator Chris Ardininger got some laughs at the presentation when he said his township recently claimed $67.

The money ends up in the state’s hands from a variety of sources, such as uncashed checks, closed bank accounts, rebates, old insurance policies, a misspelling or a wrong address.

There’s also tangible property from abandoned safe deposit boxes, police evidence lockers, nursing homes and college dorms. The list includes things as diverse as jewelry, fine china and guitars, according to Jake Sarwar, deputy press secretary.

Garrity is a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel and returning military medals – Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars and even a World War I Mothers and Widows Gold Star Pilgrimage Medal – to veterans and their families is very meaningful to her and her staff, Sarwar said.

How to claim unclaimed property

“We do whatever we can to help find the owners,” Sarwar said.

Treasury outreach representatives participated in about 1,300 events last year, Garrity said. They can help people search and file the paperwork to claim unclaimed property.

Anyone can look for money on their own by going to patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property or calling 800-222-2046.

The check really is in the mail

Money Match is a new way for the Pennsylvania Treasury Department to return unclaimed property. Supported unanimously by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Gov. Josh Shapiro, it went into effect last year.

When individuals with unclaimed property of $500 or less, who meet other criteria of the bill, are identified by the treasury, their money will automatically be sent to them.