Electricity Price Increases

[etpm]

When we built our place 15 years ago we knew we would be off grid because there just aren't any utilities available - even cell service. So I built out a system based upon solar. Some time back I went to our PUD's website to check the publicized rates and they also had listed the 'average' residential customer's utility bill so using that it was easy to estimate the cost for electricity that we haven't purchased. Granted it was a rough calculation to compare that vs what I spent originally including maintenance (2 battery bank replacements) and some upgrades over time. It was evident that we had hit break even at around 11 to 12 years. But I had, just about that time, replaced our lead batteries with lithium technology to the tune of $11k. So we were starting restarting the clock.

With all this stuff in the news about AI and data centers and the costs of electricity going up dramatically, I couldn't be happier for where we chose to live and were forced to make our own power. I have to admit that producing our power doesn't include my time investment. I choose to consider my time as a hobby that I enjoy. But overall I have to say, even if we did have utility power from the beginning, that I would have solar added by this time. Yeah, we have to live differently because we can't just flick any switch as desired and no, we don't have AC. And it takes some planning to have the house be around 80f when it's 105f outside for a week.

So, how many of y'all are thinking of pulling the trigger and adding some self reliance if not just reducing your electric bill? It's not going to get any better.

I live on South Whidbey Island and we just don't get that much sun. Still, I am considering one spot close to the house that gets pretty good sun even in winter when the sun is quite low in the south. My wife would like it too. And we are already pretty good about not wasting electricity because we are frugal.
Eric

 

[ponytug]

We have solar (ROI 4. years) and later added batteries. We are close to not being producers or consumers annually, and that means we use more in the winter and generate excess in the summertime. We had a rapid return on investment, because as @California pointed out we have very high electrical rates. (Electricity rates $0.65, off peak $0.35/kWh, plus meter fees, "non bypassable charges, and various other fees) Our ag water runs around $5/kWh due to demand charges, and various other fees that dominate the bill.

While wildfires have added to the utility cost of operations, the underlying reason why we have high costs are that the public utility commission guarantees the utilities a minimum of 10%/year return on capital expenditure, so they are incentivized to build, and then bill consumers at that cost plus 10-12% for the long life of the investment.

At the moment, we don't have great interconnections between the various US subgrids, so we do not do a great job of exporting excess power from one region to another to help reduce cost, and strains on generation.

Here in California, the cost of utility size batteries is less than the cost of peak power generation, and more batteries are coming on line to reduce the cost of peak power. How much of that gets passed onto consumers as savings is up for grabs.

Elsewhere in the country, data centers are a huge, new, and in terms of utilities, not predicted, demand. They are distorting the power demand across the country. All this on line shopping and watching videos, cruising the net comes at a cost of power. It will be a while I think before things settle out, but in the interim, have some sympathy for folks who were living quietly in a rural area and had a data center dropped in next door. E.g.

Inside the Memphis Community Battling Elon Musk’s xAI

A TIME investigation reveals data tying Musk’s AI data center to pollution surges in a historically Black Memphis area.

time.com

All the best,

Peter

Here's a graphic showing the mixture of power sources in use in California earlier today; it changes by the hours and the season.

 

[tracter]

You do not know how good you have got it , I am paying $1.08 Supply charge that is just the poles and wires
$.3014 cents per KWH for the first 25 KWH thence $.3256 for any more usage , I get $.03 cents per KWH Feed in Tariff for my Solar
But we sleep sound in the knowledge that Australia has the largest coal deposit and also huge Bauxite deposit and absolute bucket loads of Natural Gas but the Green faction tell us we cannot use it
We export million of tonnes of coal , shiploads of Natural gas and tonnes of Bauxite to turn into Uranium to other countries so they can supposedly pollute the World
Australia is the only country in the G20 who does not Have Nuclear power apparently our politicians are smarter than the rest of the world (not)
Anyway I going to have a Cappuchino now to settle my nerves
Australia makes less than 1% of the Worlds pollution but we are saddled with some of the most restrictive practices imaginable
However I would not live anywhere else
Oz

 

[Jstpssng]

However I would not live anywhere else

And THIS says it all, no matter what country you live in!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Our energy rate is .1121 but its the other fees tacked on that make it seem higher.

Same here. Our rate is a nominal .1409, but they tack on a meter charge, a distribution charge, generator fuel charges, etc.

 

[bigtiller]

The least confusing way to talk about the price of electricity is to divide the dollar amount on the personal check written for payment of the kw consumed.

That way all the fees and taxes are included.

For all of 2024, mine was 16.4 cents per kw.
Not the 11 cents the company brags about in their advertising.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

The war on coal came at a huge price. It's all about money.

And most of the do-gooder's who put NO MORE COAL signs in their yards are squealing the loudest because they failed to listen to people telling them the true cost of green energy.

 

[jyoutz]

And most of the do-gooder's who put NO MORE COAL signs in their yards are squealing the loudest because they failed to listen to people telling them the true cost of green energy.

I was curious about your comment, so I queried this information about costs in my state:

“In New Mexico, new solar power contracts can be significantly cheaper than new coal power, with some utility-scale solar projects costing as little as 4 cents per kWh, compared to new coal plants which have historically been much more expensive, though actual costs vary with fluctuating fuel prices. Utility-scale solar's Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) without subsidies can range from $0.038 to $0.078 per kWh, while new coal plants are often more expensive than these renewable costs.“

 

[NoTrespassing]

I was curious about your comment, so I queried this information about costs in my state:

“In New Mexico, new solar power contracts can be significantly cheaper than new coal power, with some utility-scale solar projects costing as little as 4 cents per kWh, compared to new coal plants which have historically been much more expensive, though actual costs vary with fluctuating fuel prices. Utility-scale solar's Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) without subsidies can range from $0.038 to $0.078 per kWh, while new coal plants are often more expensive than these renewable costs.“

Could this be a self-fulfilling prophecy? As regulations are enacted, mines are shuttered, prices rise, distances from sources increase, prices rise, plants are shuttered, prices increase, rinse and repeat...

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I was curious about your comment, so I queried this information about costs in my state:

“In New Mexico, new solar power contracts can be significantly cheaper than new coal power, with some utility-scale solar projects costing as little as 4 cents per kWh, compared to new coal plants which have historically been much more expensive, though actual costs vary with fluctuating fuel prices. Utility-scale solar's Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) without subsidies can range from $0.038 to $0.078 per kWh, while new coal plants are often more expensive than these renewable costs.“

You can find anything out there on the internet to backup/support any cause that there is, but the truth will be in the mailbox in your monthly power bill, the company I retired from did it due to pressure from the do-gooder's, mandated no more coal and went with a mix of customer owned solar and a 50 megawatt bio-mass plant to try and ease into it, within 2 years they went from being in the top 3 lowest cost providers in the state to the #1 highest cost municipal provider in the state of Florida.