But how much do you really pay per KwH? My bill [Niagra Mohawk, in NY] ends up with several charges beyond the KwH which kicks it from
6.1 cents to 12.7 cents. [ 4 cents for delivery, 2 cents surcharge, .2 cents for 'delivery adjustment', .4 cents "Trans Rev Adj", and then a 4% tax & a .35 cent 'tariff surcharge, but those aren't the utility's fault.] My 'basic service is $14.92.
Last I looked Niagara Mohawk was still a bargain compared to the other big 3 electric companies in NY-- but if your costs stay where you state them, your part of the world has much cheaper power.
Electric prices are very local. In addition the price structures are all different. Some have time of day adjustments, or peak penalties etc. Since the source of electricity is not the same if you live near a large efficient hydro-electric source and you try to compare that to the cost of someone paying the huge expense of an atomic plant it is very difficult to make any meaningful conclusions.
wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...
Lower than ours and we live in a province of Canada where we produce hydro! However our population is small in comparison to the area and the distances that power has to be transmitted; also our communities are somewhat separated and in some cases remote from main centres. Weather conditions here can be considered, at times, severe, also adding to the costs of transmission line construction and repairs. On average our electricity costs a little over 8 cents per kilowatt hour. That is taking ALL charges into consideration and dividing by the number of kilowatts used, during any given month. Our monthly 'per account' charge (even if no electricity is used at all) is around $16. In addition all the power utility cost are subject to a 15% government sales tax! We do get a slight discount, roughly 1% for paying on time. Service is good and the Hydro generating utility that 'makes' the power and the distribution company do a good job. These costs are in Canadian dollars. Expressing that in US currency the 'overall' average total cost per kilowatt hour, including all charges and taxes, for our all-electric 1,530 sq. ft home with unheated basement is around 6 US cents; or approx 3.4 UK pence. This is a cooler part of the country. Most months require some heating; air conditioning, particularly whole house AC is extremely rare. For example one of my vehicles came equipped with AC; in nearly two years I have hardly ever used it. Just drive with the window open! Terry. PS. Our domestic at the pump automobile gas is presently (May 2004) expensive at around $1.00 Canadian = about 74 US cents, per litre. Roughly $2.80 US per US gallon! And we pump the crude and refine the stuff! :-(
Your rate per kwh is pretty good. I think we pay around $.07, which isn't bad for the country overall. I think our consumer charge is maybe $5.00 per month. You've got nothing to complain about. Dave
It is well below the norm. You are either Pacific Northwest or Tenn Valley most likely. Look at appliances and see what rate they use for an annual cost to run.
Some places don't make it so complicated, but many have several charges. For example, my last bill is has a $2.51 customer charger per meter per month and the energy charge is $0.055342 per kWh, but that bounces around as the utilities commissions allows rate changes. It was up to $0.068-- back when the utilities were making all kinds of deals then the UC made them lower rates but they will probably be raising them within 6 months but not up to $0.068. Then there is $0.30 for a conservation charge (mainly for salmon restoration) and a $2.31 credit from BPA. So actual cost is $28.45 divided by 505 kWh which is $0.056337 per kWh.
BTW this is for Idaho Power, which is one of the lowest in the nation.
But it is easy to compare. Just divide the total cost of the montly bill by the total kWh used. OTOH the comparison has to be of similar amounts of electricity because of all the strange billing adjustments and practicies that you mentioned. Nonetheless, the bottom line is still the bottom line.
Yes it is easy to compare the cost, but the question asked if the writer's rate was normal. Well normal for me may not be close to normal for someone living a few thousand miles away.
My bill is .06384 per kWh for generation services, but then you add: Transmission charge Systems Benefits Charge CTA Charge Conservation and Load Mgmt. Renewable Energy Investment FMCC Delivery charge
Total cost is .1196 per kWh for all charges. That is in Connecticut. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
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