Electric Bill to go up by 47% next month

[NW-Bound]

Just received the electric bill. On-peak rate: 21c/kWh. Off-peak rate: 7.6c/kWh.

Nothing unusual here. Did not see any notice of rate increase either. Yet, I am sure SRP has to run or buy from thermal plants and cannot escape the higher cost of fuel. What's going on?

[NW-Bound]

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Originally Posted by Surewhitey I just saw a video that somewhere in Florida they are instituting a min charge of $30-ish for everyone. Ticked of the solar crowd.

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Originally Posted by Hyper Years ago we had semi-remote property in a different mountainous area that Did have on grid electric. They made us sign a contract that stated we would Not use any solar on that property. Couldn't blame them as the electric company did pay for initial infrastructure. That is unless they received some kind of gov subsidy for the initial infrastructure.

Up in my high-country boondocks home, the minimum service charge is $31/month.

Down here in the metropolitan, the minimum charge is $20/month.

I say that's fair, and do not complain.

[aja8888]

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Originally Posted by Koolau I can see several Solar owners banding together to evade this ploy. Half a dozen solar home owners go off-grid but run HD extension cords to a central house that still has connection. They pay the central house guy for his power they need at night to run their TV, AC and a couple of lights. They pay his $30 connection fee. They all meet up occasionally to laugh and throw a party "on" the electric company's dime. YMMV

Then someone gets caught and goes to jail!

[Surewhitey]

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Originally Posted by Koolau I can see several Solar owners banding together to evade this ploy. Half a dozen solar home owners go off-grid but run HD extension cords to a central house that still has connection. They pay the central house guy for his power they need at night to run their TV, AC and a couple of lights. They pay his $30 connection fee. They all meet up occasionally to laugh and throw a party "on" the electric company's dime. YMMV

That's classic cheap old-man stuff

[NW-Bound]

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Originally Posted by aja8888 Then someone gets caught and goes to jail!

Nah, nobody needs to go to jail. The utility company just comes and disconnects that guy with the service. No more electric juice for y'all.

No more TV at night. No more partying. Everybody hustles to install batteries, or to run a generator at night.

This living off-the-grid thing is doable, but takes some work, and some money too.

[Koolau]

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Originally Posted by aja8888 Then someone gets caught and goes to jail!

What law would that be breaking? I'm sure the electric company wouldn't like it, but is there a law forbidding sharing of electricity? I actually did that very briefly with a neighbor years ago when they had a fuse-box issue. They needed to keep their fridge going and I had a commercial grade 3-prong extension. Worked like a charm for several hours. YMMV

[Koolau]

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Originally Posted by Surewhitey That's classic cheap old-man stuff

Guilty as charged, your honor.

[zinger1457]

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Originally Posted by NW-Bound Just received the electric bill. On-peak rate: 21c/kWh. Off-peak rate: 7.6c/kWh. Nothing unusual here. Did not see any notice of rate increase either. Yet, I am sure SRP has to run or buy from thermal plants and cannot escape the higher cost of fuel. What's going on?

I think in Arizona rate hike request have to go through a state commission and it can take time. My local paper mentioned that Tucson Electric Power recently submitted a 12% rate hike increase and if approved would go in effect in Sept 2023.

[NW-Bound]

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Originally Posted by zinger1457 I think in Arizona rate hike request have to go through a state commission and it can take time. My local paper mentioned that Tucson Electric Power recently submitted a 12% rate hike increase and if approved would go in effect in Sept 2023.

Sep 2023!

By that time, either the utility is bankrupt or the world is awash in fossil fuel after everyone drills, drills, drills. Things are changing so fast, a year is an eternity.

[aja8888]

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Originally Posted by Koolau What law would that be breaking? I'm sure the electric company wouldn't like it, but is there a law forbidding sharing of electricity? I actually did that very briefly with a neighbor years ago when they had a fuse-box issue. They needed to keep their fridge going and I had a commercial grade 3-prong extension. Worked like a charm for several hours. YMMV

No meter? Theft.

[Koolau]

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Originally Posted by Koolau I can see several Solar owners banding together to evade this ploy. Half a dozen solar home owners go off-grid but run HD extension cords to a central house that still has connection. They pay the central house guy for his power they need at night to run their TV, AC and a couple of lights. They pay his $30 connection fee. They all meet up occasionally to laugh and throw a party "on" the electric company's dime. YMMV

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Originally Posted by aja8888 No meter? Theft.

Read my post again and see if you still see anything illegal. If so, I'll 'splain it in shorter sentences and smaller words.

[NW-Bound]

No, not criminal. Only against a contract.

And then, only if habitually done.

[ERD50]

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Originally Posted by Koolau Read my post again and see if you still see anything illegal. If so, I'll 'splain it in shorter sentences and smaller words.

As NW-Bound says, depends on the contract. But even so, I can't imagine any way to run power from one house to the other and be code compliant.

-ERD50

[Koolau]

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Originally Posted by ERD50 As NW-Bound says, depends on the contract. But even so, I can't imagine any way to run power from one house to the other and be code compliant. -ERD50

Running power to a house is different than running power to a fridge and a couple of lights in house that is off grid with solar panels. "Energizing" a house through even a heavy duty extension cord would probably be a very bad idea. Running your neighbor's fridge is just being neighborly if their power goes out. I'm suggesting just a matter of degrees. Heh, heh, at this point, I'm willing to agree to disagree. I just thought it was a good way to stick it to the electric companies who are now trying to make their money on "connection" fees since folks continue to cut back on electricity and are adding solar panels. YMMV

[ncbill]

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Originally Posted by Koolau Running power to a house is different than running power to a fridge and a couple of lights in house that is off grid with solar panels. "Energizing" a house through even a heavy duty extension cord would probably be a very bad idea. Running your neighbor's fridge is just being neighborly if their power goes out. I'm suggesting just a matter of degrees. Heh, heh, at this point, I'm willing to agree to disagree. I just thought it was a good way to stick it to the electric companies who are now trying to make their money on "connection" fees since folks continue to cut back on electricity and are adding solar panels. YMMV

Hard to run a full house.

But not uncommon to upgrade the main panel in order to run a circuit to a sub-panel on an outbuilding (e.g. garage) via buried conduit.

[Koolau]

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Originally Posted by ncbill Hard to run a full house. But not uncommon to upgrade the main panel in order to run a circuit to a sub-panel on an outbuilding (e.g. garage) via buried conduit.

Heh, heh, that's way more complicated than I had in mind. I'm thinking just running a HD cord to your neighbor's fridge so they can remain off the grid at night (avoiding the ridiculous connection fee for a service they would rarely use since they have solar panels.) YMMV

[aja8888]

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Originally Posted by Koolau Read my post again and see if you still see anything illegal. If so, I'll 'splain it in shorter sentences and smaller words.

There may be a lot of things wrong with "sharing" power with neighbors, especially if you are charging for the power. I would read your contract with the power company and see what it says in that regard. Tampering with their metering equipment is certainly an issue and I would guess they have a restriction on reselling their power provided to you (are you now a electric supplier on your own?).

And, as always, liability issues.

[Koolau]

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Originally Posted by aja8888 There may be a lot of things wrong with "sharing" power with neighbors, especially if you are charging for the power. I would read your contract with the power company and see what it says in that regard. Tampering with their metering equipment is certainly an issue and I would guess they have a restriction on reselling their power provided to you (are you now a electric supplier on your own?). And, as always, liability issues.

Tampering with meters was never part of the equation. Meters were never mentioned. You don't need a meter to run a HD extension to your neighbor's fridge.

WAG: If a tree down the street knocked out your neighbor's power, you'd all let your neighbor save their food by running an extension to their house. Well, maybe some of you wouldn't.

[aja8888]

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Originally Posted by Koolau Tampering with meters was never part of the equation. Meters were never mentioned. You don't need a meter to run a HD extension to your neighbor's fridge. WAG: If a tree down the street knocked out your neighbor's power, you'd all let your neighbor save their food by running an extension to their house. Well, maybe some of you wouldn't.

No issues with emergencies. I have a gen set and do the same.

[NW-Bound]

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Originally Posted by Koolau Heh, heh, that's way more complicated than I had in mind. I'm thinking just running a HD cord to your neighbor's fridge so they can remain off the grid at night (avoiding the ridiculous connection fee for a service they would rarely use since they have solar panels.) YMMV

I would not call the connection fee ridiculous. The utility companies are responsible for the power lines and a lot of equipment to connect our homes to the grid.

Industrial-quality equipment is expensive. I needed a good 240V/120V transformer, and the following 1.5 kVA transformer costs $330. The sucker weight is 38 lbs, so shipping cost is another killer.

I was fortunate to find a used one locally for less. The thing is a far cry from China-made transformers you get on eBay.





The distribution transformer that's pole-mounted up in my high-country home got to cost a bit of money.