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What do you pay for electricity?
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Subject: What do you pay for electricity? From: CamiSu Date: 01 Feb 01 - 09:39 AM I am truly curious. I keep hearing about the problems in California, and one report (the only one I heard to mention real numbers) said one company had their rates go from $.03/kwh to $9.00/kwh when they did not shut down during a choice blackout. Now I understand that the percent increase is astonishing, but the base price is also rather amazing. Here in Vermont we are paying between $.11 and $.18/kwh, depending on how much you use. We pay higher rates in the winter to encourage conservation. What IS the rate in California? And in the rest of the world as well? Thanks CamiSu |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: UB Ed Date: 01 Feb 01 - 09:49 AM In Virginia we are paying about $.04 for the energy and about $.05 for wires service and "competitive transition" charges. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: kendall Date: 01 Feb 01 - 10:37 AM Dont know...but, my power bill last month was just under $30.00 |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Gypsy Date: 01 Feb 01 - 11:09 AM Well, we are currently paying minimum of 14 cents per KW. Then there is all the other stuff, we are zoned rural (by PG&E standards, that bear no semblance to reality) so the upshot of it is, with our totally wood heated home, our bill was 150.00 this month. Not bad you say? Say it in a minimum wage town, with seasonal income. Gas is equally high right now. Cooking with wood all winter. Ouch, it's high! Good reason for being aucostic! |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Gypsy Date: 01 Feb 01 - 11:11 AM Ooops...location is Northern CA, REALLY northern! |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Ebbie Date: 01 Feb 01 - 01:52 PM In Juneau in southeastern Alaska we pay just over 9 cents a KWh, adjusted seasonally. Our power grid is independent, not tied to any other community. (It does, on occasion, get taken out by eagles) Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: R! Date: 01 Feb 01 - 09:20 PM In southern NJ it's $.115 per kWh - but that includes the delivery charge. For comparison shopping I'm supposed to use $.058 which is the cost of electric supply. Natural gas is interesting: transportation charge $.201 per therm, balancing charge (whatever that is) $.080 per therm, commodity charge $.512 per therm (what?), and balancing credit (it's about time) $.058. Now that I've really looked at my bill, I'm upset at all these charges. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Bev and Jerry Date: 01 Feb 01 - 11:25 PM Wow, Gypsy, where the hell are you?
You're not growing anything illegal indoors, are you?
We're about half way between San Francisco and Los Angeles at the southern edge of PG&E's service area. We pay 11.6 cents/Kwh for up to the baseline (195 Kwh) and 13.3 cents/Kwh after that. In December we used exactly the baseline 195 so the bottom line was $20.33.
We heat with wood, too, and have a gas stove and clothes dryer.
The guvnor signed a law today raising our rates about nine percent so we're shopping for a wood burning computer. Bev and Jerry |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Metchosin Date: 01 Feb 01 - 11:49 PM From the land of hydroelectric dams, here in B.C., we have some of the lower rates for hydroelectric power in North America. The rate for the southern coast is 6.2 cents per kw.h but varies throughout the province. On the Island here, we pay 5.77 cents per kw.h. plus a basic charge of $6.92 every two months. On top of that there is the fedral Goods and Services Tax of 7%.
This has been a very mild winter, particularly on the coast, so the bill is really low, approximately $260 per month, for the past 2 months, which is the equivalent of $174 US. Double that for cold winters. Bear in mind this may look good to some US citizens, but remember we are also paid in Canadian dollars, still it doesn't suck. This includes heat and light and that, for a small house which has a large hole in the roof. (a piece of single pane fibreglass 2'x 24' that goes up and over the ridge of the roof, which was supposed to be temporary, but has now stood the test of time for 24 years and is finally being replaced with low E thermopane skylights this spring). Unlike a lot of US regions our Hydro is a public utility and the dams and infrastructure were financed with the tax payer's dollar. Because of this, citizens historically are intended to get a break on their rates. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: DougR Date: 02 Feb 01 - 12:09 AM Don't know about Kwh costs. I'm on an average plan monthly in Phoenix, Arizona, and my monthly bills run on average, $159 per month. I heat, cook, and cool with electricity. DougR |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: GUEST Date: 02 Feb 01 - 01:45 AM Just figured my bill out. I'm a little over $.05 per KWh. Pacific Northwest hydroelectric helps. My gas is about $.70 per therm which is most of my bill.Last month's was $103.00 total.Now mind you the average daily temp for that time was 25°F. I used 18 KWh and 3 therms per day. The big controversy up here was Kaiser Aluminum. They bought power at $22.50 a MEGAwatt and then sold it back to Bonneville Power Administration at $500 a Megawatt. They did it by shutting down their plants and laying everyone off. So they didn't use the electricity allotted to them. They were able to make so much money doing this they are paying the laid-off steelworkers their full wages while they are laid-off. This all happened after an extremely contentious 2 year strike which was finally resolved by Federal mediators and court orders, rr |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: GUEST,rangeroger Date: 02 Feb 01 - 02:08 AM That was me above.This gets curiouser and curiouser. I keep resetting my cookie and keep getting shown as guest.Oh well, on to the flame thread. rr |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: roopoo Date: 02 Feb 01 - 02:41 AM The only bill I could lay my hands on is one from last August, but I was paying 6.03 pence per unit. I can't find a gas bill. As I pay by monthly debit, I ted to look at the bottom line and then chuck it unless it mentions any rebate (this one did). At present my annual electricity bill is around £444. Only this week I have changed to another billing company for both that and gas. I live in Yorkshire, and apparently there are regional rates for both electricity and gas that Yorkshire Electricity and British Gas don't apply (according to this guy from Powergen (who knocked on my door), and from whom YE buy their power). According to him I was paying the same as someone in London. However true it all may be, they still promise a saving of around 13%. So I've decided to abandon my "better the devil you know" attitude and go for it to see what happens. My gas bill (heating and water) is around £600 per annum, so 13% off that will be nice. Anyway, he turned out to come from where we used to live before here, and he knew my old road. Plus he admired my salt dough - so much so that he wanted to see it under construction (he caught me mid-model and all crusty with dough). He says he is going to tell his wife and come to my next fair, which is for 8 days in York (Jorvik Viking Festival, folks) in a fortnight's time. They both apparently like visiting craft fairs. I mean, what could I do...? Andrea |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: CamiSu Date: 02 Feb 01 - 08:46 AM So it sounds like New England is about as high as it gets in the USofA. (I was used to what we paid in Colorado which was under a nickel) I only included the kwh price but we also have a daily service charge of $.362/day, a notice charge of $2.50, and an energy efficiency charge of 1.49%. I get to pay these twice as the electric service to the barn is separate from the house. It can get pretty expensive, but I do have our office in the house, so we don't have to pay it again at a separate office... I guess it's the price we pay for living in heaven, tho it sounds like Ebbie has it at a cheaper price! And Gypsy, I definitely hear you. D'you suppose you'd be better off to secede from California and join Oregon? |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Deckman Date: 02 Feb 01 - 12:07 PM Up here in Everett, the Seattle area, our rate just jumped from .054 per KWH to .071. We are warned that another rate jump is expected. Plus, the local cities and counties add on their hidden taxes to our P.U.D. bill. That's the kind of actions that is causing a tax payer revolt up here, through our state initive process. When the California power debacle happens, the FEDS ordered Washington and Oregon to sell power to California, and caused our rates to jump. We heat our small house with two woodstoves, our bill WAS $108 per month average ... that's 'gonna change real soon. And the biggest frustration we feel is the we CAN'T GET AT THE BUMS WHO CAUSED THIS! |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Mrs.Duck Date: 02 Feb 01 - 12:28 PM Here in England it largely depends if you pay your electric bill to the gas company or the phone company (these days people only seem to pay their phone and gas bills to the electricity company). I pay £27 a month by direct debitwhich they tell me is 6.03 per unit whatever a unit of electricity is. Actually I think that is the standard rate in UK and all the billing companies just offer enticing rebates to get you to sign up with them. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Sorcha Date: 02 Feb 01 - 01:43 PM Bill came today. $.055 p/kwh. Rural Wyoming |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: MARINER Date: 02 Feb 01 - 01:44 PM In Ireland (republic of )electricity costs 7.43 pence per unitplus v.a.t.of 12.5%.HoweverI, am a pensioner(not old age I hasten to add)so I get 300 units free per bi monthly bill,which as you can appreciate, is a big help.I also have free travel on public transport. All old age pensioners in the Irish Republic have 300 units of free electricity plus free phone rental, plus free travel on all public transport.It's really not a bad place to live. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Metchosin Date: 02 Feb 01 - 01:57 PM hmm interesting.......
for heat/cooling and light etc. per year
Mouldy - $ 1,529 US
Metchosin - $1,815 US
DougR - $1,909 US admittedly dwelling size/type unknown and climate differences. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Ebbie Date: 02 Feb 01 - 02:54 PM In Oregon, where I used to live, residential cost was 2.5 cents per KWh (commercial was 4.5, which irritated my boss no end. This was back in the days that when you had an 'all-electrical' house you got a better rate. In Juneau, we don't have natural gas so our electricity and heating choices are limited to hydropower and/or oil. Heating oil is currently around $1.60 a gallon. Eb |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 02 Feb 01 - 03:01 PM Are al these "units" the same - only with pints and gallons Anerican ones are smaller, so it never does to assume anything. (And there are always things like metrication to take into account.)
I looked at some bills which are a couple of years out of date, and they gives it as 1.413 pence per kWh for gas, and for electricity bill it's 6.13 per unit.
I think life is too complicated to get into these deals with the gas people supplying the electricity and the telephone people supplying the gas, and the milkman delivering coal and so forth. I assume there are enough people charging around after the best deal to put enough competitive pressures on the companies involved, and it'll all work out much the same at the end of the day. So I'll stick with people doing what they are there to do. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Kim C Date: 02 Feb 01 - 03:13 PM I don't know what our unit charge is here in Nashville but I can tell you our bill for January was just under $200. We live in an 80 year old house with no central heat/air. We have a woodstove which heats the downstairs area and use space heaters elsewhere. Those suckers use a lot of power - our bill in the summer months is usually under $40. (We do have a window AC for the bedroom. I'm not THAT crazy...) |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: R! Date: 02 Feb 01 - 03:17 PM I'm still obsessing over my utility bill ($74.37 electric [lights], $249.40 gas [heat, cooking]). We also use propane gas to heat my old china's studio. In December we were levied a $35.90 fee because we didn't use enough gas. On January 2 we called to say that the tank was empty. It took two weeks for them to deliver 95.6 units for a whopping $365.19. That actually might be reasonable but it doesn't seem like enough units (whatever their size) to justify that charge. THEN today I got a $9 bill as an environmental fee. AARRRGGGHHHH! |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 02 Feb 01 - 03:21 PM I take it you've got the place properly insulated? |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: R! Date: 02 Feb 01 - 03:47 PM It's a stone house so we're unable to insulate the main floors. It's got 55 windows as well. The studio is a converted carriage house and it's stone also but since looks don't count, we have nailed insulation to the walls. The house is very comfy most of the summer and in mild winters. During this colder-than-usual weather we bundle up in fleecewear. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: NightWing Date: 02 Feb 01 - 04:18 PM Don't want to make anybody jealous, but I haven't paid more than $30 for a month's electric+gas bill for over ten years. (The $30 bill was last summer during a two-month long heat wave; the AC ran constantly.) I suppose it helps that I live in a small (~1,000 square feet) apartment with only one wall to the outside. *G*
BB, |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: NightWing Date: 02 Feb 01 - 04:20 PM Don't want to make anybody jealous, but I haven't paid more than $30 for a month's electric+gas bill for over ten years. (The $30 bill was last summer during a two-month long heat wave; the AC ran constantly.) I suppose it helps that I live in a small (~1,000 square feet) apartment with only one wall to the outside. *G*
BB, |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: NightWing Date: 02 Feb 01 - 04:28 PM Oops! Sorry for the double post. Didn't realize it had gone through.
BB, |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: R! Date: 02 Feb 01 - 04:47 PM Did you really accidentally double post or are you just bragging? |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 02 Feb 01 - 05:14 PM 55 windows is a lot to insulate, Reen! You can do cheap but surprisingly effective temporary double-glazing with plastic cling-film for virtually nothing. Doesn't take long either. I'd have thought in a stone house you'd not be losing that much heat through the floor. Straw might help. Our ancestors knew about that kind of stuff. So do you, most probably. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: cowboypoet Date: 02 Feb 01 - 05:31 PM I pay whatever they charge. They *are* an effing monopoly after all, at least where I live. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: R! Date: 02 Feb 01 - 05:32 PM The majority of the windows have triple track storm windows. At least they're not drafty but I know I lose heat through the glass. Third floor windows are energy efficient ones. I couldn't bear (or afford) to replace the first and second floor windows. They're all handmade, beautiful natural chestnut woodwork, and, in most cases, original wavy glass. It is bright and cheerful here with the sun streaming in. If I get chilly I can put on one of those warm English wool sweaters I always buy when I go on holiday. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Richard Bridge Date: 02 Feb 01 - 06:13 PM Mouldy, try Southern Counties Total Gas. Cheaper than anyone in the UK. WHen I first joined them they were half (yes, half) the price of British Gas. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: roopoo Date: 03 Feb 01 - 03:23 AM I'm due to have my inefficient heating boiler replaced this year. We'll see what happens then. It should improve matters. It's unfortunate that my house is a 100 year old "cube" of old fashioned double-brick construction with 9" (around 18cm) solid walls. It is double-glazed, which has improved matters, but you can sometimes feel the coldness on the walls on the north side of the building. We did apply the insulating polystyrene wall covering you can get when we first moved in, but it made no real difference to one of the bedrooms which always seems cool. It never gets any sun. Still, we shouldn't complain: the last e-mail I had from the other half in Siberia said that it was -30 and due to drop to -35. Ice crystals were hanging in the air, and when he got in his apartment his specs didn't steam up - they froze! He than had to wait for them to warm up a bit more before he could wipe them. Richard, if this Powergen thing doesn't work out I will keep my eyes open for Southern Counties. I'll give Powergen a fair crack at it first and see what improves. Any of them are better than the bottled gas we had to use before they connected our village to the mains! I use as many low-energy bulbs as I can, and I think that is paying off. Especially as you can buy them dirt cheap from Ikea! mouldy |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Joe Offer Date: 03 Feb 01 - 05:09 AM Well, I have a two-bedroom duplex in Sacramento, California. Temperatures here are moderate during the winter, although it does get down to freezing temperature quite often at night. It's beastly hot here in July and August. My electricity bill for 2000 was $375.29, and PG&E gas was $264.40. My gas bill was a hundred dollars in January, well over double what it was last year - $1.71 per therm instead of last year's $0.63. Electricity is likely to remain stable at about 8 cents per kilowatt hour here because we have a municipal utility district - but our prices may go way up when our long-term power contracts expire. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Gypsy Date: 04 Feb 01 - 12:17 AM Man, Joe, had no idea that you were paying that much. We are norther than thee (and no, we don't grow that funny green stuff, won't work philsophically) and pay high, but not that high. You do the wood bit in the winter, and foil the windows in the summer, right? thats what we did when living there. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: En Date: 04 Feb 01 - 01:30 AM Hello from the San Francisco Bay Area. My particular micro-climate is much milder than Sacramento's--rarely below 40, rarely above 90. We paid about $.11/KWH in January, even with our insulated walls and double-pane windows. Our bill was about $174 for both electric and natural gas. The price price of gas has doubled in the last six months or so. We are kicking ourselves because we did not switch to one of the little independent "green" providers when we had the opportunity last summer--it was quite a bit more expensive at the time, but now they are selling power to PG&E. Bev and Jerry, you folks in the Monterey area? Hey up there, Gypsy. My dad was born in Tennant, raised in Weed, two very snowy places. He used to work for Pigs Goats and Elephants so we spent a lot of time at Lake Briton and Burney Falls at company camps. Brrr! It gets cold up there. Throw another log on the fire and stay warm. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Sorcha Date: 04 Feb 01 - 01:55 AM My electric quote of $.055 did not include heating; that is Natural Gas. Hot water is also natural gas. Gas bill averages about $65 US per month. Electricity only, which is just the lights, is about $65 per month.
Water, heat, electricity, and sewage services average about $200 US per month. The Federal Gov't just said NO to a cap on Utilities, and the gas provider was approved a 45% increase. Last year they were awarded a 42% increase. That is an 87% increase without adding the additional percentage. My Mr., the Wage Earner, gets 2.5% wage increase per year...... |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: blt Date: 04 Feb 01 - 05:03 AM I live in Portland, OR, in a small studio (12' x 24'). My electric bill for 12/15 through 1/14 was $50.46; for some reason I was charged .05673/kwh for 18 days and .06009 for 17 days. There's also some city taxes and a credit from a merger added in to that total. So that seems high, but this apartment is not very energy efficient. |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: CamiSu Date: 05 Feb 01 - 11:29 AM I keep trying to post here and my computer crashes in the middle. Oh well. Try again. I get the feeling that the Northeast is still, (by a fairly hefty margin) the most expensive place to buy electricity. Our governor is thanking the legislature for not letting his deregulation plan through, but we are paying A LOT for the hydro quebec power that we are not even using. And wages aren't a lot higher here than in California, (particularly if you're self employed). Reen-- 55 windows???!!! Wow! My stone house has 20! What have you done to insulate? We put in foam, figuring that the amount of oil we didn't burn would make up for the resources used for the foam. the savings paid for the job in 7-8 years. Our kitchen still isn't done but one wall of it is below grade, and half of another joins the main house (and is solid stone) so it is not so bad when there is a good fire in the stove. The people who lived here before us paid $350/month for oil (15 years ago!) and used a cord of wood/month. We use 3-400 gallons of oil a year, and maybe a cord and a half a year. So I guess we're improving on the situation. Harlow-- the heat in a stone house doesn't leave through the floors (or at least not mine-I have a basement so my floors are wood) No, it leaves through the walls, constantly. Until we got the place and insulated it, we were told most people rented the place from May to January, when th ecost got so high and the place so cold, they figured that they might as well live in a snowbank... Andrea, got any pictures of your salt dough work? I'd love to see! CamiSu |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: dwditty Date: 05 Feb 01 - 11:30 AM For my part, I play strictly acoustic, so I don't have to pay for electricity.*G* |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: DougR Date: 05 Feb 01 - 01:15 PM Sorcha, pardon, but it seems from all news reports that the Bush administration is trying very hard to let you keep more of your money rather than sending it to the government, so that you can pay those high bills. Thread creep. Sorry. DougR |
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Subject: RE: What do you pay for electricity? From: Gypsy Date: 05 Feb 01 - 11:02 PM Word of wisdom...don't let your state deregulate electricity, if you can possibly vote on it. Has been a major mistake in CA. The clever husband is implementing solar more, and more. Down to the light on his music stand is now solar operated. Not bright enough for my hammered dulcimer, but he's working on it. |
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