ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Cost of power

You guys are scattered pretty well across the country from coast to coast, so:

What's the current cost per unit in your utility's area? How about monthly or quarterly standing charges?

in Vermont we are @ $.117 per kw hr, + $.37 a day for service charge + 1.87% energy efficenty charge. This is the 'normal' residential rate, however , there is a rate schedule including about 13 variations and an overabundance of ten dollar words i've yet to figure

In my end of the Mountain State (West Virginia) residential rate is about $.062 per KWH & small commercial/industrial is about $.072. I don't think there are many states in the US with a lower rate, so

[This message has been edited by Tom (edited 09-25-2001).]

Henry County REMC, Indiana. $.08 per kwh under 1000 per mo. $.06 per kwh for 1000+ per mo residential rates. Rates are same as they were in 1987.

In Omaha Ne we pay $0.07.5/KWH with a $5.15 mothly service fee. Rates have stayed the same for over 6 yrs.

Thanks. Electricity is one of the very few things here which hasn't soared in price in recent years; in fact there's been little change for 10 years or more.
Residential rates for Eastern Energy at the moment are: (£1=$1.50 approx.)
First 702 kW-hr per qtr. 6.51p, 9.8 cents
Over 702 units 6.26p, 9.4 cents
Night rate 2.78p, 4.2 cents
Service charge £9.88 per qtr, U.S. $14.82
Night rate is midnight-7am winter, 1am-8am summer. Anyone who doesn't want this "Economy 7" tariff pays the normal day rates 24 hours but gets a slightly lower service charge.
Other regions are slightly different, but there isn't a huge variation.

P.S. Nearly forgot: All plus 5% tax.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 09-26-2001).]

I can't find an electric bill right now but last I remember it was about 10 cent perKWH for the first 350 or so and 14 cents after that. (Residential rate in Southern California)
Pauluk,
I notice you have day and night rates. How do they meter that? There has been a campaign here for years that was rejuvenated with the "power crisis" this summer about using major appliances at night. They have a cleaver way of making people think it is going to save them money. I have to explain that yes it eases total system demand and the overall cost of producing power but it doesn't save you, the consumer, directly on your bill every month. The utility here has not installed the metering capability on homes to distinguish what time you use you peak power demand. Yes they have the capability, they just haven't gone through the expense to do it.

Nick:

Yes, the utilities have offered cheaper night rates here for many years. It's been common in homes with all-electric heating since the 1960s, and of course, helps the utility make better use of gen. capacity at night.

I don't ever remember seeing storage heaters while I was in America, but they're fairly common here. They "charge" the storage bricks on the night rate so that they radiate heat during the day.

The early systems were usually referred to as "White meter" tariff, because the Electricity Board (as it was then) installed a second meter which was (surprise, surprise) white instead of the regular brown/black. There was also a sealed timeswitch providing switched power to an auxiliary distribution panel to which the heaters were wired.

The "Economy 7" system now in use has a single dual-tariff meter (i.e. two sets of dials) and the changeover switches the whole house to low rate at night. They still provide a separate switched feed so that storage heaters will come on only during low rate.

The mechanical timeswitches have largely been replaced with remote operated "Radio teleswitches" now.