Electricity Price Gouging - WOW!!!

[HTSS_TR]

The house/household size effects the utilities consumption. Larger house(square footage) and more occupants consumes more power and water.

My family of 4 with 2800 sq-ft house in So Cal consumes about 8-12 kWh a day year round. According to Southern California Edison(SCE) we use about 25-40% less than average for the same house/household size.

Similar for water usage, we use less than average by the same percentage.

 

[DBMaster]

Geography matters, too. My 1,800 sf house averages, over a year's time, 33 kWh per day. The vast majority of the roughly 12,000 kWh per year is used during the months of June, July, August, and September. Duh! It's Texas. I am the only occupant. And, supposedly, I use fewer kWh per sf than most of my neighbors according to a power company rep.

But, due to my favorable power cost I usually don't exceed $250 a month in the summer. That might sound like a lot, but when it's really hot...

Cost of living eventually equalizes, regardless of how much "cheaper" a place first appears.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Looking at our electric bills over the last 2 years, we use more electricity in winter months than summer, on average we use about 12-13 kWh a day in winter and 9-10 kWh a day in summer.

We don't have air conditioning and we need to turn on the fans only about 4-5 hours a day, 5-20 days a year usually during the month of September.

The highest bill was for the month of December, when we have Christmas tree up and all the lights on the tree and on front door and garage.

 

[BituminousCoal]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Astro14
But this can't be!

We've built more renewable power, you've been importing from HydroQuebec, we've gotten rid of horrible polluters, like coal, and shut down those nasty nukes...

Interesting.

Pop_Rivit's a prime example where Iowa invested heavily in wind and he is paying like 10c/kWh because of the low-cost sources. And he is still seeing savings with LED lights.

Every single telephone pole around me has a solar panel, as the utility is trying to hit their renewables level. Were still paying the 15.x c/kWh that Ive been paying for a long while now (including distribution and the actual energy).


Iowa is paying relatively low rates because of COAL, not renewables. Wholesale coal generated power in Iowa is $.02-.038/KWH. Even w/ capital cost and other subsidies wind in Iowa (or anywhere) can't touch this. Forcing utilies to purchase renewables @ $.05++/KWH means in addition to being subsidized on constructed capital end, ratepayers subsidize it again when paying their bills. You can debate their virtue all you like, but wind/renewables (not including hydro) are not (using your words) "low cost sources".

 

[grampi]

Anything to do with energy is rigged in the supplier's favor...we need it, and they know it, therefore they can and will charge the very maximum they can get away with...it's the same with natural gas, gasoline, diesel, propane, fuel oil, etc....

 

[lomez]

[/quote]
This is such a load of nonsense. The power companies don't pay anyone anything to install solar. IF someone wants solar panels on their house, THEY hire a contractor (not the power company) to install them, and the homeowner pays for the entire installation. (or they lease the system from the contracting company, but that's between the contractor and the homeowner, not the power company). The power company by law has to allow the customer to install a system and connect it to the grid, as long as it meets their specifications, but that's about it. I worked in the distributed generation department for about a year at my power company. I can assure you not only did we NOT pay for a single solar installation, but we CHARGED the customers/contractors several hundred dollars in application fees and connection fees. [/quote]

wrong. Better check the "incentives" from utilities. Thy almost all have an incentive. This money comes from THEM...mandated by law as part of their legal monopoly agreement. In return for this, they will be allowed rate increase concessions going forward. Also, increase in "meter fees". Check with your local utility for the incentives to install solar right now. They have come down a by orders of magnitude, because the agreed incentives have been used up in many cases. But..they are there. On top of that, you have state and Federal (30%) incentives.

I've been involved in about 100 megawatts of projects.

 

[jimbrewer]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
So, got my Electric bill for the Month of February.

In January of 2014, I had a $130 electric bill. Highest I have ever had! National Greed did get in trouble for price gouging by the PSC (apparently they didn't pay off the right person at PSC).

I paid the electric bill and decided to start taking it a bit more serious. In January of 2014, My electric rate (total, delivery + rate + fees) was approaching $.25 / kwh. Usually, "total" is about $.16 / kwh.

When I am home, I heat the room I am in to 60 and the room I am not in to 55. When I go to work, both rooms get set to 50.

So, I decided that I would work on cutting my power usage. For the month of February, the heat in my living room was OFF and the bedroom was heated to 50 - lowest setting on my thermostat. I also started taking cold showers every other day. Since my neighbors aside and below me are college students, their parents are paying the electric bill and their apartments are like ovens. My floors and neighboring walls are always very warm.

On a side note, taking cold showers in February is a GREAT way to wake up in the morning.

I got my bill for February of 2014. I was happy to see that I reduced my usage by more than 1/3! I was only 200 KWH over what I use in the summer, when my electric bill is $40.

Well ... I was in for a surprise. $148!!!!!! Used more than 1/3 less electricity, yet the bill was significantly higher.

I am, quite literally, paying nearly 4X as much for power now as I was up to November 2013.

It's insane, really. This month, I have turned all heat off to the apartment. There is no risk of freezing pipes as my neighbors do a good job of keeping them warm! I will be contacting the PSC and filing a complaint.



Nah. You are using electricity to heat (bad idea, unless you have a ground source heating system) in a cold climate in one of the coldest winters in history.

 

[Barkleymut]

Mar 13 1975
Apr 13 1762
May 13 1241
Jun 13 1563
Jul 13 1593
Aug 13 1516
Sep 13 1359
Oct 13 978
Nov 13 1319
Dec 13 1987
Jan 14 2227
Feb 14 2824
Mar 14 1863

03/21/2014 $185.49 View Bill
02/20/2014 $268.81 View Bill
01/22/2014 $217.24 View Bill
12/19/2013 $199.76 View Bill
11/19/2013 $143.17 View Bill
10/18/2013 $112.31 View Bill

2400 sq foot home with 2 heat pumps. Home built in 2000 and still using original heat/cooling system. 4 occupants (including a 14 YO daughter who thinks electricity grows on trees). We do have a gas fireplace and use it on occasion to help warm the house. We spend about $300 a year for the LP. Everything else in the house is electric.