Merry Christmas from the power company

[REWahoo]

Our electric co-op notified us this week that effective December 25 our rates would be increasing by just over 30%. Some gift - and the b@stids didn't even wrap it.

Yeah, the new rates are only $0.107 kWh and are guaranteed for one year, but still...

 

[Dawg52]

Our electric co-op notified us this week that effective December 25 our rates would be increasing by just over 30%. Some gift - and the b@stids didn't even wrap it.

Yeah, the new rates are only $0.107 kWh and are guaranteed for one year, but still...

Tell them you are going to install a $100k solar system and to go %$!# themselves.

 

[aaronc879]

Our electric co-op notified us this week that effective December 25 our rates would be increasing by just over 30%. Some gift - and the b@stids didn't even wrap it.

Yeah, the new rates are only $0.107 kWh and are guaranteed for one year, but still...

My rate for 2009 is $0.1113/kWh so that doesn't seem so bad. Perhaps a 10% increase per year for 5 years would be a better way to get the rates up to the level of most other areas. A gradual increase is less noticeable and more tolerable.

At least they give you an entire 2 weeks to adjust your electric budget by 30%

 

[ziggy29]

Yet another example of all that deflation the government claims has occurred...

 

[bbbamI]

Look at it this way REWahoo...maybe our next summer will be on the cool side...

 

[REWahoo]

"Cool side"? As in 99 vs 101? Oh yeah...

 

[ziggy29]

"Cool side"? As in 99 vs 101? Oh yeah...

Only now, the heat pump has been working overtime in the last couple weeks instead of the AC. It's barely 40º here today...

 

[FUEGO]

Considering how you are getting screwed, seems to be a more appropriate valentine's day gift.

 

[youbet]

Only now, the heat pump has been working overtime in the last couple weeks instead of the AC. It's barely 40º here today...

You turn the heat pump on when it's still a balmy 40f? Perhaps physics works differently down there, but up here we don't worry about the pipes freezing until the temp drops below 33f. Darn Zig, no wonder energy usage is up!

 

[ls99]

In SW PA we have another year[-] before the wheels come off[/-] rate caps expire. Allegheny power sent a [-]warning[/-] hint about it.

They are also discussing installing time of day rate metering. For on;y an additional $14 or for the privilege. Don't know when they will start installing them. We may not have a choice when they get around toit.

 

[FUEGO]

Yet another example of all that deflation the government claims has occurred...

Anyone using natural gas should be seeing massive rate reductions. Or your utility company is screwing you. Our rates are down 30-40%. I'm looking forward to hopefully saving a couple hundred dollars this winter due to rate reductions. And the rate has been steadily dropping for a year now.

 

[REWahoo]

Anyone using natural gas should be seeing massive rate reductions. Or your utility company is screwing you. Our rates are down 30-40%. I'm looking forward to hopefully saving a couple hundred dollars this winter due to rate reductions. And the rate has been steadily dropping for a year now.

We use wind generated electricity. You'd think with all the hot air coming from the Foggy Bottom area rates would be dropping like Tiger Woods pants...

 

[tryan]

Yikes! We're paying 0.13841 ... you're getting a bargin!

 

[FUEGO]

We use wind generated electricity. You'd think with all the hot air coming from the Foggy Bottom area rates would be dropping like Tiger Woods pants...

I feel bad for ole Tiger. I went by walmart the other day and saw a clearance display with the whole Tiger Woods line of clothing and accessories. A sign above the apparel read "Tiger Woods pants and shirts - Half Off".

Moral of the story? Pay a little more for lectricity and a little less for clothing.

 

[W2R]

My most recent electric bill was $29.34 for 435 kWh.

(It would have been $27.21, were it not for the "LURC Hurricane Charge" which I assume is paying for Katrina damage to the power lines or something.)

The $29.34 includes all of the fuel adjustments and other weird fees. I guess that no matter how you compute it, I'm not paying any more than $29.34/435 = $0.067/kWh. And we're only in the next state over.

I think you are getting the shaft.

 

[REWahoo]

W2R, I suppose it is all relative. According to this info from the Dept of Energy, the average cost per kWh in Texas for residential electricity in Aug of 2009 was $0.124. I was paying $0.082 at the time, and will be paying less than the state average even after the [-]gouging[/-] rate increase - not that I'm consoled much by that fact.

According to this same information, your $0.067 is 17% under the Louisiana average.

 

[aaronc879]

My most recent electric bill was $29.34 for 435 kWh.

Wow, that is very cheap. I also use about 435kWh per month May-Oct but my bill is in the upper $40's. Of course that will quadruple each of the next 4 months.

 

[Janet H]

I also got a recent notice of a "service improvement" that is really just a rate hike beginning next billing cycle. What really interested me was that this hike is due to a higher than usual rate of defaults on payments to the utility company.

Last year, they changed their software platform and the new set up couldn't handle a monthly budget payment (which was an average of the preceding years bill plus and rate increases) unless you did an automatic payment from your checking account.
Many folks either wouldn't or couldn't set this up and low and behold now the big winter bills are going unpaid. What a surprise!

 

[W2R]

Wow, that is very cheap. I also use about 435kWh per month May-Oct but my bill is in the upper $40's. Of course that will quadruple each of the next 4 months.

Mine is a whole lot more in the summer. Right now it is low because I have gas heat, that only uses a little electricity.

According to this same information, your $0.067 is 17% under the Louisiana average

Oh, goodie. I guess that means I'll be getting a rate increase soon, too.

Electricity is something I can cut back on pretty easily if I need to, fortunately.

 

[Telly]

Only now, the heat pump has been working overtime in the last couple weeks instead of the AC. It's barely 40º here today...

I can tell you how to fix that... You probably just went with the default heat pump intake source, which is present location. You need to log into it, and change the intake source to 'Honduras' for the winter. You did get the user-provisionable one, didn't you?

 

[mathjak107]

we are getting a 30% increase at our home in PA in january...that will bring us to .15 a kwh... at our new york place we pay .21

 

[FIREd]

We are paying $0.075 this year down from $0.095 last year.

 

[jazz4cash]

We had a 62% bump 2 yrs ago after many years of rate caps and we're now at about .15/kwh which breaks down to .1197 for power and the rest for "distribution"...we're supposed to have "Electric Choice" here in MD, but there's not any real competition.

 

[ERD50]

Considering the national average is 12.05 cents/KWH, I'd say that 10.7 cents is a present, and you could consider the 7.5 cents you have been paying as an early Christmas present that you have enjoyed all year!

-ERD50 (lucky enough to be paying ~ 10~11 cents KWH currently)

 

[FUEGO]

Never realized how lucky we are to have our 7.5-8.5 cents per kWh rates. That's probably why it doesn't make financial sense for me to conserve or get energy efficient things done (ac, furnace, fridge, dryer, windows, etc) vs the general advice among the rest of the nation.