grsthegreat
Super Star Member
Here in N Idaho, were hydroelectric supplied, and the rate is $0.055/KWH.
Latest bill from Philadelphia Electric (PECO) jumped significantly due to their elimination Jan 1 of the 40% discount for winter heating
in all electric homes. My consumption was down a third from last year, and it said the average daily temp was the same, 40 degrees, but the bill
was way higher.
My bill says I'm paying a rate, the number "to compare" of .0869 per kw of power.
How does that compare to what you are paying?
Boy am I glad I redid the windows, insulation and siding a couple years ago. Brought my consumption down significantly, but sadly apparently my
bill will do nothing but go up.
We pay 10 to 11 cents per KWH but that includes all fees and taxes. I have tracked our power usage and bills since we built our house. I calculate the KWH costs with the total KWH used during the billing period and what I paid to the power company. The KWH cost would be a bit lower but the power costs is what I have to pay the power company which includes taxes and fees.
I hear people in my area complaining about the cost of power going up but has not increased. Their USAGE may have increased but the cost per KWH has not.
Later,
Dan
OK I was wrong I just did the math I was at $0.151/kwh for just dividing power cost by kwh. But there is one rate for like first 1000kwh and then a different one for everything above that. if I divide all the taxes fees and cost by kwh we get $0.152.
But this bill did have something like they are charging me another $25 for some weather normalization fee??
Strange I just looked up rates and they say $0.128 and $0.123 for the hours over the first 800. This is the winter rate the summer rate is a few pennies more an hour. I have no idea why it adds to more than this without fees, sounds like I need to call the provider, and maybe switch my rate plan to a time of use one.
Here in the Sunbelt, the smart thing to do is go solar and never look back.
We have a 10.3 system with a mix of older (3 year old) 30 BP panels with 18 newer panel (this spring) with built in inverters.
It has eliminated our electric bill, well we still get one but they owe us.
This is on a 3000 sq ft home. Well insulated plus double pane windows.
TXU settles up monthly now for what we put back in the grid at .750 per kWh.
TXU charges .1290 per kWh plus the extra charges.
With our two CNG powered vehicles, a 2011 Honda. A 2004 F150 crew. I feel like telling big oil & OPEC where to stick it.
I pay 23 cents per KwH. You guys have got it good. Still, because I installed a small solar system, I got a credit of $60.00 the last bill.
Well, the solar we paid cash for, so we don't look at it as needing to pay itself off, we just don't want any power bills. (or at least small ones) Yes we are about 80 - 90 klm from Brisbane in a rural area and the Government just put a stop to the power companies wanting to up their prices about 30%. Towoomba City is about 25 klm to the west of us. If you are interested you can watch this little video of our district, taken by my radio controlled glider. The little township is Grantham that was virtually wiped out by the flash flooding 2 years ago and you can see where they are rebuilding homes on a hill nearby. I was just trying out my new camera. https://vimeo.com/54428844
since it's real important to compare apples to apples, I'm not sure my "rate to compare" is the same
as your "rate to compare", which is unfortunate. But for those of us who just have one rate, it's not a huge swing.
I never switched from PECO, though the free market now has unleashed dozens of companies calling me to see if I want to buy electricity at a substantial
savings, which is rarely substantial, and at most ten percent for a limited time. But no one has called me about solar panels, not that our HOA would allow them anyway.
Those of you with hydroelectric power seemed to have the lowest rates. Many of those plants, which I've been on, are a hundred years old,
and older. And still doing their job. Awesome machinery, lots of historic brass gauges still on them, visit if you can.
No pollution, very little noise, and great fishing nearby. But then I like anything near the water.
Absolutely agree that solar and wind is the way to go in the wipe open spaces where you have a true natural resource in sun and wind.
Not sure anyone other than an engineer could look at a wind generator and think it's attractive, but then solar panels don't exactly come in camo either.
We need stealth tech for both, if you don't see them they won't bother you. Assuming you aren't flying a small plane that is...
update: anyone remember if there was ever a thread on "what's your thermostat set to?". I would find that seriously interesting, but might use up more bandwidth
than it's worth.
As a point of reference, my utility bill runs around $2200 per year for a 1450 sq. ft. brick rancher built in 1953...
I have a heat pump and electric water heater...
Not relevant to you guys up North...
That heat pump would be pretty worthless in cold climates...
I do have gas logs for back up...