With crude prices as low as they now and heating oil/gasoline prices much less than they were last year, can we poor schlubs here in the Northeast have any hope that our electric rates will similarly decrease?
We're paying a residential rate of about 12 cents/kwh now.
Jeff
I should have clarified that the 12 cents/kwh is the "generation rate" we also pay about 6 cents/kwh for various "distribution" charges.
So, I payed about 18 cents/kwh last month.
I wouldn't expect the distribution charges to much affected by crude prices though.
Jeff
I doubt if very much of your power is generated using oil or gasoline. A bit more using gas, maybe, but still not much.
Certainly.
If your electric company uses oil to drive their generation plants, a 50% reduction in generation costs is not unreasonable. If they use coal, the coal had to get their on freight trains that burn diesel, so a similar saving should be in the offing. Natural gas rates should decline somewhat as those with the option to use oil or gas make the economical choice.
Yes, you can expect big savings in your electric bill pretty soon.
Or maybe not.
Jeff, I'm surprised - we have 6 cents / kWh generation rate and my bill w/ ca. 600kWh usage is like $ 60; I know CA has ridiculously high electricity rates but I didn't realize NE has them so high, too... Our hose has gas heating ( also water and cooking is ng) and we expect our bill to run lower this winter; electricity usage in our household is marginal during nonsummer months... p.s. We live in NE Ohio ( Akron/Youngstown area)
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote: ...
Comparison in general...
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While the price of Crude has an indirect relationship to other forms of energy, that relationship does not have a proportionate effect on the prices of those commodities. When oil prices go up, other energy form prices will usually go up as well but not always. The same is true when they come down. The issue of supply and demand will be the real determining factor. The recessionary pressures combined with lowering of demand are forcing the decline in oil prices right now. That may not be the case with electric and natural gas prices although natural gas prices are about 1/2 of what they were this summer. Let the demand increase due to winter temperatures and the natural gas and electric rates could both increase even while crude prices are declining.
Depends on your utilities generation mix and how much you're paying in adjustable fuel surcharges as opposed to base rates.
The fraction of the adjustable rate that is owing to oil will come down some depending on where they are wrt long term contract expirations, etc. IOW, I wouldn't expect a really large effect.
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GAWD, but you sounded just like a politician! Maybe Yes, Maybe No, but a definate MAYBE!
That chart is wrong Chicago and NW indiana pay about 0.13 kwh and more.
0.12 kwh it hasnt been .12 here in the midwest for maybe 6 years, you are lucky. Its over 0.13 now. Rate increases take time to be allowed through, dont plan on it going down.
Yes, and as I ammended to my original post that 12 cents/kwh is just the "generation rate". I took a closer look at my last bill on-line just now and the 1844 kwh I consumed last month cost me 18.7 cents/kwh. Looking at my previous consumptions I peaked at 4855 kwh consumed last January.
But, I have a pretty large "all electric" home with two heat pumps running two zones of heating and AC. Course the heat pumps don't contribute a helluva lot of heat at times like last night when the outside temp was below 20 F, but that's when electric blankets come in handy. Our family business' office also uses heat pumps.
Thank G_d the heating oil prices have dropped to about 80% of what they were this time last year. Heating oil prices wer up over $3.50/gal a couple of months ago and I didn't know how a lot of folks could make it through the winter.
One of my Rotary Club buddies is the Sales Manager for a local fuel oil delivery company and last week he told me that he knew that some elderly folks with old large oil heated houses who were living on fixed incomes were dropping the heat in their homes as low as they could safely go without risking pipes freezing and spending many a full day sitting around on the couches at a nearby shopping malls reading books, chatting with their contemporaries and "people watching".
Jeff
Complete Wilde Donkey Guess:
Utility companies that generate electricity using oil (or coal) fired steam boilers will usually sign long term futures contracts for energy supplies like oil (or coal.) I suspect that the #2 oil being used during December 2008 and January 2009 was contracted for back in August or September; a 90 day lead time delivery contract.
Just like the electricity generated back in June and July (when gasoline was over $4.25 a gallon) was probably purchased at the price of June minus 90 days price (March '08 ?) Not that I am claiming your utility company gave you any break last summer during A/C season, because I doubt that.
You probably won't see any benefit of the current drop in Wall Street futures contracts for oil until sometime in the Spring of 2009. That is provided, naturally, your Utility company is not going to claim some sort of price equalization from the price squeeze from last summer.
From the link above^ Electricity Consumption. Total electricity consumption during 2008 is projected to be flat at about 2007 levels, as slight growth in the commercial and industrial sectors is balanced by decline in the residential sector, primarily as a result of milder summer temperatures (U.S. Total Electricity Consumption). Total electricity consumption is expected to decline in 2009 due to the slow growth in new housing construction and reduced demand in the industrial sector.
Prices. Spot prices for power generation fuels continue to decline from their peak summer levels. Residential electricity prices are expected to rise by 6 percent this year and by 5 percent in 2009
ransley wrote: ...
As noted, the data are statewide averages, not necessarily any given location/utility.
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Also, I haven't looked in depth, wouldn't be surprising if they don't include all surcharges, etc., just base rates. What it is useful for is a general comparison of regions.
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My electricity rates have not gone up much when oil prices rose meteorically, so I doubt they will fall from falling oil prices.
My most recent electric bill (PECO, Philadelphia suburbs) amounted to
14.62 cents per KWH. I remember paying around 11-12 cents per KWH at the end of 1989.PECO is "warning" (my words) in recent radio ads that their rates have been capped, and will be uncapped in January 2010 (IIRC).
- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)
It did not spike up with the increase in oil prices so I'm not expecting a decrease.
Natural gas ain't crude oil. Most generation in the northeast is natural gas.
FPL (Florida) is dropping the rate because fuel is cheaper.
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