Electric Bill to go up by 47% next month

[almost there]

We just got solar in February. So far it looks like we oversized our system... but won't know for sure till next February.

I've been diving into rates in my son's college town (San Luis Obispo) as we try to figure out his budget. He and his roommate will share the electric bill. It looks like it's 25cents/kWh... Turns out his college town is expensive in pretty much every category... Rents, utilities, trash, water... In researching prices for his budget, found something that claimed it's the 2nd most expensive small city in the country. I believe it. Good thing the school is top notch and the surf is good.

I spend 6-8 weeks a year there. Past 8 yrs... I believe PG&E is still less than SDG&E. Based on your posted cost. I have found prices are about the same as where you are / SoCal. With gasoline being about 20 cents ahead. Reg. was $6.00 there in Feb. When we didn't get it till April. I have found everything else is about the same. Food, restaurants, etc. Coastal Calif. is all $$$ these days.

Side note, have him take a full suit, booties and gloves. Cold. with Lots of wind & fog...

 

[Surewhitey]

IIRC, in Mexico the first 300 kWh or so (depending on location) are essentially free...under a penny per kWh last time I checked.

Above that one gets charged a "high-consumption" (DAC) rate that can start at over 25 cents/kWh.

And it used to be that a new homeowner had to hire their own electrician to make sure previous owners hadn't tampered with the meter...bypassing a leg was common on the old mechanical meters...before the power company itself checked & issued a hefty fine to the new owner.

Where exactly are you renting in Ajijic?

Is Joco still cheaper?

We lived in Playa del Carmen for a few years. Our landlord "included" electricity & water/sewage in the rent and put in 2 mini splits & charged a whopping 7000 pesos (2011-2015).

The longer you live & listen, you hear how they include things. One day, out of curiosity, I followed the electric line and it traveled up the street to an illegal connection (very common). I heard the risk of being caught can be very costly. They calculate the # of units x average usage based on refrigerator, microwave, a/c, etc & then multiply by some time frame... Can put some complexes out of biz.

Also a building under construction can (I've heard) gets a "free" connection to build and start paying when completed. They stretch out the completion date as long as they can...

The tier price is dramatic. I recall the lower tier was for subsidies provided for the low income folks. The next tier is substantially higher. Some got multiple meters to get around the jump, hooking different higher usage appliances to different meters. Always a loophole...

Also once you get into the higher tier, you get locked into it for 6 months as I recall.

 

[Surewhitey]

I read that some FL utilities are now charging a "fee" for those who have solar, and also not buying back the generated electricity or at least paying less. Is that the case?

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.

 

[Koolau]

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.

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

 

[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.

 

[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]

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.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

That's classic cheap old-man stuff

Guilty as charged, your honor.

 

[zinger1457]

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]

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]

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]

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

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.