How are you billed for non-residential electricity?

[3930dave]

The owner of a long established engine shop not far from me almost puked when the utility Co told him what they wanted to upgrade his service for a new piece of equipment he wanted to run.

He said No Thanks. Bought an appropriate diesel generator. Done.

:2cents:

Rgds, D.

 

[dnw64]

Here in Vermont, not only does a commercial account pay a higher monthly "service charge" ($85 just to have an account in our case, versus $13 for our home), but we pay a "demand charge" as well.

Our KwHr rate is not so bad, $0.11 for the first 8-9k KwHr* and then $0.09 for additional. BUT we also pay $17 for every KW, calculated at the Peak Demand**. Reviewing our last bill, we paid $1160 for Usage and $1630 for Demand.

*The levels vary on usage and demand.

** Say you only have the lights on all month, at 1 KW. But for 15 minutes every month you fire up The Monster [whatever] that draws 200 KW. You wpuld pay $3400 extra just for the privilege of being able to do so.

 

[strantor]

Same here my barn is billed as commercial and at a higher rate .Last month 75kwh was $41 at the barn, and at my house 1780 was $199. I haven't checked about running power from the house , since it is over 800'.

Do you know what the per kWH rate is on your barn and what percentage of the bill is the fixed part?


Check out these 3 excerpts from my last 3 bills. I don't know if the TDU charge is relatively fixed or also based on usage, because all my previous bills have been almost exactly the same. You can see that the part which exploded is the TDU charge. The per kWH charge stayed the same. I used double the kWH last month because I was running a heater, and they changed my billing structure in the same month, so with two variables changed I can't establish a trend. I don't know what to expect, if I bring my usage down by half next month if that $109 will stay $109 or if it will go down to $54.

 

[strantor]

Here in Vermont, not only does a commercial account pay a higher monthly "service charge" ($85 just to have an account in our case, versus $13 for our home), but we pay a "demand charge" as well.

Our KwHr rate is not so bad, $0.11 for the first 8-9k KwHr* and then $0.09 for additional. BUT we also pay $17 for every KW, calculated at the Peak Demand**. Reviewing our last bill, we paid $1160 for Usage and $1630 for Demand.

*The levels vary on usage and demand.

** Say you only have the lights on all month, at 1 KW. But for 15 minutes every month you fire up The Monster [whatever] that draws 200 KW. You wpuld pay $3400 extra just for the privilege of being able to do so.

Holy cow! If they are going to start charging me like that, they had better start sending me a much more detailed bill. What you see in my previous screenshot is the extent of the details they provide. If they're going to penalize me in the way you describe, I have to know what level of power draw constitutes "peak demand."

 

[Jchonline]

I'll try to keep the story short... I had a 30'x30' workshop built on the lot next to my house. It is 60ft from a transformer pole so I opted to install a meter can on it and let the power company worry about getting power to it because to feed it from my house service would require 400ft worth trenching and burying 4/0 cable.

It was 6 months ago I had power put to it and my bills have been about $45/mo. $30 of that has been usage and the other $15 has been TDU charges. This month's bill reflected the same amount of usage charge, but TDU charges went up to $109.

I called my provider (TXU Energy) to ask what was up and they said that the TDU (Centerpoint) reclassified my account from a residential account to a business account. I had to get someone from centerpoint to come inspect and verify there was no business operating at the address. The tech who came agreed that what had happened was silly and would be resolved.

I called just now to follow up and was told that the tech had gone out and verified that it was a business. After much back and forth and mixing of ambiguous terms, apparently they don't (or won't in my case) make any distinction between a "non-residential" installation and a "commercial" installation. Because my building doesn't have a bathroom and a kitchen, I must now pay 3x for electricity.

My question is: is this normal? Has anyone here had similar problems/experience? If so, how did you navigate the issue? If you have a 2nd meter for an uninhabited building, how is it billed? As a business or what? Should I shove a toilet, camp stove, and a cot in there and call it a residence?

My parents are outside Athens, TX, east of Dallas. There, they have a barn WITH an apartment in it, and they still have to pay business prices. Any structure that has another meter gets business prices there.

You probably should have run that 400 ft of line and put in a sub panel.

 

[strantor]

My parents are outside Athens, TX, east of Dallas. There, they have a barn WITH an apartment in it, and they still have to pay business prices. Any structure that has another meter gets business prices there.

You probably should have run that 400 ft of line and put in a sub panel.

The properties that the barn and house are on, are separate properties. Taxed separately, different addresses. It's not a 2nd meter on the same property. The only thing they have in common is the owner (me). If I'm the piece of their convoluted puzzle that qualifies this as a justifiable rape, then I'll remove myself from the equation and put the workshop lot in my wife's name. But I don't see how I could be the cause. What if I owned a vacation house down the road near the ocean? Or a rent house in town? Does owning two houses automatically qualify me for a beatdown?

Sorry, I'm sure my frustration is showing and it's not directed at you; I hope it doesn't seem that way.

I may yet run that 400ft trench. I wonder if I'll be billed the $200 early termination fee that I agreed to in writing, or if they'll go ahead and violate me with a hot poker to the tune of 10x that amount since I'm incontestably a commercial business.

And on that note, so what if I was a business? What if I was a retired man on a fixed income and I used that shop for woodworking, turning pens and making hand-carved plaques for sale at the county fair via an LLC which operates at a net loss and I'm barely able to feed my cat? Does the mere fact that I'm engaged in an entrepreneurial venture earn me the ravaging of an electrical distribution monopoly? What about being a business makes it cost more for anyone but me? Unless I'm demanding 3 phase power and consuming megawatts of it at a bad power factor I don't understand the distinction. I mean, my shop, whether used for business purposes or not, draws less power from the grid than probably any/every residential home on this road.

 

[Aquamoose]

When I had my shop built, I inquired with the electrical company about putting a second meter for running my business out of there. Electrician came out, assessed it all, and just shook his head and told me to just run a sub panel so I went along with his suggestion. My accountant said it was smart to do because I can have the business pay for electrical for BOTH residential & business since it cannot be accurately calculated. Same goes for internet, gas, & trash.

 

[CADplans]

Holy cow! If they are going to start charging me like that, they had better start sending me a much more detailed bill. What you see in my previous screenshot is the extent of the details they provide. If they're going to penalize me in the way you describe, I have to know what level of power draw constitutes "peak demand."

Back in 1985, I purchased a vacuum furnace for the company I worked for,,, the electric furnace could heat over a ton of steel to 1,600 degrees F in under an hour,,
Well,, when it arrived, we ran a few test loads,,, then the first "production load",,,
The next day, the facilities engineer came to my desk like a mad man,,,
It seems, the furnace, due to "peak demand" had doubled the electric bill for the business that month,,
This was a business with 2,400 employees,, and a LOT of other machinery,,,

After that,, the furnace could only be powered up certain hours of the day,,, :confused2:

 

[Oldoak]

After that,, the furnace could only be powered up certain hours of the day,,,

That's understandable.

A major steel casting company in Wisconsin which uses electric smelters could only operate them on the electric utility's designated "off Peak" hours. They manufacture gear boxes for heavy industry such as mining and ship building.

 

[skipperbrown]

I would make an appt with a billing manager at the utility and discuss your issues with her. Commercial accounts have always been charged more than residential and subsidize residential users so the utility can claim friendly rates for growing their residential base. I think you should figure the break even point on your early cancellation fee and dig an appropriate ditch from you home and hook up your shop to your residential account. I wouldn't change the deed as that will require a bunch more fees. If you sell the shop property, just disclosure the buyer will be responsible for a new hookup. Should be easy for the buyer as the wiring is already in place. Nothing like a monopoly ripping off a customer who has no other place to go for service. And maybe there is a clause in your contract that says you can cancel if your rates jumps x percentage without proper notification.?.?