Posted on 06/03/2024 8:13:18 AM PDT by fwdude
My residential electric service contract is up in about a month and just checked the markets for renewal. The rates have SKYROCKETED.
I don't know if this is because of EV usage increase or just the general crappy economy under Biden, but it's about to price me out of home ownership.
Anyone else seeing this?
[Service company is Oncor.]
Regulators should realize that many single-family homeowners will disconnect their home from the grid if grid electric rates become too high.
My bank uses math relentlessly so I have to watch my money too.
“...as it should because solar electricity is free electricity.”
Funny!
Sure in good stable times you don’t get your money back for the panels if you think of your home in a business sense. When the SHTF and there is no power coming in...then the return on your solar investment becomes parabolic. You might even have to fight to keep the lawless from stealing what you have.
“expensive natural gas fired peaking power”
Since Biden types want 100% phase out of “fossil fuel”, providers and rate regulators have to price based on a shortened useful life.
Click on his name and you will see a Texas flag proudly displayed on his home page.
If you are paying PG&E’s rate, you are paying 42 cents per kwh. Here in eastern WA I am paying 8 cents per kwh. Lots of reasons for those differences.
I am going to say Fort Worth, since there is no D for Dallas.
With 100% “fossil fuel” elimination, there is no market reason for me to remain connected to the grid.
The only people paying for the grid might be those living in formerly “affordable” housing.
Set the thermostat at 80.
I have it at 82.
I live in a humid area so I deploy dehumidifiers in the home. These suck power as well and expelled warmed air (work like a heat pump to remove moisture) but I've found that dryer air in actually tolerable when warmer.
Well if they are going through the roof then that just sucks. Your going to need a new roof too!
Power company financial management needs to understand that it would only take about $500 of solar panels to power the window AC unit I use.
I could cook using a crock pot and use solar hot water as is common in Israel.
“These suck power as well and expelled warmed air”
That’s why I went out and bought a window AC unit so the hot air would be expelled outside.
We have a service charge of $35 a month that has not changed for years in addition to the base rate of about 8.5 cents a Kwh and that has been the same since 2013. The board decided to hold the base rate steady and account for changing cost of power by a PCA (Power Charge Adjustment) that has floated from as low as 0.004 cents in '21 to 2.83 cents now. My full cost varies with power consumed because of the service charge so it is hard to get a solid handle on the final cost per Kwh. We end up paying between 11 and 15 cents a Kwh now depending on use. The PCA went all over the place but it is now becoming steady and higher.
We own a lot of our own base load power generation in another layer of coop shared in a four state area. Additional power is bought on the spot market from solar, wind, hydro, gas and coal. We and another base load provider are facing a huge problem as our coal fired base is forced to phase out. Right now there is nothing to replace it even on the drawing boards.
I hammer the coop frequently but I am surprised they can maintain the costs so well for a system that is so wide spread unlike a metro area.
“panels....stealing”
It’s more than panels. A home system needs power management.
After extensive research the best rate I got was a 2 year plan with BKV Energy for only 30.64% higher. BKV has a good deal. If a cheaper rate comes along (and it may over time), they will contact you offering the cheaper rate.
Trieagle was 52.7% higher for a new plan and it was my previous provider!
My father would say that ‘pigs’ get slaughtered.
Electric rates will continue climbing with no end in sight. Eventually you will be rationing your electricity and cycling it yourself. Shifting from coal baseload operations was a HUGE mistake. I am even against scrubbers because they are extremely expensive and a large drain on the output of the power plant with a tiny bit of pollution control. It’s just not worth it. Some day your grand kids won’t believe you when you say we had electricity 24 hours a day. Even at night when we slept.
I’m shopping for new rates with “PowerToChoose” and am finding similar rate increases as you have since 2 years ago.
I’m noticing a lot of companies which will give you a break if you allow them access to your SMART thermostat to track power usage. I’m a little leery about doing that, but it’s just power (for now.)
“Be careful what you wish for.”
In daily use a car might need a range of 20 to 50 miles.
A car-mountable battery pack could both supply solar electricity for a family home when the sun doesn’t shine brightly as well as providing the range the family car might need for a recreational trip.
The car-mountable battery pack could easily be swapped for another at a former gas station.
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