Given that he uses electric heating, it's pretty funny the electric company wanted him to switch to florescent. That buys you nothing in those months where the heater is on.
What I'd really like to know is: why not switch to gas?
He mentions homesteading at the end. I guess he doesn't have a natural gas supply available. Propane and fuel oil aren't the completely obvious win over electric that natural gas is.
I'm talking about utility supplied natural gas vs truck delivered liquid propane in the U.S. I'm pretty sure the natural gas is consistently cheaper (frequently to the tune of 50%, my experience of it is in northern areas where the propane trucks are busy all winter).
What I'd really like to know is: why not switch to gas?