Dealing with the faltering economy, EPB has imposed a hiring freeze and is cutting back substantially on travel.
The agency on Friday began dimming lights at its new downtown headquarters, including in the lobby area where customers pay their bills and sign up for new service.
"We are having to tighten our belts," President Harold DePriest said.
He said there will be a few exceptions to the hiring freeze, including some positions for the agency's venture into the cable TV business.
Mr. DePriest said EPB will also "make our vehicles go a little longer. We'll drive them till the wheels fall off."
He said there will also be some planned maintenance projects that will be deferred for at least a year. He said EPB will patch some roofs instead of replacing them.
EPB earlier issued bonds for a Smart Grid that is a part of delivering cable TV, but which officials said will provide the agency with a number of new tools.
Kent Massey said it will be effective in reading a customer's meter as often as every 15 minutes instead of once a month and in alerting crews to power outages and line problems.
"We will be able to react to the customer much faster," he said.
He said it should eliminate many "dry runs" by crews by providing much more accurate information.
EPB plans to buy $900,000 worth of hardware and software for the system from Tantalus of Vancouver, Canada.