Electricity cost per KWH?

[scrabbler1]

I am always shocked to see how cheap electricity costs elsewhere. We pay through the nose here on Long Island.

Here on Long Island, PSE&G (formerly LIPA) splits the per-kwh charge into 2 parts. One is within the delivery and system charges and the other is a "power supply" charge which rises and falls fairly often (and is supposed to drop a little bit with our next bill).

I used 420 kwh for the ~month ending 7/21/14. It is usually my highest usage although this year I was away for 2 weeks in that time. Also, they read our meters every 2 months and provide an estimated reading on the off-months. This was an estimate reading so I expect my next bill, an actual meter reading, to be quite lower.

Adding the DSC and PSC together, which represents $75 of my $92 total bill, I paid 14.8 cents per kwh. If I were to use the entire bill which includes basic charges and some other small charges, I paid 22.0 cents per kwh.

 

[pb4uski]

First 200 Kwh = 9.79 cents, 21.859 cents per Kwh above that, + 11.85/month "customer charge" + 4.10/month energy efficiency charge.

Total is $70-100/month. No A/C, no heat, in fact no 220 either - just lights and outlets.

Averaged 19.25 cents per KwH last month.

 

[Free To Canoe]

All of the rates add up to:

$.091/KWH plus a $20.25 base fee.

$49.40 for 264 KWHs.

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by ERD50 View Post
So do you mean - total monthly $$$ divided by total monthly kWh? Or something else? -ERD50

It has to be that in this case, doesn't it ?

Can you say to your utility "Thanks, I'll just pay for the electricity only, I'm not paying the delivery charge"

Far as I know, you can't go to the generating station and pickup your own electricity...

Actually, we can. So wipe that smile off yer face, feller! (j/k)

In my area, we can choose a different supplier, but we still pay ComEd for 'distribution charges'. It all comes on one bill. My neighbor may be choosing a different source than I am. Our municipality bargained on our behalf, but we can opt-out and choose another if we care to.

https://www.comed.com/about-us/economic-development/Pages/supplier-choice.aspx

But more to the point, someone posting here may not do the math on total $/total kWh, they might just see a line that says $0.88 per kWh or something, and as you say, that's not the whole thing.

I'll need to [-]dig[/-] click up a recent bill to report that.

-ERD50

 

[davismills]

I have a different perspective on electric bills. When I was a young man I spent a few weeks with my grandfather who lived on a farm completely off the grid. He had to draw water, light oil lamps, chop wood and "go" to a privy. My electric bill averages between 5-8 dollars per day. Unlike my grandfather, I live in a 2300 sq ft house, electric stove, air conditioning, inside bathrooms, 3 TVs, internet, garage door openers, water to the house, etc. I think my electric bill is one of the best deals I've ever gotten! Many people spend this amount daily at Starbucks.

 

[gozer]

We pay $0.1109 / kWh total cost. If I didn't have an alternate provider and was using Duke it would be a little over $0.12 /kWh total cost.

 

[aaronc879]

Official charge for electricity is $.1308/kWh. Add in other costs and it was $.2037/KwH for 163 KW for a total bill of $33.21. I don't like the high cost per KwH but I do like summer in Wisconsin. In winter it's not unusual to use 7-8X the Kw for a total bill of over $200 for several consecutive months. I'm pretty good at limiting heat usage as others in my condo building use close to 50% more KW than I do.

 

[ziggy29]

I haven't lived in an "electric provider choice" area since I left in Houston in 2006, but for grins I looked at some of the plans in various parts of Texas where I have lived (within the city limits here and in our last town, we were locked into municipal utilities but outside the city limits in that zip code you can sometimes choose your provider). Most of them were in the 8 to 11 cent range depending on level of usage and whether you went with the renewable options.

What struck me is the trend toward monthly *surcharges* of as much as $15 per month for using less than (say) 1,000 kWh a month. And yet all we hear is "conserve, conserve, conserve" -- and you are penalized like this for conserving? (One company says "no surcharge BUT you get a $30 credit if you use more than 1,000 kWh in a month. They just increase the base rate and it's a stealth surcharge of $30 per month!)

 

[mpeirce]

What struck me is the trend toward monthly *surcharges* of as much as $15 per month for using less than (say) 1,000 kWh a month. And yet all we hear is "conserve, conserve, conserve" -- and you are penalized like this for conserving? (One company says "no surcharge BUT you get a $30 credit if you use more than 1,000 kWh in a month. They just increase the base rate and it's a stealth surcharge of $30 per month!)

It's because it's no longer about economics but politics. It's other people trying to change your behavior to fit with how they think things should be.

 

[Cobra9777]

How much do you pay per KWH? Texas is deregulated, so we have wide range of options...

Not entirely true. Many parts of Texas do not benefit from deregulation. Where I live, the local municipality owns and operates the local utility company. We have no choice of providers. My last bill was $0.103 per kWh. That's a decent rate, but I've always wondered why it's more than most of the for-profit companies that sell power in the de-regulated areas.

 

[ziggy29]

It's because it's no longer about economics but politics. It's other people trying to change your behavior to fit with how they think things should be.

Not sure what you mean -- if it were about politics instead of economics, we'd be seeing the **opposite** of what I described above.

And nothing I said was intending to be political and I hope no one feels a need to "go there" now.

 

[mpeirce]

Not sure what you mean -- if it were about politics instead of economics, we'd be seeing the **opposite** of what I described above.

And nothing I said was intending to be political and I hope no one feels a need to "go there" now.

I'm just saying that when politics gets mixed up in a product, things get distorted and to try to fix some of those distortions, they add in various surcharges and such. Companies have to bring in enough money to stay in business on way or another.

 

[Oleanmike]

I also live in Texas and just signed a 3 yr contract for 9.6 cents/kwh. There is an additional charge of $10 for any month where I use less than 1000 kwh. Last year there were 3 months when I used less than 1000.

There is a $250 charge to break the contract unless you move from the location where the power is provided.

 

[Gumby]

I am always shocked to see how cheap electricity costs elsewhere. We pay through the nose here on Long Island.
. . . If I were to use the entire bill which includes basic charges and some other small charges, I paid 22.0 cents per kwh.

Me too. Here in Connecticut, I'm paying 24.57 cents per kwh. That's the total monthly bill, including a $16.52 fixed basic service charge, divided by the kwh for the month.

 

[stepford]

Here in warm Southern California I just got the bill today: $158 for 776 kWh = about $0.20 per kWh. Looking at the bill even in the lowest "tier" pricing is still $0.15 so we don't aren't getting excessively reamed by the higher rates of the upper tiers - simply by the raw power requirements of our A/C unit - which I keep at 77 during the day and about 70 at night.

In comparison we pay about 25% of this during the winter months.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have had a demand rate that charges a lot more for peak-hour usage vs. off-peak, and it varies between summer and winter too. But it is still useful to compare the average cost of a kWh to other places.

For the most recent bill of July 2014, I paid $325 for 637 kWh on peak and 2034 kWh off peak, for an average of $0.122/kWh for the 2671 kWh total. Included in the $325 above is $17 service charge, and $26.82 for taxes.

Electric rates are much lower in the winter, but I use much less then due to little heating needed in the SW, compared to the cooling in the summer. So, my annual average is $0.1105/kWh.

Compared to what people pay elsewhere as posted here, I have no complaints about my bills.

 

[NW-Bound]

For July, we consumed a total of 480kWh. We paid ~$0.136 for the first 218 kWh (Tier 1), ~$0.155 for the next 65kWh (Tier 2), and ~$0.32/kWh for the rest (Tier 3).

PG&E, California.

If I had to pay that rate, my July consumption of 2,671 kWh would cost more than $800 instead of $325.

Of course, if I were up in SF, my A/C would not suck up that much power either, as it is a lot cooler. Or I would have a much smaller home.

 

[rodi]

Another Californian on tiered electricty charges. Our last bill had 458kWh, tier 1 was the first 288kWh is 16c/kWh, tier 2 is the next 86 kWh is 19c/kWh, tier 3 is is 38c/kWh.

We don't have AC (we're pretty close to the beach) - so that saves a bunch. We don't have a pool (and it's pump/filter) - so that saves even more.
Friends have both (pool and AC), and regularly go into tier 4. Tier 4 starts at 576kWh and is 40c/kWh.

SDG&E is trying to convert everyone to TOD billing. (Time of Day). This gives you cheap rates during non-peak times (after 6pm, before 11am.) This is a good deal for folks with solar panels - since they produce during those same hours. It's apparently really cheap in the middle of the nights - so folks with electric cars set timers on their charging stations to charge their cars at 3am.

 

[FIREd]

If I had to pay that rate, my July consumption of 2,671 kWh would cost more than $800 instead of $325.

Of course, if I were up in SF, my A/C would not suck up that much power either, as it is a lot cooler. Or I would have a much smaller home.

With this kind of consumption, you would be paying Tier 4 rates (~$0.36 per kWh) on anything over ~500 kWh. And the real shocker might still be the water bill...

 

[Gill]

11.7 cents here in Southwest Florida. Had a $318 bill last month.
Bruce

 

[NW-Bound]

With this kind of consumption, you would be paying Tier 4 rates (~$0.36 per kWh) on anything over ~500 kWh. And the real shocker might still be the water bill...

OK, so it would be

($0.136 x 218) + ($0.155 x 65) + ($0.32 x 217) + ($0.36 x 2171) = $891.

My last water bill was $190. I do not know how many cubic feet we used, but looking at how my wife waters her beloved plants and trees in the backyard, I think the unit should be in acre-feet (I told her to cut it down to prevent root rot, but when's the last time your wife listens to you?).

Anyway, I am glad I live where I do. It's so I can afford two homes instead of one, and still have money left over to pump thousands of gallon of gas into my motorhome.

 

[FIREd]

Anyway, I am glad I live where I do. It's so I can afford two homes instead of one...

I can barely afford the one...

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, as it works out, in the "dry heat" Southwest one needs two homes just to have one hospitable place to live for each season.

And AZ and perhaps also NM are the states where you can have both homes to play snowbird in the same state due to the range of elevation. Of course CA has the terrain variation too, but one can barely afford just one home there, like you said.

So, I look at my two very comfortable and decent homes that are just a 2.5-hr drive apart, and am happy that they cost the same or less than just one in other more expensive places.

 

[ERD50]

Took me a while to add up everything...

Mid June-mid July, have not had to use the AC much, not sure exactly over that period (but it's on now, gonna be warm for the next few days with high humidity)

My 'all in' $/kWh is $0.12000 (yep, it really came to a round #)

$86.04/717 kWh



Fixed charges appear to be ~ 22% of that total:

Customer Charge               $15.76 (who else would they charge?)
Standard Metering Charge       $3.40             (sum)    $19.16


Supply charge is:
717kWh  X  0.05480	                                  $39.29



Distribution Charges:
DistributionFacilitiesCharge	717	kWhX	0.02437	  $17.47
ILElectricityDistributionCharge	717	kWhX	0.00118	   $0.85



Another ~ 2% misc....
EnvironmentalCostRecoveryAdj	717	kWhX	0.00036	   $0.26
EnergyEfficiencyPrograms	$717.00	kWhX	0.00223	   $1.60



A few pennies for ?
FranchiseCost	$36.91	X	1.45%	$0.54		   $0.54


And ~ 8% to taxes...
StateTax				$2.37		   $2.37
MunicipalTax				$4.50		   $4.50

But electricity sure is a wonderful thing!

-ERD50

 

[ziggy29]

Another Californian on tiered electricty charges. Our last bill had 458kWh, tier 1 was the first 288kWh is 16c/kWh, tier 2 is the next 86 kWh is 19c/kWh, tier 3 is is 38c/kWh.

That's an awfully low baseline to have such punitive tiers above it. Still, I remember all the rolling blackouts and brownouts when I lived out there, and the only thing that spared us where we lived was our proximity to the firehouse so they couldn't ever shut the power down on us.