real cost of electricity

r.man · February 25, 2016, 10:37:34 PM

I am interested in the real cost of electricity in different areas if members would not mind sharing. I live in rural central Ontario and my latest bill had an real KWH cost of 26 cents per. I calculate the real cost by taking the total bill dollar amount without credits or carry over from a previous month and divide that by the total number of KWHs used in that billing period. This is not to be confused with the listed KWH cost which does not include the extras such as delivery cost or taxes. I use this amount to estimate the cost of running a particular device for a known time. We have time of use rates for our electricity so that part of the bill varies but I find it averages out so I don't worry about it.

scgargoyle · February 26, 2016, 06:17:16 AM

Here in SC, we are on a co-op. The rate varies because of a set monthly fee of $26, which is as much as 1/3 of our total bill! The so-called rate is $0.116 per KW, but if turned everything off, with the monthly fee, the rate goes up to 'infinity'. Really ticks me off after going to a lot of trouble to build a very energy efficient home, all LED lighting, etc. If I had the $300 power bill I had in FL, I wouldn't even notice the monthly fee.

sandsawmill14 · February 26, 2016, 06:56:51 AM

mine didnt show price per kw and i didnt reach the minimum last month so i cant even figure the cost per kwh unless i can find an older bill :-\

r.man · February 26, 2016, 07:59:39 AM

I need to clarify, I don't want the listed price per KWH since it doesn't normally include extras like a delivery fee or taxes or any other number of things the companies throw in. Ours used to have a " debt reduction charge ". They get inventive. I just want to know what the amount owing divided by the KWHs used is to get an accurate price per KWH of the electricity. If you have a minimum that kicks in it won't compute and I expect there are others that pay flat rates so that doesn't apply either.

WV Sawmiller · February 26, 2016, 08:35:40 AM

Don't remember the rate but PSC has forced the electric companies to read the meter every month here in WV instead of allowing estimated readings. Found their estimates were way out of whack consistently on the high end, and they were using our money without paying for it. Same situation is likely to happen with the natural gas. When they estimate my bill it is always at least double what the actual usage turns out to be when they next read the meter.

woodsdog2015 · February 26, 2016, 02:30:33 PM

I'm glad someone asked this question as I was going to post the savings that my woodburner has provided to me and my family this year. We are lucky in that our municipality has its own electric utility; therefore we have very competitive rates. For example, our residential per kwh rate is .035 cents per kilowatt hour used. As a means of comparison, a private electric provider like National Grid charges around .14 to .17 cents per kwh. So residential customers in our community pay anwhere from $10.5 to $13.5 cents per kwh less then someone in a neighboring community dependent on a private electric power provider. We do not generate yet; however when our muni first went to electric power provisions in 1892 they did generate. We are considering getting back into generation at some point because what kills people and why I went from a full electric house to a wood burner is that we have an allotment granted to our community. If we go over that allotment in the winter months because of demand, we pay a premium for the incremental power over our allotment as that typically is power provided through nuclear power plants but not necessarily. We have the benefit of the Niagara Falls Hydroelectric power plant providing most of our power. Anyway, to cut to the chase and the reason why I'm a dedicated woodcutter now is because my bill last year dating 1/22/15 was $466 for one month. In the summer my bills are usually around $73. This year because of wood heat, my bill ending 1/22/16 was $166. Last year my bill ending 2/19/15 was over $800!!!! This year due to my woodburner and the warmer climate, my bill this month is $153. I think I will have paid for my woodstove fireplace insert in two years or less!!!!

woodsdog2015 · February 26, 2016, 02:32:48 PM

I forgot to mention that my home is just under 3000 sq. feet.

woodsdog2015 · February 26, 2016, 02:40:29 PM

I know you have to adjust for the exchange but .26 cents per kwh is just getting hosed! I can't believe you guys pay that much!!!! Wow. Even when our bills were the highest in february of 2014, our rate including the incremental rate was .035 cents plus the incremental of an additional .026 cents so a total of 6.1 cents per kwh comparied to your 26 cents per kwh... wow. I know downstate in the "Capital District" of New York they had prices reaching close to that I heard. We were "scared" that our allotment was going to reach the max of $9.2 cents per kwh.

AfraidChocker · February 26, 2016, 04:00:55 PM

Everyone has to brace themselves because the power grid no matter where you live is currently in a death spiral, and I am not a doomsday sort of guy.

The reason for this is actually logical. The cost of supplying electricity is going up. Materials and labor (and if you are in a deregulated power state, the cost of electrical generation too) being the most expensive aspects, so just bringing electricity to your house is costing more money than it did. Common sense...But as some people have noted on here, they are buying more efficient appliances, light bulbs, investing in alternative energy, etc. So the consumption of electricity is actually going down.

This presents a huge problem because the way the electrical companies bill is based on a consumption rate...KWH. So the electric companies are are going to the Public Utility Commissions and basically asking for increased rates, but this added cost makes consumers all the more eager to go out and buy more energy efficient appliances, light bulbs etc. Thus less consumption, less money for the electric companies so they must ask for rate hikes again.

That is the death spiral. That cannot continue.

Already in Maine there is talk about going to a flat fee. That is no matter how much consumption there is, you pay a flat fee. If you don't think this is possible, consider the landline phone. Remember paying for "toll calls" years ago? Well that is the idea now. The problem with that is, the flat rate will still be controlled by the Public Utilities Commission so really there is not much hope in that.

Really THE ONLY WAY TO BEAT THE SYSTEM IS TO BE OFF GRID COMPLETELY, but is that really going to happen for the majority of us? Probably not.

There really is no really good new here and I don't have the answers, but I am not so sure a lot of people realize the situation "the Grid" is in. It is not a doomsday scenario, it is in a death spiral and people are desperately trying to figure out the best answers to providing cheap electricity. The problem is, producing electricity for ourselves is not any cheaper then obtaining it from the grid.

pabst79 · February 26, 2016, 05:34:24 PM

Last month I used 1604 kw at a billed rate of .113 and the bill was 226.00 for a real kw cost of .14089 cents, when we built in 2008 we paid about .10 real cost, quite an increase in 8 years.

Larry · February 26, 2016, 07:21:58 PM

Our real cost including all charges and taxes is .076/KWH. Where on the cheaper winter rate at present. Summer rates would be a penny higher. Coop company and they are asking for a 4 percent rate increase at present.

We are on a sliding scale and the more we use the cheaper it gets per KWH.

Dave Shepard · February 26, 2016, 07:33:43 PM

November or December of 2014, my real cost went from about $0.125, to $0.24 the first month I had my OWB running. This was due to en expected increase in energy costs. There was apparently a lot of complaining, as energy actually went down. My bill last December was back to around $0.13. I am about $75 per month running two circulators constantly, and one intermittently, plus all the clothes dryer and other household demands. Most of it is the OWB pumps, as even with the AC running I rarely go over about $33 a month.

thecfarm · February 26, 2016, 09:14:23 PM

33 a month.

That is cheap and I do mean cheap. I paid that more than 30 years in my other house a month. We had to work at it to keep it that low,but we could do it. And that was with an electric water heater too. I was on town water,so had no water pump.

scgargoyle · February 27, 2016, 06:22:36 AM

The other thing that's going to push the death spiral of power companies is the dropping price of solar. It's already a break-even in many areas. The problem for the power company is that people stay connected to the grid so that they have power when the sun isn't shining, but during the day, they have to 'buy' back the excess that solar generates. They have to maintain the grid for an ever-diminishing return. Something has to give.

The only draw-back to solar for the consumer is that it's difficult and expensive to store your own power, as battery efficiency still isn't where it needs to be to be worthwhile.

sprucebunny · February 27, 2016, 06:34:02 AM

14 cents/KWH

It says $.065599/KWH and then you add in the delivery charge etc..

New Hampshire has been in a turmoil for a few years about a company that wants to build a powerline down the west side of the state to sell electricity from Quebec to Mass. and beyond.

AfraidChocker · February 27, 2016, 07:36:44 AM

Maine is in the same boat. We have super high electric rates, not because of our consumption, but what it is worth to Boston, Providence, Hartford and New York City. It used to be our biggest export was forest products, but now it is electricity. We actually produce far more electricity than we consume so it is an export, just an unconventional one. With New Brunswick putting a nuclear power plant online, they knew their market would be in those cities I listed earlier and that is exactly where it is going.

Maine had the opportunity to join the New Brunswick Power Grid which costs around 7 cents a KWH (at least then it did), but our Public Utilities Commission voted it down...it is a board of 3 appointed people. Just after the vote, one member quit and joined a major wind power generation company. The Attorneys General office got involved regarding conflict of interest on the issue, but ultimately dropped the charges. In the end we were stuck paying 26 cents a KWH...the highest state in the nation for the vote of 3 people!

But it gets worse. One of major Legislators was also Chairman of the Board on that same wind mill company, but when he ran for Legislature he knew he would have to give it up, so he put his son in his place. And guess who was one of the legislatures that cast their vote against the Keystone Pipeline...none other than our Legislature Angus King. Convenient!

Instead we financed the building of high transmission lines through our state under the promise of high paying jobs. The power now flows from the border of Maine/New Brunswick down into Boston, Providence, Hartford and New York City. And all the jobs we were promised? They hired out of state utility companies to build the power lines, so other than some minor injections into our economy, we did not get much from it.

I say "not much" because it did help the forest products industry here. The need was so great for crane mats that it really pushed up the price of hardwood logs and pulp. It was enough for me to harvest some of our bigger hardwoods and I have not done that in twenty years. Still a few high paying loads of wood pale in comparison to what is spent on my electricity per month.

Sad, sad, sad...

OntarioAl · February 27, 2016, 09:22:25 AM

r aman
I know what information you require and I will get out my last bill and post a breakdown here on the forum.
In my rural area served by Hydro-One we are not on peak use hours just a basic rate up to 1000kw hrs and a slightly higher rate for energy use over that.
The scoundrels get you with the deliver charges which are greater than the energy charge plus a few other charges and the ever present HST (Harmonized Sales Tax)
Incidentally our Provincial Government has decided without a mandate from the electorate to sell off part of the Public Utility. So the future looks with grim higher delivery charges and a reduction in service.
Al

OntarioAl · February 27, 2016, 12:50:08 PM

r man
Last billing was $369.06, energy used 1656 KwHrs.
Works out to .2228 cents per KwHr
Base rate up to 1000Kw 9.9 cents
Extra power 11.6 cents .
I have a smart meter out on the yard pole but for some reason they still manually read the meter twice a year (Feb and October)
Al

Ljohnsaw · February 27, 2016, 02:13:53 PM

I am currently on a tiered structure. "Baseline" is some fictitious amount that someone can live within. It changes between winter and summer. In my case, winter is higher - but makes no sense. I'm gas heat, gas hot water, electric oven and cooktop (and a pool). Pool is solar heat.

Baseline rate is about $0.11 and the tiers go up to $0.47. Before replacing my three pool pumps with one variable speed, my "all in" rate in the summer was $0.288 and winter was $0.15 - $0.16. Now I have a small solar installation (4.6kw DC) and my "all-in" summer rate has been as low at $0.136 and my winter is around $0.17 (less sun, more lighting load). I have converted all my lighting (most used) to LED.

The power company is being "proactive". They see the writing on the wall and are actively restructuring the rate schedules. Where we had 5 tiers, we are heading to 3 this year and 1 by 2019 (bumping up the rates dramatically) - all time-of-use. They say you can save a lot by not running your pool pump during the day. Ha! I have solar heat, it don't work so well at night!!! However, my summer PV generation is in excess of my pool load. I have A/C but don't run it - that's why we have a pool! ;) Now, if they would only give me credit for my excess generation at TOU rates!!! Right now, IF my yearly generation exceeds my usage (which is does not even come close), I would get credited a whopping $0.03/kwh. Some solar companies convince people to over-build their systems. Make no financial sense (to the homeowner). However, in the near future with the falling price of solar, I can see adding more capacity and possibly battery storage as that gets more efficient and less costly.

21incher · February 27, 2016, 06:23:34 PM

Just got my latest bill and it divided out to .1212 per kw in central NY. Seems like the cost went down since the price of fuel has dropped.

Stuart Caruk · February 27, 2016, 08:42:44 PM

On my property I have a couple buildings. My original one with all my CNC equipment uses simple metering and costs 8.16 cents / Kwh. Last month I used 8360 Kwh at a cost of 682.18. Add in the delivery charges and the total was $684.23.

My wifes shop has a demand service and she used 2600 Kwh @7.7 cents / Kwh. Add in the basic service charges though bumps her up to $225.20.

Now in Roatan Honduras where we are working on a Compressed Air Energy Storage solution, all the power is made by burning diesel currently. Electricity rates are down to around 65 cents per Kwh from over 83 cents / Kwh with the reduced cost of fuel. It's the first place I've seen where solar actually makes sense. The CAES solution will economically allow us to bank large amounts of energy fro when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow. Having super deep water just offshore is the key to making it work cheaply.

isawlogs · February 28, 2016, 08:28:48 AM

My last bill was :

energy consumed 5768 Kwh
Total cost before taxes 466,46$
Taxes.... >:( Fed 5% 23,32$
Taxes ... >:( Prov 9,975% 46,53

0,0808$/Kwh total with taxes

Jhenderson · February 28, 2016, 04:21:33 PM

My total cost is 18.5 cents per kWh. That's using 461 kWhs.

Don_Papenburg · February 28, 2016, 11:59:08 PM

My Jan bill $165.58 total kWh 1191, kW 7.74 Elect Supply Services $77.14
Delivery Services - ComED $78.89 Taxes and other$9.55 I came up with a cost of $o.139026

Mooseherder · March 12, 2016, 05:15:58 PM

My Florida Feb. 2016 bill total cost per with taxes and charges .11 each kwh
It was a great month with the lowest statement we will get all year. FPL service here and our bill has been going down ever since they converted our meter over to digital a couple years ago. I think we had a bad meter for a very long time the first 20 years we were here. Maybe I got a bad meter now but I'm not gonna complain to them about it but it's significantly lower each month than before.