price per kw

homerramirez · April 2009

Hi guys, I started to monitor my kw/hr. price and usage back on 1/09, for January was .12 cts. per kw, Feb. .15cts., March .18cts. per kw....since we are alternating our solar panels with the grid ( which is a cooperative and we can not use another
power co. to get a better rate), am I been over charged by the cooperative?...
what's the fair price for KW on todays market?.....my wife belive that is because we have reduced our grid consumption from 1600 kw/month to 290kw/month and we still bringing it down this month to 180kw/month.....

is the .18cts. per kw fair?......what's the price in your area?.....I expect the price to go up for the Apr. month.......are we been punished by the cooperative?....what do yo guys think?

Thanks for any reply.

Solar Guppy · April 2009

Re: price per kw

How are you coming up with the kWh price? dividing the usage by the bill total?

Your coop might charge for example a base charge for the delivery and line maintenance and separate for actual consumption .. so as you use less energy the kHr amount increases

Also, the Coop probably pays varying rates for fuel or market price for the energy it buys. For the best answer, call your Coop and ask

TnAndy · April 2009

Re: price per kw

Solar Guppy wrote: »

How are you coming up with the kWh price? dividing the usage by the bill total?

Your coop might charge for example a base charge for the delivery and line maintenance and separate for actual consumption .. so as you use less energy the kHr amount increases

Also, the Coop probably pays varying rates for fuel or market price for the energy it buys. For the best answer, call your Coop and ask

My guess is that is EXACTLY what is going on. Until a few years ago, our local power distributor didn't break the bill out as to "base" charge and " engergy" charge......it was all lumped together. Now they do, so you only divide your energy charge by the number of KwHrs if you want to know 'how much per hour' for JUST the actual electricity.

And as Solar Guppy points out, since the "base" amount is fixed charge, and what you control is the usage, as you use less, the TOTAL bill per KwHr will go up, per KwHr......

n3qik · April 2009

Re: price per kw

Alot of the small Co-ops here in PA are seeing 20-60% increases in the wholesale cost that they bid for. This is due to PA's electric deregulation.
I have PECO power and the will deregulate in 2010, they est. cost will go up by 30%.

Here is what I currently pay:
Customer Charge...............$ 5.18/month
Generation Charge.............$ .0660/kwh
Transmission Charge..........$ .0055/kwh
Distribution Charge............$ .0481/kwh
Transition Charge...............$ .292/kwh
Total = $ 5.18 + $ .1488/kwh

homerramirez · April 2009

Re: price per kw

Yes , solar guppy, I divided the total amount of the bill by the used kw., if they increase the price per kw as I cut down on usage, that is totally unfair, it is ok to charge a fix fee for having the service on but penalize for saving energy it does not reflect our congressman commitment to protect those who try to save energy.

Thanks guys, Ken , .14cts. per kw is not bad at all....;)

BB. · April 2009

Re: price per kw

homerramirez

I given up trying to worry about fairness...

In most places--if you purchase in volume, you get lower per unit pricing.

Or, you can go to California where the more you use, the more you pay:

[FONT=Fixedsys]Total Energy Rates ($ per kWh)  PEAK  OFF-PEAK 
  Summer     
   Baseline Usage              $0.29741   (R)  $0.08741   (R) 
      101% - 130% of Baseline  $0.29741   (R)  $0.08741   (R) 
      131% - 200% of Baseline  $0.42629   (I)  $0.21629   (I) 
      201% - 300% of Baseline  $0.54543   (I)  $0.33544   (I) 
      Over 300% of Baseline    $0.60786   (I)  $0.39787   (I) 
  Winter    
   Baseline Usage              $0.11589   (R)    $0.09048   (R) 
      101% - 130% of Baseline  $0.11589   (R)    $0.09048   (R) 
      131% - 200% of Baseline  $0.24477   (I)    $0.21936   (I) 
      201% - 300% of Baseline  $0.36391   (I)    $0.33850   (I) 
      Over 300% of Baseline    $0.42634   (I)    $0.40093   (I) [/FONT]

Baseline is ~300 kWhrs per month... So, depending on season, time of day, and how much power per month I use (E-7 Time of Use plan); my $/kWhr ranges from $0.08 to $0.60 per kWhr...

Around here, most homes probably are around 600-1,000 kWhrs per month (with natural gas for cooking/heating). The E-1 flat rate (most homes are probably flat rate):

[FONT=Fixedsys]Total Energy Rates ($ per kWh)     
 Baseline Usage             $0.11531  (R)   
  101% - 130% of Baseline   $0.13109  (R)   
  131% - 200% of Baseline   $0.25974  (I)   
  201% - 300% of Baseline   $0.37866  (I)   
  Over 300% of Baseline     $0.44098  (I)   [/FONT]

Roughly, 1/2 of the price is the cost of generation, most of the rest is cost of distribution. And the rest ~$0.01 for transmission lines; ~$0.02 misc. fees, taxes, government add-on's.

One thing you might look into--in California 1/2 of the cost of power, and the other 1/2 is the cost of getting the power to your home. It is possible, that you may reduce your "reservation charges" (what they are called in California--for commercial power, something like your top 15 minute kWatt power peak) because you have reduced your total usage by almost a factor of 10--which could put you into a lower peak power category (if your utility even has such tiered billing available).

You might also some of the research "anonymously"--as they could up your base charge because you are using so little power (say you are in the "middle of nowhere"--they may want "more money" to supply your outling location)...

What has me more impressed is your reduction from 1,600 kWhrs per month to 180kWhrs per month.

Your secrets?

-Bill

homerramirez · April 2009

Re: price per kw

Well, B.B. , I learned from you, conservation and some more small sacrifices,
my wife do the laundry on sunny weekends, hot water heater is on only one hr. per day( we have a timer just in case we forget to turn it off) fridge stays on when we leave to work on solar, grid at night, it might sound silly but we have the coleman flourecent 12v camping light on all night long on kids bathroom so we do not have to leave the inverter on when we go to bed, the second flourecent lamp is on master bathroom running when needed from 2-12v used wet cell batteries, no grid power on any of the bathrooms, flourecent ligths on the livingroom and kitchen , all tv's (4) dvd, stereos on solar and off from power strip when not in use, cook stove is propane,small generator to recharge battery bank if no sun, a very pacient wife and more energy smart kids ( still on training

), my son recording and doing the usage (every other day) calculation

no secrets, just following what you been teaching to all members and guests...

Thanks again B.B. for sharing your knoledge as well to all members that contribute to this forum.

,

P.S. I think that we can improve once I finish 2 solar wather heater panels.

BB. · April 2009

Re: price per kw

HR,

Well thank you.

But you and your wife+kids did the hard work. :cool:

-Bill

price per kw

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