Electric Bill to go up by 47% next month

[NW-Bound]

Solar!

Nuclear!

To provide power at night, and when it's cloudy during the day.

As posted in another thread on renewable energy, Newsom just asked the federal government for financial assistance to keep the Diablo nuclear plant running for longer.

Newsom originally backed the shutting down of the Diablo plant in 2025, but with the threat of rolling blackouts looming, he changed his mind.

Newsom knows rolling blackouts really suck. He's no fool.

 

[6miths]

Feel fortunate to be somewhere that didn't get rid of all its nuclear capacity. NG is in a distant 4th place behind wind. Current average cost is 10 cents/Kwh.

 

[Retired Expat]

Now to see if the rate I earn on my excess solar generation will go up the same %.

 

[dixonge]

Reading this thread reminds me why we like living in Mexico so much.

2br 2.5bath apartment. Modern appliances. No air conditioning, just ceiling fans. No central heat, just a small propane heater (which we haven't used yet). Everything else is normal. LED lights throughout. Stove/oven is gas. Just got paid our first electric bill that didn't include prior residents.

$412 pesos. That's about $20.26.

Oh, that's for two months.

We will eventually need to refill our propane tank. I'm projecting that this will happen about 6 months into our 1-yr. lease. Cost estimate: $80US.

 

[NW-Bound]

Mexico generates 65% of its electricity from fossil fuel, and 35% from renewable sources. Consumption per capita is 1,665 kWh/year in 2008.

The US sources of power are: natural gas (38%), coal (23%), nuclear (20%), other renewables (11%), and hydro (7%). The average residential customer (household?) uses 10,968 kWh/year.

Prior to having the DIY solar+battery system, I used about 16,000-17,000 kWh/year.

With the solar system and some other energy saving measures, the trailing 12-month usage is 4,000 kWh/year from the grid.

PS. Per capita, I am not using that much more off the grid than the Mexican.

 

[foxcreek9]

Nuclear!

To provide power at night, and when it's cloudy during the day.

As posted in another thread on renewable energy, Newsom just asked the federal government for financial assistance to keep the Diablo nuclear plant running for longer.

Newsom originally backed the shutting down of the Diablo plant in 2025, but with the threat of rolling blackouts looming, he changed his mind.

Newsom knows rolling blackouts really suck. He's no fool.

+1

 

[dixonge]

Mexico generates 65% of its electricity from fossil fuel, and 35% from renewable sources. Consumption per capita is 1,665 kWh/year in 2008.

The US sources of power are: natural gas (38%), coal (23%), nuclear (20%), other renewables (11%), and hydro (7%). The average residential customer (household?) uses 10,968 kWh/year.

Prior to having the DIY solar+battery system, I used about 16,000-17,000 kWh/year.

With the solar system and some other energy saving measures, the trailing 12-month usage is 4,000 kWh/year from the grid.

PS. Per capita, I am not using that much more off the grid than the Mexican.

Lots of expats quickly pony up for solar down here. Primary reasons:

1. They have installed every power -hungry appliance known to man, including central heat/air and swimming pool pumps.
2. Power outages.

After all that, their electricity bills are lower than ours.

 

[street]

The US is a mess and will need a strong leadership team in these unsettled times.

 

[Alan]

Solar!

Like NWB, I love our solar installation with batteries, which has more than halved our electricity imported from the grid plus we get paid for the excess we export. We export more kWh each year than we import. This last 2 calendar years has been 1.2 mWh imported and 1.4 mWh exported which is close to zero electricity each year. Wish we had installed it a year earlier right after we had bought the house.

 

[Surewhitey]

My back door neighbor just renewed hers and it almost doubled from her old contract. Cheapest in Dallas is around $.14/kwh currently. I locked in $.10 1 year ago on a 3 year contract. I was wondering if there is a clause that allows them to increase it due to abnormal situations... I'll keep my head down for a couple of years.

I was also wondering if electric car sales would be ding'd if people really thought it through. Stocks down, electric up... I wouldn't like to be a TSLA investor right now.

 

[pb4uski]

Yesterday the news announced that NH's largest provider of electricity, Eversource, was increasing their "Energy Charge" from 10.7 cents per kwh to 22.7 cents per kwh due to increased fuel charges primarily related to the natural gas used by power plants. .... now a 47% increase in the electric bill...

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the increase isn't 47%... it is 112%!

(22.7/10.7)-1 or (22.7-10.7)/10.7 = 112%

68% of the power from our electric cooperative is generated by burning cleaned methane gas from a landfill at a cost of 5.25c/kwh... luckily the cost of that fuel will not going up. I don't understand why we don't have every landfill in the country that is near to some electrical distribution lines doing the same rather than flaring it and getting nothing out of it.

 

[athena53]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the increase isn't 47%... it is 112%!

(22.7/10.7)-1 or (22.7-10.7)/10.7 = 112%

Yes,, but most bills also include a fixed charge so the impact on the total bill is less than 112%.

 

[NW-Bound]

Lots of expats quickly pony up for solar down here. Primary reasons:

1. They have installed every power -hungry appliance known to man, including central heat/air and swimming pool pumps.
2. Power outages.

After all that, their electricity bills are lower than ours.

Like NWB, I love our solar installation with batteries, which has more than halved our electricity imported from the grid plus we get paid for the excess we export. We export more kWh each year than we import. This last 2 calendar years has been 1.2 mWh imported and 1.4 mWh exported which is close to zero electricity each year. Wish we had installed it a year earlier right after we had bought the house.

As I said before, it's easier to be "green" when you have money.

Similarly, an EV is still more expensive than an ICE car.

The problem the US and the world has is how to make "green" stuff more affordable.

 

[pb4uski]

Yes,, but most bills also include a fixed charge so the impact on the total bill is less than 112%.

Fair point... I was just looking at the rate increase for power.

 

[REWahoo]

Our Co-Op recently announced they would not be increasing rates, although they did increase some fees, mainly those involving new service connections. Still paying $0.088 kWh for flat rate service, and between $0.068 and $0.144 kWh if you choose the optional time-based rates.

 

[grasshopper]

Just looked at my bill from our New Mexico co-op. We get some crazy rates because we live in Arizona. Our rates are set by AZ for maybe 100 homes, as most are on solar. AZ regulators are slow to set rates for only 100 properties. Like most of the SW we had many days topping 100+

Last July

KWH CHARGE 723 kWh @ 0.11507 $83.20
POWER COST ADJUSTMENT 0.0114053 $8.25

April 2022

KWH CHARGE 335 kWh @ 0.11507 $38.55
POWER COST ADJUSTMENT 0.0054644 $1.83

May 2022

KWH CHARGE 599 kWh @ 0.11507 $68.93
POWER COST ADJUSTMENT 0.0086385 $5.17

 

[Zathras]

We basically locked in our rates for 30-35 years. We did this 6 years ago.
We also locked in our transportation fuel costs for 30-35 years at 3.75cents/mile.

Yes, not everyone can afford a new electric car and solar. But a lot of people can.
The number of people that can is increasing every year as prices come down.

If you include incentives into our costs, our price of electricity is locked in at $0.015/kWh and transport fuel at $0.005/mile.

 

[shotgunner]

We basically locked in our rates for 30-35 years. We did this 6 years ago.
We also locked in our transportation fuel costs for 30-35 years at 3.75cents/mile.

Yes, not everyone can afford a new electric car and solar. But a lot of people can.
The number of people that can is increasing every year as prices come down.

If you include incentives into our costs, our price of electricity is locked in at $0.015/kWh and transport fuel at $0.005/mile.

I don't see economy in an EV when I keep my Toyota's for 15 to 20 years. How many times would you have to change the battery bank in EV over that time frame and at what cost?

 

[audreyh1]

I had to get a new electricity contract in May. I was paying 10.5c per KWh. It jumped to 14.9c, so a 42% increase, ouch! Unfortunately my old 3 year contract expired shortly after the big oil price increase,

Just in time for our new EV!

But overall we don’t use much electricity and the EV only costs $1 or less a night to charge at home.

 

[ERD50]

Made me look at my bill. Some things I was unaware of - under taxes/fees, that is not just a "dash" separator, it is a negative sign!

We actually get a credit called "Carbon-Free Energy Resource Adj". We used 640 kWh last month, and the adjustment is -0.04306 so a $27.56 credit. Overall taxes/fees come to a credit of $18.54.

As a result of the 2021 clean energy law, a Carbon-Free Energy
Resource Adjustment will be applied to customers' electric bills to
support energy resources that help minimize carbon emissions.

So I guess that's for our nukes mostly?

I'd need to put it in a spreadsheet, to get all the per kWh charges figured. Well, not so bad, actually of the $92.65 total, ~ 13.67 looks to be fixed charges, so (92.65-13.67)/640=
$0.1234/ kWh.

Supply is listed as $71.90, Delivery as $39.29 (including the $14.62 fixed), but ~ $0.11 for supply (~0.013/kWh is "transmission Services, not sure how that differs from delivery?), and ~ 0.04 for "distribution").

-ERD50

 

[jebmke]

Yesterday the news announced that NH's largest provider of electricity, Eversource, was increasing their "Energy Charge" from 10.7 cents per kwh to 22.7 cents per kwh due to increased fuel charges primarily related to the natural gas used by power plants. Eversource electric bills are made up of 7 line items of cost and the overall projected increase in residential electric bills will increase by 47% next month.

In my mind this is the second of three economic gut punches. First is the $5 or more gasoline, now a 47% increase in the electric bill and next will be the arrival of home heating oil trucks come late fall delivering 180 gallons every 4 weeks or so for $1000 or more.

I believe everyone's actual inflation rate is far higher than the government's 8.7% due to the increase in energy costs alone.

https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-increases-electricity-bills-61622/40314355

Mt. Wobegon, lol.

Our average electric bill (heating and cooling) is about 2.5% of our typical spending. Gasoline is even less - but we don't drive a lot except in the hybrid.

 

[HF63]

Reading this thread reminds me why we like living in Mexico so much.

2br 2.5bath apartment. Modern appliances. No air conditioning, just ceiling fans. No central heat, just a small propane heater (which we haven't used yet). Everything else is normal. LED lights throughout. Stove/oven is gas. Just got paid our first electric bill that didn't include prior residents.

$412 pesos. That's about $20.26.

Oh, that's for two months.

We will eventually need to refill our propane tank. I'm projecting that this will happen about 6 months into our 1-yr. lease. Cost estimate: $80US.

To minimize the propane usage, I install a solar heater at mom's place. She LOVES it. Very little propane usage, I need to get her an electric induction stove and she'll be set!

 

[pb4uski]

You made me look... for our Vermont house the customer charge for June 2022 was $22.25 vs $18.01 for June 2021... a 23% increase year over year. The charges for elecricity were actually a very small decrease... 8.476c for the first 100 kwh and 22.22c per kwh for June 2022 vs 23.292c per kwh for June 2021.

For our Florida condo the base charge increased from $8.34 in May 2021 to $8.99 in May 2022, a 7.8% increase. The non-fuel charge per kwh increased 10%, from 6.7c in May 2021 to 7.371c in May 2022 and the fuel charge per kwh inceased 38.9%, from 2.51c in May 2021 to 3.487c in May 2022.

 

[shotgunner]

Mt. Wobegon, lol.

Hilarious, thanks a lot. NH already had one of the highest rates for electricity in the lower 48, this increase may move us into the #1 spot. When I add up the various charges on my electric bill the new rate will be 33.68 cents per kwh used.

This rate increase would have increased my electric bill for May 2022 from $165.65 to $258.05 or a 56% increase.

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't see economy in an EV when I keep my Toyota's for 15 to 20 years. How many times would you have to change the battery bank in EV over that time frame and at what cost?

It used to be that lithium cells had a shelf life. It means even when you don't use them, they lose a bit of capacity with time. It's called calendar aging. Technology may have improved to reduce this effect. I don't know.

I have been seeing it with the LFP cells I use for my DIY home solar system. I bought the cells unused surplus, and they sat in a warehouse in unopened boxes for a few years. When tested right out of the box, I measured about 5% loss. It was OK, because I got such a good price. I paid less than $100/kWh in 2017.

Once I put them into use, of course they now degrade faster due to cycling. And the high temperature of my solar shed does not help either.

In a few more years, I will need to supplement them with additional batteries. I will have figured out a way to do AC for the shed by that time. It's not as simple as hanging a window AC, due to the peculiar aspects of my installation.