what on earth does electricity cost near you?

[MinnesotaEric]

From my May 2015 Newsletter: Itasca-Mantrap’s (northern MN) summer electric rates will go into effect in June. The general service rate for June, July and August is 12.27 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), compared to 9.97 cents per kWh from September through May. The Basic Charge for residential services is $33 per month throughout the year.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

My first 800 kwh is 6.232 cents/kwh. Then it goes to 9.599 cents/kwh. There is no basic service charge.

If you have an electric water heater, the way to save energy is with a water saving shower head. I have a 35 gallon water heater, and we never run out of hot water. Energy star dishwasher and front loading washer help. All the lights are either CFL or LED, but lighting is a trivial part of our electricity use. Heat and AC use quite a bit, so we installed new doors, windows, upgraded insulation, and honeycomb blinds. Upgrading the insulation, doors and windows made a big difference in the comfort of the home. The furnace ducts, including the big return air duct in the attic, were uninsulated when we bought the place. The plumbing was not insulated. The windows were single pane aluminum frame, and so was the sliding glass door to the deck. There was no subfloor insulation and a plumber had butchered a 12" hole for the tub drain into the crawl space.

Switching to LED TVs and computer monitors run by energy efficient laptops made a big difference. The 500 watt tower went to a 50 watt laptop. Electricity is our only utility bill, and we pump our own water among other things. Our bill runs about $125 a month.

 

[ultrarunner]

Amazingly low rates you have Larry... at least compared to the SF Bay Area... anywhere from a third to a quarter what we pay.

That said... summer or winter the monthly electric for a 2400 square feet split level is 12 kWh per day... or 360 per month and with the new "Lower" rate schedule and usage at the less expensive tier... it still comes out to 24 cents per kWh or $85 a month.

The 12 kWh per day is with with 35 year old or older appliances... including console color TVs... only the lighting and central furnace have been upgraded.

 

[3930dave]

6 months have gone by, so it's again time to crank the rates up here....

Electricity Prices | OEB

Mid-Peak is now 13.2 cents/kwh ...... that's about double what the flat rate was (Yep, I'm getting old, but it beats the alternative..... ) , not really all that long ago.....

Rgds, D.

 

[buickanddeere]

7 cents with taxes etc a KW flat rate before the subsidized rates were paid to wind, solar, aboriginal partnered hydro electric and natural gas turbines .
Over 80% of our useage has been time shifted to lowest rate 7:00PM to 7:00AM and weekends. Power now costs over 18 cents per KW with the "smart meter".

 

[3930dave]

A good summation of the mess that has been created here. Auditor Generals usually don't exaggerate.... unfortunately, most people pay no attention.....

Higher electricity rates kick in for Ontario | Ontario | News | Toronto Sun

Ontario Electricity Prices Are Out Of Control

Once you've wiped out enough heavy industry and manufacturing, you have to idle your (world class) hydro stations to keep the wind turbines online...... such is the price of a personal Vanity Project.....

Rgds, D.

 

[dickfoster]

Amazingly low rates you have Larry... at least compared to the SF Bay Area... anywhere from a third to a quarter what we pay.

That said... summer or winter the monthly electric for a 2400 square feet split level is 12 kWh per day... or 360 per month and with the new "Lower" rate schedule and usage at the less expensive tier... it still comes out to 24 cents per kWh or $85 a month.

The 12 kWh per day is with with 35 year old or older appliances... including console color TVs... only the lighting and central furnace have been upgraded.

Ain't it the truth. It's one of the benefits or living in CA where any excuse is used to make you pay more for anything than almost any other place in the country.

 

[ultrarunner]

It really does seem this way on many fronts...

Rates are again going up... and the new legislation from Sacramento means they will continue to increase with climate requirements.

 

[dmccarty]

....
Once you've wiped out enough heavy industry and manufacturing, you have to idle your (world class) hydro stations to keep the wind turbines online...... such is the price of a personal Vanity Project.....

Rgds, D.

Earlier this summer we spent two weeks in Scotland and Ireland traveling by boat. Great trip! :thumbsup: We saw I would guess a couple hundred huge wind turbines. I have no idea if these make money sense in Scotland and Ireland but I would guess they do since there always seems to be some wind. Having said that, they sure are ugly. There is a ski resort here in NC that was built on top of a mountain and people complain about how it ruined the view. And they are right. It sure is ugly but it is only on one mountain. We saw the wind mills all over the place and they ruined views all of the place.

We stopped at one fishing village and went for a walk. Great views all around, a white sand, half moon beach with nobody on it, stunning landscapes, and then a bunch of wind mills that covered a part of the horizon across a beautify valley. Just flat out ugly. We saw this over and over again.... A stunning landscape ruined by these things. In comparison, we only saw a couple of power stations, which in comparison, where not that big of a visual blight. Best I could tell the power plants were still in operation too.

If we ever pull off our boat idea, the boat will have a generator, PV panels and a wind generator. Looking at the numbers, I think we can generate the power needed on the boat with wind and solar power for most but not all of needs. At least on the boat, the wind generator can be integrated into the design to work well, not be FUGLY, and save money.

Later,
Dan

 

[jaotguy]

A good summation of the mess that has been created here. Auditor Generals usually don't exaggerate.... unfortunately, most people pay no attention.....

Higher electricity rates kick in for Ontario | Ontario | News | Toronto Sun

Ontario Electricity Prices Are Out Of Control

Once you've wiped out enough heavy industry and manufacturing, you have to idle your (world class) hydro stations to keep the wind turbines online...... such is the price of a personal Vanity Project.....

Rgds, D.

agree 100% ...

how about all the politicians that voted for "green energy" have to use that as sole source ... in other words, they can only have power to their homes when the sun shines or the wind blows ... if neither is working , their hydro is cut off till one comes back on line ....

same for the buildings their parties occupy ... imagine ... no heat , air conditioning , power for their computers , lights , etc

OH , and have them pay "full price" for the green energy they consume at 80 cents a KW