Cost of electricity, is this brutal or am I a wimp?

[CanadianLori]

Our electricity is charged at varying rates throughout the day.

We have

Peak rates, winter between 7 and 11 am and 5 to 7 pm , summer between 12 and 5 pm at 1.35 per kilowatt hour
mid peak , winter between 12 and 5 pm, summer between 7 and 11 am and 5 to 7pm at 1.12 per kilowatt hour
off peak is 7 to 7am and weekends at .75 per kilowatt hour

To me it is horribly unfair to families who need to prepare supper and breakfast during peak times. Nothing is cheap to run during the days or in mho any time of the day.

I would absolutely never heat a facility using electric! Obviously we still need to run the fan on our central heat so there still is not a truly inexpensive heat source.

How does this cost compare to yours?

 

[Claire]

I get how you feel, though I wonder if "unfair" is the right word. I think that's the point. They charge more in peak times because that is when MOST people are home and using electricity.

I'm not actually sure if my electric company has varying charges throughout the day. My gut tells me they do, because America finds every way possible to legally get more money out of its citizens, haha. Our electric bill isn't something high enough to be alarming ever. In fact, we recently moved into a bigger house and all of our bills have gone DOWN from our previous home, simply because this house is built better and more efficiently.

I think if I was aware that electricity prices were LOWER at certain points of the day, instead of looking at the unfairness of the high times, I'd attempt to maximize the low times. I'd run a crockpot, for example, on a timer, to cook dinner at 3pm. I might only charge my electronics while I was sleeping. I'd try to have all my lights off and shades open during the day.

Because here's the thing, if the company has figured out this is the best way to make the most money, likely, it is actually saving you money in the long run. If you think about it, let's say they decide to do away with the different charges. Probably the overall cost would simply go up for the entire day and you'd be getting a slightly higher bill because you are probably using more electricity during the "cheap" times than you think.

Just a thought. High bills still stink though, so I feel you.

 

[MrsJones]

My experience here in Ohio, is no peak rates at any time of the day. I can't speak for other states in the US. We are charged for usage per kilowatt hour too. We can compare suppliers now since the deregulation here in the US and choose one with the lowest rate. I did that in November of 2014. I found an old bill from last winter so that I can compare the costs.

One company contacted us by phone and gave me one rate when he called to confirm the switch he gave me another rate that was higher. Needless to say we didn't elect that company.

 

[Mockingbird]

You know what is double sad Lori, you are most likely getting your electric from Niagara Falls. We have the same problem on this side of New York, we also get our power from Niagara Falls and we pay a premium for the same power that is shipped all over the place for a fraction of the cost. We are literally right at the source!

I agree it stinks, especially in the winter months when you have less light due to daylight savings time, and the furnace is kicking on constantly from the cold. I try to look on the bright side and say at least we are not paying for air conditioning too. In this neck of the woods they also charge a different rate for phone usage that is based on the time of day. It all seems like gouging to me.

How much you want to bet that in our lifetime we will see cable TV charge for viewing usage during peak times. Just wait, I am thinking when cable goes totally on demand we will see this nifty surcharge creep in.

 

[Shimus]

I don't know about my meter and rates and things like since I just hand money and the other one does the bills (lol) but I imagine the cost is way too high. Even for barely using anything we run a 200+ buck bill quite frequently. It must be due to improper wiring or insulation or just people leaving things on. Always something draining and adding to it.

 

[zigs]

Off grid here, was a bit pricey to set up, about £200 for the solar panels, £400 for the wind generator and 3 12 volt batteries that are usually £85 each but I got 2 of them free.

Still need to use an invertor and the car when there's been no sun and wind for days, especially at this time of year. Gonna add another solar panel just for winter to make up the shortfall.

 

[CanadianLori]

Yes, I time shifted most of my energy least as much as is possible. But even our lowest rate is higher than the old rate that we used to pay 24/7. I wait until the weekend to bake, use the vacuum etc. Imagine being on shift work and the only time you can get your chores done is during the day.

They have what is called a "smart" meter that does the recording/transmitting time of use data. The province claimed this was to "train us"(do i hear stepford wives?) to shift our usage in order to best use what is being produced now and not strain the system however time and again we have too much power and we pay neighbouring states to take it off our hands!

Just wanted to know what others are paying per kilowatt hour or is this a government secret?

Off grid here, was a bit pricey to set up, about £200 for the solar panels, £400 for the wind generator and 3 12 volt batteries that are usually £85 each but I got 2 of them free.

Still need to use an invertor and the car when there's been no sun and wind for days, especially at this time of year. Gonna add another solar panel just for winter to make up the shortfall.

I only have small panels that run the greenhouse off grid. Right now most of the energy is redirected to my basement set up. Our panels are super pricey. Approximately 100£ for a 40 watt panel. I have 5 of those and 3 20 watters. Now could someone make the sun shine, please!!

 

[CanadianLori]

Zigs, how many ah are your batteries? I

 

[zigs]

Zigs, how many ah are your batteries? I

85 ah, not like car batteries. Gonna get another one when I get the next panel.

I take a volt/amp meter to the shop to test em before I buy them, got caught out on one that had been sitting idle a few years back.

 

[galmal]

I live in Tennessee and we pay about 11 cents kwh. Where we are, we're not subject to peak hour increases.

Tennessee has it's own power system. It was built back in the 1930s by the federal government, to help during the depression - a part of Roosevelt's New Deal. It's called the Tennessee Valley Authority. It is the nation's largest public power provider and is a corporation of the US government. However, it is fully funded through electricity sales - in other words, it supports itself without help from the taxpayers.

We moved here 2 years ago from Virginia and our electric bill has gone from about $300-400 a month to around $100. We love it.

 

[Rosyrain]

I am not sure if we have peak hours where I live, and I just might call the electric company to find out if that is the case. It would not shock me in the least as it seems as though the utility companies are always taking money where they can get it. As a matter of fact, I just got a notice from my landlord that my sewer is going up $10 in March. Complete crap if you ask me, but there is nothing I can really do about it.

 

[R.R.]

Just wanted to know what others are paying per kilowatt hour or is this a government secret?

We're on Pedernales Electric Cooperative here. I received my electric bill today, and it says:

Service availability charge: $22.50
Delivery charge: 1.257 kWh @ $0.02712 kWh: $34.09
Base power cost 1,257 kWh @ $0.07208 kWh: $90.60
Power cost adjustment 1,257 kWh: $1.26

 

[nematode]

Our electricity is charged at varying rates throughout the day.

We have

Peak rates, winter between 7 and 11 am and 5 to 7 pm , summer between 12 and 5 pm at 1.35 per kilowatt hour
mid peak , winter between 12 and 5 pm, summer between 7 and 11 am and 5 to 7pm at 1.12 per kilowatt hour
off peak is 7 to 7am and weekends at .75 per kilowatt hour

To me it is horribly unfair to families who need to prepare supper and breakfast during peak times. Nothing is cheap to run during the days or in mho any time of the day.

I would absolutely never heat a facility using electric! Obviously we still need to run the fan on our central heat so there still is not a truly inexpensive heat source.

How does this cost compare to yours?

Am I reading that correctly are you saying it is $1.35, like one hundred thirty five pennies for 1000 watts?

 

[Pat]

We do have peak and off peak pricing here, I don't know how much the charge is as I am not the person paying the bills. I am sure the bill is high because there is very little conservation done by the people who live in the house. The kids leave for school and will leave every light in the house on all day long. I have come home after they have left and every light is on. We do have an all electric house so it would be hard to only use during off peak hours. I agree the companies are sucking us dry, the bills are high during the winter because it is so cold and high during the summer because it is so humid we live we run the AC just so we can get dressed and be dry.

 

[CanadianLori]

Am I reading that correctly are you saying it is $1.35, like one hundred thirty five pennies for 1000 watts?

Kilowatt hour

our bill was over 150 for 1 month with about half of that being "delivery charges". I haven't used my clothes dryer in 2 years! Our hot water is gas heated as is our central heating. So this is just to run lights and cook which I do 90 percent of the time in the off peak hours.


I guess you can see my frustration as they say the rate will be going up another 40 percent!!!

oops, well my retired husband watches tv 12 hours a day...