Re: Electricity use and cost (my hubby works for a co-op)
Posted by: marli <marli@...>
I have read the posts about living without electricity and high electricity
costs with much interest. We are customers of our local electric co-op and
my hubby has been employed by them since 1983 except for a couple years when
he worked for an IOU (Investor Owned Utility). I'm no authority and may
have some incorrect understandings, but I will share what I've learned
during hubby's years as a lineman.
First, electricity costs vary in every location, I'm sure you know that
already. In areas where deregulation is occurring, costs and bills are
sky-rocketing such as in California. When you get your bill, you can look at
the number of KWH (kilowatt
hours) you use and the price per kilowatt hour. Ours used to be close to 12
cents a kilowatt...that added up to some BIG bills for us. Now, our co-op
has merged with others and a transmission and generating company and our
rates have decreased quite a bit. If you will watch the amount of kilowatts
you use, you will see the months when you've used a bunch or when you've
used less. Co-ops can't just raise your rate overnight, at least I don't
think so, but with ours, the amount we paid in the past was affected by how
much electricity was used by everyone on the co-op's system. For instance,
if the co-op sold lots of electricity as people were using air conditioners
all summer, then our bill would be lower than when fall came and air
conditioners weren't in use. Then, when people turned on electric heaters,
alot of electricity would be sold again and our bill might be less. On our
bills, this is shown by the "purchased power" part of our bill which has an
amount and a minus sign in the fee column.
Co-ops are usually cheaper than IOUs and since they are non-profit
organizations, the money goes back into the co-op or into dividend checks at
some point in the future. Dividend checks are then sent to consumers but may
be many years down the road.
An IOU takes any profit and pays investors. When profits are dropping, the
IOU will raise rates or drop employees or whatever they have to do to make a
profit for their investors. My husband has worked for both and prefers the
co-op system over an IOU.
Another thing is that certain appliances use a BUNCH of electricity, a bunch
of KWH. For instance, electric water heaters, electric dryers, electric
heating units (furnaces, baseboard heat, etc.) are usually high users of
electricity. When I use my dryer in the winter, our bill goes up $20 just
for the dryer. When we leave the mercury vapor light on outside at nights,
it adds about $15-20. Try to determine your high energy users and either
eliminate or replace or turn off as much as possible. Now, one word of
warning, you need to make sure any alternative or replacements are going to
be cheaper. In my house, I have natural gas so a natural gas dryer would be
cheaper than the electric one. We have a natural gas furnace and couldn't
afford to run an electric one at all. There are some total electric homes
around here and their bills average $250-300 a month. So compare the costs
with gas, propane or whatever alternatives are available to you.
Another point is that some co-ops, maybe all, have demand charges or a
demand rate structure. With that, if you are using a bunch of KWH all at
once, it pulls a demand on the system and you will get an extra charge for
doing that. Your co-op may add a demand charge if you exceed a certain
number of KWH or they may charge if you are using all your stuff during
prime usage time, daytime I think is prime time. You would need to check
with your provider and see if they have this and maybe you need to alter the
times you use electricity. We are not a rate plan that is affected by
time-of-use, but it can be beneficial in some cases.
Last, but not least, meter readers do make mistakes and some times you will
have a high bill and then next month have a lower bill. My husband was a
meter reader for a couple of years and he had times where he had to estimate
the bill because he couldn't get to the meter itself. Maybe the weather and
roads were bad, maybe there was a vicious dog in the yard. This isn't a
frequent occurrence, but it does happen. If you are convinced your meter was
mis-read or not read at all, you can call the co-op and they will usually
send someone to re-read the meter. Our co-op doesn't charge for that, but
check to make sure. Finally, the number of days in the cycle can affect your
bill as well. Our meters are usually read around the 8th of the month, but
if the reading occurs several days earlier or later, your total bill will be
higher or lower than usual.
Okay, has everyone enjoyed their lesson on electricity today? I will
try to have hubby read this post tonight and will share any clarifications
and corrections if I've been really wrong. And please remember that anyone
who belongs to a co-op is part owner of the co-op, it is consumer owned.
With an IOU, your electric company is owned by a group of investors who
probably live in another state! Don't be shy about calling and expressing
concerns when your bill is higher than normal. Most co-ops also have
employees who will come and conduct energy audits for you which will point
out your high electricity users and any problems which could increase your
bill.
Let me know if you have other questions and dh can field those. Blessings in
Him, Lisa