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Electric bill
Topic Started: Mar 16 2014, 03:56 AM (431 Views)
Corky52
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I have to pay the connection fees and then donate the all the extra electricity above what it takes to cover the electricity I use at night and on cloudy days. Mostly I use the connected electricity to run the washer and dryer that pull peak loads above what my batteries and inverters will power. If I could drop the connection and not have to pay the connection fee's I increase the batteries and inverters and go totally off the grid, but the law prevents that.

The model changed last year and I now donate less as the money is figured on a yearly rather than monthly basis.


:smoker:
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Thumper
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You HAVE to be on the grid???
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Corky52
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Most cities have laws requiring inhabited building to be hooked to the grid, here in San Diego yo have to have power and water service if the building has people in it for any period of time more than four hours. The connection fees go to pay for the grid in theory. I pay $34.73 a month for just being hooked up even if I send more power back to the grid than I use. I would not object to the connection fee if I go paid for the power above what I use, but here in California the best you can do is zero your use for a period of time, just recently changed from a month to a year.

Being hooked to the grid does give me a surge capacity for use spikes and that means I can use power above what I can get from my inverters and batteries if I need.


:smoker:
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Thumper
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Well, I guess $35 smackers is well worth the piece of mind of having the service as needed.
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Corky52
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Not the money as much as the principle, I also like to get paid for the extra power I put back in to the grid above what I use from the grid. Right now I put back about twice what I take from the grid, I don't use much during the day as I don't need AC where I live. I way overbuilt my system when the kids still lived at home and now generate lots of extra power. I'd like to see our laws changed to pay for all power generated and delivered to the grid to be paid for, some states do have such laws.


:smoker:
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Banandangees
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Thumper
Mar 17 2014, 04:52 AM
We are pretty fortunate here in central Missouri. Union Electric was bought out by Ameran and the prices have gone up a little. We are paying 8 cents for the first 750 KW and 5 cents after that. We have Hydro, Nuke and coal fired plants. Ban, man I feel for you, your weather has been a bitch. Got cabin fever yet?

It's been a long winter Thump. Weather is starting to look a little better now. I've seen more snow in the past.... but not much more :smile: But the number of spikes down to below 0 F ...... I haven't so many here before as this year.

It's time to start my seeds. Hoping to have a good garden year this year. Since I don't golf a much, the garden is my therapy. Luckily, I have the equipment to take all the heavy labor out of it. When I was younger, I never thought about it much (other things to think about); but, now I look forward to it.
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Thumper
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Springs just around the corner. You will be sitting on the beach by th PI lighthouse before you know it. Cheers!
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tomdrobin
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Quote:
 
My renewed appreciation for the virtues of regulatory oversight came recently when I opened my electric bill, only to discover that my discount carrier, PalmCo Energy, had charged me more than twice the going rate for the month of June. Whereas other energy providers in our area were charging 8.5 cents per kwh for generation (not including transmission and other costs), PalmCo billed me for 16.3 cents per kwh.

So how did this happen? How does a power company marketing itself as a cost-effective alternative to Met-Ed, double its advertised prices practically overnight?

At the heart of the problem are serious defects in the way deregulation was implemented in Pennsylvania, providing some companies with the ability to conceal the true costs of their services. While I have to presume that PalmCo Energy has not violated state and federal law in setting its monthly utility rates, the company has nonetheless taken advantage of lax disclosure requirements as it advertises its services.

To protect the integrity of a deregulated electricity market, the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission should institute simple reforms that empower consumers to make more informed decisions about the true cost of selecting an energy provider.


http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2011/08/the_darker_side_of_electric_de.html


Ahh yes, getting government off of peoples backs with deregulation. But, wait who's backs are they getting off of? Looks like it's not the consumer.

The GOP dominated legislature is pushing the same deregulation BS here in Michigan. Remember the debacle with Enron in California? If something works don't screw with it. Of course they only reason for it is more profits for energy companies. But, they aren't going to tell you that.
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Berton
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Exactly, let the government control everything. Isn't that what you want?
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ngc1514
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Berton
Mar 18 2014, 06:45 PM
Exactly, let the government control everything. Isn't that what you want?
Many public utilities are monopolies. The concept of a regulated monopoly has been around for a long time. Without government control, your utility could charge as much as the public could bear without worrying about the loss of business. Regulation is the only thing keeping your power company from charging $1 a KwH.
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