My electric bill

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
Years ago, you got an electric bill from the people who made the electricity. Now, I have a three page bill. There's transmission fees & charges. Some other electric co. does this, another one does that. If you wanted to find the cheapest electricity, it's almost impossible. I live in PA. We are not known for our incorruptible legislature. Are your electric bills as hard to evaluate as mine?
 

My utility bill is pretty straight forward.

I do get annoyed when the electric company sends me a separate quarterly report on my usage and encourages me to use less electricity and gas.

Last month I used 42 cents worth of gas and had a gas delivery charge of $20.99. I used $7.47 in electricity and was charged $25.98 in delivery charges. I have no incentive to try and reduce my usage when the delivery charges are so much higher than the cost of the energy involved.

All in all it is still a good deal, for me, to just flip a switch and have light or turn the knob on the stove and have a fire to cook on.
 
Our bills are pretty easy to "decipher". We live in the country, and our electric service is provided by a rural electrical co-op, which buys electricity from various sources throughout the region...at the best price they can negotiate. On average, we pay about 8.2 cents/KWH, which is substantially less than the 12 cents/KWH that the residents in Kansas City pay, for example. In addition, the co-op has a good web-site, where I can track our hourly/daily.monthly/annual usage, so I can see just how much power we are using, and when.
 

My electric is around $100 per month....I try to be diligent about keeping it down, the only thing I refuse to scrimp on is the A/C. I also have Rural service.
 
Our bills aren't that straight forward.There are a lot conditions that vary. A production co. can have a rate good for only a few months, but even that is subject to change as conditions warrant. Then the transmission co can have varying rates also.
 
Electric and gas are from same company and on same bill, and I receive mine through email. They're not too complicated. Plus customers receive regular 'home energy reports,' mine say I use less than half the energy of similar homes, and even less than energy-efficient homes.

My key to eliminating energy waste and lowering bills- I addressed 'energy drains' that really do matter. Have not missed microwave since it blew out, and with other appliances (computer/electronics/converter box) I take the approach "if it has a light, unplug it at night!' Am saving a considerable amount on monthly bills just by not leaving energy drains plugged in when they're not in use.
 
Try to persuade them to add different plans like the electric sompany in our area. I get free electricity from 9pm to 6am every day, so I am part nocturnal now.
 
With a 5 ton heat pump to supply heat and A/C the electric bill is one of those that we accept as being an acceptable cost for our comfort. It ain't cheap but there are about 4 months out of the year that reasonable bills show up. Reasonable is anything less than $145.00 a month.
 
our utility used to be one company 'montana power', however some enterprising souls got it in their heads to make a sh**t load of money and managed to fenagle the controlling interest and sold off the company piece by piece. montana power never paid high divides on stocks but it was always in the black and cheap rates. those enterprising souls sold our politicians on the idea that the people had the right to choose where their service came from and the politicians bought it, lock stock and befuddlement. the electricity now comes from pa, (ya, pennsylvania) and the natural gas is another boondogle thingy, the meter outside my house shows usage in cubic feet but the bill shows up as therms used. another way of confusing the politicians into thinking BMOC.
ah well, a couple more years and i wont care who screws who!!!!!
 
Deucemoi said:
our utility used to be one company 'montana power', however some enterprising souls got it in their heads to make a sh**t load of money and managed to fenagle the controlling interest and sold off the company piece by piece. montana power never paid high divides on stocks but it was always in the black and cheap rates. those enterprising souls sold our politicians on the idea that the people had the right to choose where their service came from and the politicians bought it, lock stock and befuddlement. the electricity now comes from pa, (ya, pennsylvania) and the natural gas is another boondogle thingy, the meter outside my house shows usage in cubic feet but the bill shows up as therms used. another way of confusing the politicians into thinking BMOC.
ah well, a couple more years and i wont care who screws who!!!!!
Click to expand...

That Pa. company that bought Montana power as an investment looks pretty good since it isn't a minor player in that market.
PPL CorporationSubsidiaries
Western Power Distribution
PPL EnergyPlus LLC
PPL MONTANA LLC
LG&E and KU Energy
PPL Susquehanna LLC
PPL Capital Funding, Inc.
PPL Generation LLC
PPL Energy Funding Corporation
PPL Global LLC
PPL UK Resources Ltd
PPL Services Corporation
PPL UK Holdings LLC

Nice to have 36,240 shares due to the July 3 dividend just paid that will never be needed.. Dividend now at .395 cents paid quarterly, not an earth shaking or life changing amount that is why our plan is to have those shares build so we can leave our 3 sons a decent inheritance.
 
Aunt Bea said:
My utility bill is pretty straight forward.

I do get annoyed when the electric company sends me a separate quarterly report on my usage and encourages me to use less electricity and gas.

Last month I used 42 cents worth of gas and had a gas delivery charge of $20.99. I used $7.47 in electricity and was charged $25.98 in delivery charges. I have no incentive to try and reduce my usage when the delivery charges are so much higher than the cost of the energy involved.

All in all it is still a good deal, for me, to just flip a switch and have light or turn the knob on the stove and have a fire to cook on.
Click to expand...

Wow, Aunt Bea! How do you use so little electricity and gas? Right now, my gas is low (heating is gas) but electricity is high (swamp cooler and fans). In the winter it is reversed, of course. Do you do something special to use so little power?
 
Butterfly said:
Wow, Aunt Bea! How do you use so little electricity and gas? Right now, my gas is low (heating is gas) but electricity is high (swamp cooler and fans). In the winter it is reversed, of course. Do you do something special to use so little power?
Click to expand...

The heat and hot water are included in my rent.

I use a refrigerator, television, microwave, computer and a few lights, no air conditioning or other big energy consuming appliances. The gas is for the stove and it normally runs around $1.25/month.

Maybe it's because I was raised by people that were constantly shutting off lights and mumbling about not wasting electricity, heat, water, etc... LOL!!!
 
You all want to count your blessings. Here in Australia my electricity bill for 90 days was $578 dollars. That was last 3 months & it looks as if the cost is going up again!
 

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