What's your electricity rate & tier structure?

[IVB]

I'm going to do some analysis and write up something about the electricity rates & tier structures around the country. Can I ask you guys to post your cost per Kwh, and if it's tiered, what that structure looks like?

 

[upstatemike]

I'm going to do some analysis and write up something about the electricity rates & tier structures around the country. Can I ask you guys to post your cost per Kwh, and if it's tiered, what that structure looks like?

I don't see anything about tiers on my bill. $16.21 basic service (not including usage) and then a bunch of line item production and delivery charges per kWh. The aggregate of these is .132883 per kWh and then there is an overall Tariff Surcharge of 2.04082%

Assuming I am reading this correctly.

 

[123]

http://www.hydroquebec.com/residential/facture/tarif_d.html

Fixed charge: 40.64 cents/day

First 30 kWh per day: 5.29 cents/kWh
Remaining consumption: 7.03 cents/kWh

Surcharge for exceeding 50 kWh per month (Dec 1 - Mar 31): $5.46

Example:
1000 kWh for March (31 days)

Fixed: 31 days x $0.4064 per day = $12.60
Base: 30 kWh/day * 31 days = 930 kWh, 930 kWh x $0.0529 cents/kWh = $49.20
Remaining: 1000 kWh - 930 kWh = 70 kWh, 70kWh x 0.0703 cents/kWh = $4.92
Surcharge for March: $5.46

Sub-Total: $72.18
GST(5%): $3.61
Sub-Total: $75.79
QST(7.5%): $5.68

Total: $81.47

Yeah, electricity may be cheap in Quebec but our sales taxes are not.

 

[roussell]

Alabama Power has three residential rate plans; FD, FDE and FDT:

FD "Family Dwelling", the typical plan most are on.

$8.91 Base charge plus:
June-September .070099/kWh for the first 1000kWh and .072628/kWh for usage over 1000 kWh
October-May .070099/kwh for the first 750kwh and .058099/kWh for usage over 750 kWh

FDE "Family Dwelling Efficient" A plan for energy efficient homes

$18.91 Base charge plus:
June-September .072627/kWh
October-May .043127/kWh

FDT "Family Dwelling Timed(?)" A plan for off-peak usage savings

$21.91 Base Charge plus:
June-September .178909/kWh between 12p and 7p M-F
.062109/kWh between 10a and 12p M-F
.030009/kWh all other times

October-May .062109/kWh between 7a and 9p M-F
.030009/kWh all other times

I am on the FD plan and interestingly enough, I can never get my calculations anywhere close to what my bill shows. As an example; for this month my bill shows 1254 kWh consumed and a charge for the FD plan of $128.57 (before taxes). Using their rate plan, my calculations come to $90.77. This holds true for every month that I check. I've yet to get a reasonable explanation as to why this is.

Using this month as an example again here's my numbers:

1254 kWh consumed
FD plan for this period: .070099/kWh for the first 750kwh and .058099/kWh for usage over 750 kWh

1254kWh - 750 kWh = 504kWh used over "split"

750kWh * 0.070099 = $52.58 <-- charge for usage under 750kWh
504kWh * 0.058099 = $29.29 <-- charge for usage over 750kWh
Base Charge = $08.91 <-- The Base Charge

When added together, that comes to $90.77, much less than the $128.57 that's on my bill. I've sat on hold numerous times waiting for somebody to explain this to me, but have yet to even hear an attempt at an explanation...

Terry

 

[politics123]

In the US, since (most) power companies are monopolies, they are regulated (eg: their tariffs are public information) You should be able to lookup any area you want. Anyway, in VA, we have a two tiered structure, with a "power" charge and a "distribution" charge. I believe you want the combination of both, but technically the power company claims that they only charge me "power" at a very low rate

 

[brotsten]

For our area of western Washington State.

 

[George West]

I'm going to do some analysis and write up something about the electricity rates & tier structures around the country. Can I ask you guys to post your cost per Kwh, and if it's tiered, what that structure looks like?

Hey Vivek,

Check out www.eia.doe.gov

There is a ton of information on average electric rates by state. I took a quick look and didn't see anything specific regarding rate tiers but there may be. There are also some cool charts on uses/sources of energy that are useful for the next time you're cornered by a green power bore at a cocktail party.

George "Why do your own research when a nameless bureaucrat will do it for you?" West
www.wtrs.net

 

[mimitche]

Norther Virginia- All Electric (No gas/propane)

 

[DeLicious]

in texas, we are unregulated, so we have many companies, but technically only one provider (txu). i'm with cirro energy, so make of this what you will (see attachment)

 

[ginigma]

Northern NJ (JCPL)
0.201353/KWh
No tiers, just tears when I get the bill.

 

[mbreeden]

From Buffalo, NY

Supply: 0.08411 x kWh
Delivery: 0.04019 x kWh
Delivery Adjustment: -0.00749 x kWh
SBC/RPS: 0.002263 x kWh
Transmission Rev Adj: -0.00053 x kWh
Tariff Surcharge: 2.04082%
Sales Tax: 4.75%

 

[brotsten]

Northern NJ (JCPL)
0.201353/KWh
No tiers, just tears when I get the bill. <_<

hehe, I don't blame you.

Brian

 

[RobWalker]

I just noticed on my latest bill that there is an adjustment for power loss in transmission of nearly 10%. ie. they take the metered usage and promptly increase it by 9.2% and then charge for that many kWH. I don't know how new this might be, I don't recall looking that closely before.

Seems like a great way for the politicans to put the effective price up without having to touch the headline rates.

Is this standard practice in other areas?

 

[WayneW]

I just noticed on my latest bill that there is an adjustment for power loss in transmission of nearly 10%. ie. they take the metered usage and promptly increase it by 9.2% and then charge for that many kWH.

Rob, I would love to know more about this. I am speculating that your area may actually be now charging for the "power factor". Power factor can be related to the difference between the amount of power that the utility sends you and the useful power you actually use. This includes losses in the transmission system to your house and includes things like motors that have a PF less than 1.0. Industrial/commercial users often have to install things to adjust their PF to avoid extra charges from their utility company, but I have never heard of this being done to residential users.

Or it could be a totally non-scientific up-charge, as you speculated. :unsure:

 

[RobWalker]

Rob, I would love to know more about this. I am speculating that your area may actually be now charging for the "power factor". Power factor can be related to the difference between the amount of power that the utility sends you and the useful power you actually use. This includes losses in the transmission system to your house and includes things like motors that have a PF less than 1.0. Industrial/commercial users often have to install things to adjust their PF to avoid extra charges from their utility company, but I have never heard of this being done to residential users.

Or it could be a totally non-scientific up-charge, as you speculated. :unsure:

Well, it looks like it applies uniformly across all customers of a certain type. From the Hydro One's web site:

Adjusted usage in kilowatt-hours is the amount of electricity you used in kWh adjusted to cover the line losses in the electricity system that are not measured by your meter. When electricity is transmitted over long distances and passes through wires and transformers, it’s normal for a small amount of power to be used or lost as heat. For example, if we deliver 1,000 kWh to you, we must purchase a small amount more than what you use. To determine the amount of electricity we need to buy for you, we use a calculation called an “adjustment factor.” The adjustment factor is approved by the Ontario Energy Board and varies according to your service type. For residential customers, the adjustment factor is 1.092.

Apparently they started applying this back in 2001.

I have another bill from an adjacent utility (Hydro Ottawa) for our church, and it uses an adjustment factor of 3.44% which is signficiantly different. If the factor is supposed to be scientifically based I don't see why it should either vary by utility or by customer class in this case.