With electricity costs on the rise along with summer temperatures, sometimes coping with the high bills comes down to making choices.

The range of those choices can include practicing conservation methods at home, choosing an electrical company with better prices or making the hard choice to ask for help.

Sophia Stoller with TXU Energy media relations said electric prices tend to go up with the summer heat as air conditioners run longer. And lately the price of natural gas, used by many companies to generate power, has increased.

“The majority of retail pricing has increased to offset wholesale prices,” she said. “Prices are high right now.”

She added though that customers likely have not received the highest of bills they will experience this summer.

She said that in addition to signing up for price protection and other plans associated with electric companies, conservation methods can also help cut bills down to a manageable level.

“Fifty-five percent of energy for most people comes from their air conditioner,” she said, adding that keeping the thermostat lower than about 78 degrees can noticeably add to the cost of power.

A programmable thermostat will allow homeowners to reduce consumption during the times when no one is home.

She suggested people keep the thermostat high, along with ceiling fans to keep the air moving, and use energy-efficient light bulbs. She said lighting can be 20 percent of an electric bill.

Judy Morales, director of the Temple HELP Center, said although the summer has set in early and prices have increased, the center has not yet seen an appreciable increase in requests related to the cost of power.

“We do expect higher bills coming in July, although people are coming in with electric bills,” she said, adding people sometimes make the wrong kind of sacrifices to get by.

“We’re already getting people with bills $200 and $300 per month,” she said. “We’re concerned that people with fixed incomes could stop using electricity to keep cool and it could be come a life and death issue.”

She said the working poor and people with fixed incomes are often most at risk.

Ms. Morales said the HELP Center offers classes on health and ways to make their money go farther.

“We’re trying different ways, not just to pay bills, but to empower people to learn how to help themselves also,” she said.

She added that funding availability determines how much help can be offered to residents.

“Some of our programs pay for all of it, and certain programs only pay partially,” she said, adding the center and other agencies will work with the resident and the electric company to at least keep the power on.

Barbara Bozon, executive director of Central Texas Housing Consortium, said the Temple Housing Authority is under an 18-month contract with TXU and, accordingly, has not been hit hard by increasing electrical costs.

She said the authority has a number of living arrangements including housing where power costs are included in the cost of rent, residences where dwellers pay if costs exceed a certain amount and housing where residents pay all the power bill.

She said the authority offers programs to educate residents on saving electricity. Resident services help housing authority residents or direct them to programs available with the electric company if they need assistance.

Ms. Stoller said TXU will work with customers, but they have to let the company know they need help.

“For customers that need help, are low income, and 62 and older, we have a disconnect moratorium if they let us know they need help,” she said.

She added that customers can sign up for programs online or by calling customer service.

For those wanting to shop around for alternatives to their existing electric company, Texas Electric Choice educational program offers an online database of electric companies on a database that can be searched by Zip code.

The Web site said about 85 companies service the 76501 area.

According to the site on Tuesday, Dynowatt, in the Houston and Dallas area, was offering the highest current listing, a variable plan for 25.9 cents per kilowatt-hour. The lowest hourly offering on the site was 13.6 cents per kilowatt-hour from OnPAC Energy (Houston and Carrollton) for a variable rate.