electricity rant

fishlessman

was paying about 35 bucks a couple months back, same usage, its in the 70 buck rage all of a sudden. thats over 30 cents a kw delivered, thats insane, you cant even see the wheel spin

milesvdustin

I have a digital meter, no wheel to watch. I feel cheated. 

Seriously note, did your meter fees or anything increase?

fishlessman

milesvdustin said:

I have a digital meter, no wheel to watch. I feel cheated. 

Seriously note, did your meter fees or anything increase?

they split the bill into two companies a while back, one supplies electricity, one delivers it. price is based on supplier and whatever increase they impose the delivery serve does the same increase. now the pwer plants increase the price of natural by buying it all so my heating costs will go up as well.  now how does summer price go up for delivery services, its the easiest time of year to maintain the lines up here. this is going to hurt alot of folks up here, im a scrooge with electricity with a 200 kwh usage a month, average is around 900 kwh per month right now, about 4 times more than me and the majority here doesnt use ac

Eggcelsior

My utility does an actual/estimate bimonthly usage rotation. It's awesome getting the estimates 50-70% higher than actual.

fishlessman

i just dont understand 100 percent increases. people complain when gas goes up 10 cents, what if it doubled tomorrow to 5.56 a gallon

g8golfer

We had a local power plant that just got tore down about a year ago and now we buy our power from the same type of power plant 100 miles away. Killed a bunch of local jobs and raised our rates 40%. Thanks govt. 

lkapigian

fishlessman said:

was paying about 35 bucks a couple months back, same usage, its in the 70 buck rage all of a sudden. thats over 30 cents a kw delivered, thats insane, you cant even see the wheel spin

In Ca we pay .22-.25 per KWH $4-600 are the summertime norm with some homes breaching 1K

Smokin_Trout

Put solar panels on the roof. It's pretty cheap these days and pays for itself in about 10 years. You could probably get a loan to pay for it and the payments would be about the same as your current bill. 

Hotch

I pay about .065 cents per kw.

xfire_ATX

If you use a Smart Meter they can be getting you on Surge/ Time of Day pricing.
Also look at the tiers- the generally start really raising prices for each tier it goes up.

Those two things is why the Tesla Power Wall/ Battery Storage is becoming interesting.  Use cheap power at night to charge the battery and drain it during peak time.

Also it appears you live in a 'deregulated' area which means you could go shopping for a provider.  Many providers will give ridiculous deals for some time frame.

BTW- I have been tracking my kWh use for ~3 years, my max all in has never been as high as .14/ kWh.  In the winter after upgrading all lighting to LED and burning Nat Gas for heat I can get this large house under 500 kWh.  In Maine there is a program to go to specific sellers and get the rebate at the register for LED Lighting (Mid Stream Program) so usually you can get them up front for very inexpensive.

fishlessman

Smokin_Trout said:

Put solar panels on the roof. It's pretty cheap these days and pays for itself in about 10 years. You could probably get a loan to pay for it and the payments would be about the same as your current bill. 

state conservation wont allow the trees to be cut down, its a tall maine pine forrest here, even cell receptions bad, dish reception is out alot etc. its not an option, the roof gets 2 to 3 hours sun depending on the season

fishlessman

xfire_ATX said:

If you use a Smart Meter they can be getting you on Surge/ Time of Day pricing.
Also look at the tiers- the generally start really raising prices for each tier it goes up.

Those two things is why the Tesla Power Wall/ Battery Storage is becoming interesting.  Use cheap power at night to charge the battery and drain it during peak time.

Also it appears you live in a 'deregulated' area which means you could go shopping for a provider.  Many providers will give ridiculous deals for some time frame.

BTW- I have been tracking my kWh use for ~3 years, my max all in has never been as high as .14/ kWh.  In the winter after upgrading all lighting to LED and burning Nat Gas for heat I can get this large house under 500 kWh.  In Maine there is a program to go to specific sellers and get the rebate at the register for LED Lighting (Mid Stream Program) so usually you can get them up front for very inexpensive.

i think im as low as one can go, only the fridge runs during the day, add a fan tv and one or two lights at night, burn coal for heat in a stove, kwh runs maybe 160 to 250 per season. i actually rate number 1 for usage compared to the efficient neighbors around me most months. im just ranting because it took me a year to get my propane bill down from 3.65 a gallon to 2.20 and now this goes up. 30 cents a kilowatt hour seems ridiculous, this aint alaska or hawaii

fishlessman

heres my last comparison, im a miser

You used 46% less energy than your efficient neighbors.

Great Good Using more than average

You	245 kWh
Efficient Neighbors	453 kWh
All Neighbors	861 kWh
Aug 4, 2017 - Sep 5, 2017 This comparison is based on approx. 90 nearby homes that are most similar to yours.

kl8ton

fishless, i am always on the other end of that spectrum.  I am always using more than average.  I hover around 1000 KWh. I think they give me a frown face.

Gulfcoastguy

Down here the rate is a lot lower. No natural gas line on my side of the subdivision. My big savings was when I installed a Trane 2 stage 17 SEER heat pump last November. It dropped my power bills by about 55% compared to the dinosaur that I replaced. The average bill is around $100 a month or a little less but the house is all electric, no natural gas or fuel oil bill. My south facing roof is only about 60% in the sun due to the neighbors trees. It is also only a bit more than 3 miles from the hurricane prone Gulf of Mexico. I don't think that insurance will cover it. I will save for a sun reflective metal roof next instead. After that an inductive electric range for when I can't egg.

HeavyG

Eggcelsior said:

My utility does an actual/estimate bimonthly usage rotation. It's awesome getting the estimates 50-70% higher than actual.

Same with my electric company. They don't come out and read your meter every month and will use historical usage data to provide a "guesstimate" until the next actual meter read.

At least that is the theory. I'm retired and home most of the time and I have not actually seen an electric company meter reader in many years. Maybe they're using drones these days.

maso

Maybe I'm missing something. We have a newer home with a 16 SEER system and natural gas. I'm no miser but still come on a little lower than average. 

Last week i used over 250 kWh. I can't imagine only using that in a whole month!

my bill in summer is usually $120 for a few months then $60-80 the other 9 or so. Gas is anywhere from $30-60. 

xfire_ATX

@fishlessman 0.30 kWh isnt right.  For that usage you should be under 0.10.   Something isnt right.

Edit-
From an Energy Solution partner of mine in the NE- "We use an average of $0.15 per kWh for commercial in Maine…we don’t target residential…my guess is that it would be a bit higher…$0.18ish?"

fishlessman

xfire_ATX said:

@fishlessman 0.30 kWh isnt right.  For that usage you should be under 0.10.   Something isnt right.

Edit-
From an Energy Solution partner of mine in the NE- "We use an average of $0.15 per kWh for commercial in Maine…we don’t target residential…my guess is that it would be a bit higher…$0.18ish?"

one of my post is misleading, the house is close to boston in mass but the tree canopy is tall big pines similar to maine. its broken down by supply and delivery so its about 32 dollars or so for 245 kwh plus about the same to have it delivered. from what i see out there alot of states just have one bill. add the two together and its about 30 cents to actually get and recieve electricity. national grid provides the delivery, used to provide the supply as well, also supplies the natural gass. i believe its a game as the natural gas makes the electricity as well, its all tied together

Dobie

Come on fish find something to really rant about, like too much meat on ribs, rocks in my Rockwood, beans in chili, they're not giving knife sharpeners away....

fishlessman

Dobie said:

Come on fish find something to really rant about, like too much meat on ribs, rocks in my Rockwood, beans in chili, they're not giving knife sharpeners away....

im a frugal yankee, i rant about every penny

DoubleEgger

I'm surprised you're still on the grid. 

xfire_ATX

Here is some helpful info on current average rates in the state you live in.
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a

NPHuskerFL

At least you have electrical power
Kwit yo bitchin'

The Cen-Tex Smoker

fishlessman said:

was paying about 35 bucks a couple months back, same usage, its in the 70 buck rage all of a sudden. thats over 30 cents a kw delivered, thats insane, you cant even see the wheel spin

$35???? Are you billed by the day?

Botch

I think I've run the full range of electricity costs.  My small 3-bedroom in Albuquerque had baseboard heat, monthly bill often hit $300/mo. in the winter.  My small 3-bedroom here in utard (gas heat) I can get electrical bills less than $10/mo!  Summertime gas bills are equally small.    

Skiddymarker

Utility companies always try to bring costs down to a per KWh charge for electricity only. The result leaves the consumer with a considerably lower cost than a tax and delivery included charge. The most appropriate method to really track what you pay is to include cost of product (gas/electric), taxes and any delivery charges. In other words, consider the total monthly billing per KWh. 
In my case, the utility is quick to point to a <7 cents/KWh fee, yet reality is closer to 11 cents/KWh. (That is in Loonies so more like <6 cents/KWh and <9 cents/KWh in $US)

pgprescott

fishlessman said:

heres my last comparison, im a miser

You used 46% less energy than your efficient neighbors.

Great Good Using more than average

You	245 kWh
Efficient Neighbors	453 kWh
All Neighbors	861 kWh
Aug 4, 2017 - Sep 5, 2017 This comparison is based on approx. 90 nearby homes that are most similar to yours.

I get this report card too. Mine is a fail!