The Electric and Gas Increases are Getting Scary.

Remy

Remy

Well-known Member
Location
California, USA
PG&E Rate Increase 2023 — How It Affects You. - NRG Clean Power

I know this won't affect many but on the other side, it will affect many others. I couldn't believe my last bill was $105.00. I don't use much heating and I'm very careful about use between 4-9pm, the peak hours. I don't sit in the dark, I watch TV. But I wasn't running the dishwasher (when it ran) or doing any laundry.

This is a dirty company and even the liberals in this state are saying that the governor is in the pocket of the corporation. There was extensive media coverage of this company after the 2018 Paradise, Camp Fire. Even on liberal KGO Newstalk from San Francisco (now defunct) :( One attorney was extensively interviewed and it was really informative how these corporations operate.
 

I'm on the east coast, and my electric bill has more than doubled, but my habits haven't changed. Like you, Remy, I'm very careful about usage during peak hours. I run my dishwasher and wash laundry late at night when the rates are lowest. I make sure appliances I'm not using are off and unplugged. When I watch TV in the evening, I only keep one light on near where I'm sitting. I don't know what else I can do to lower the bill. :rolleyes:
 
Bella said:
I'm on the east coast, and my electric bill has more than doubled, but my habits haven't changed. Like you, Remy, I'm very careful about usage during peak hours. I run my dishwasher and wash laundry late at night when the rates are lowest. I make sure appliances I'm not using are off and unplugged. When I watch TV in the evening, I only keep one light on near where I'm sitting. I don't know what else I can do to lower the bill. :rolleyes:
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Bella, I'm doing what you are doing also. One light on, TV if I want to watch. I'm wondering how widespread this peak hour crap is with companies. In California, with PG&E, it started last May I believe. I can get around the hours some because I work part time. I used to, in the winter, put dinner in the oven after work days but no more. I only use the oven before 4pm. This is really hard for people who work all day, need to cook and have kids at home.
 

I pay for my electricity, and am not too worried about that. If it doubled, it wouldn't hurt too much. And I don't really see where I could cut back -- not willingly anyway.

What worries me is that the electric heat in the building is provided by the landlord. If that goes up too much, I'm afraid the landlord will shut the building down. Or something.

They've already stopped heating the stairwells, which is understandable.
 
I’m sorry so many of you are dealing with such enormous increases in power……electric, gas, oil, etc.
But……
I’m not seeing anywhere near those kind of increases, still very reasonable here.
Maybe it’s because we have our own power source here in Manitoba……under……Manitoba Hydro. 🤔🤔🤔.
My house has electric forced air furnace……but you know what…..I do have a lot of plug in things pulling power, I may be somewhat wasteful in that respect.
 
Remy said:
This is a dirty company
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One thing I liked about Omaha was that it has a public power utility (non-profit), I think we get the best deal from public utilities. Plus they are easier to hold accountable. I miss them, about the only thing I miss from Nebraska!

Was your bill high because of weather-related events? My current power company sends me a weekly email comparing this week's electric usage to the previous week, and predicting my next billing amount. But, it seems to be so dependent on the weather, I don't feel like I can control much of it.
 
The power company has invited me to compare my usage to that of "similar" residences in my area. Wha's like us, I ask you.

Someone who works all day, or works away for weeks at a time? His workplace or motel pays the electric bill.

Someone who gets Meals on Wheels or take out, instead of cooking at home?

A younger person who doesn't need a humidifier? Someone who works out at the gym (using their electricity) instead of at home?

Then again, my neighbors have TVs and computers and other things that I don't have. Hmm. Maybe I'll do the "comparison," just for a laugh.
 
hollydolly said:
Huge increases here in the last 12 months on already expensive gas and electricity.. Mine has gone up over 100 %.. now costs £340 per month... when it used to cost that or less per quarter
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Ouch!
Have you been watching Guy Martin's Trip out in which he explores the generation and cost of electricity. There is the ridiculous situation that electricity is priced according to the cost of the highest component. ie if the electricity comes from a mix of Gas, wind, solar, hydro-electric etc.. the price of the highest one is the price you pay although the actual cost is a lot less and varied constantly.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Ouch!
Have you been watching Guy Martin's Trip out in which he explores the generation and cost of electricity. There is the ridiculous situation that electricity is priced according to the cost of the highest component. ie if the electricity comes from a mix of Gas, wind, solar, hydro-electric etc.. the price of the highest one is the price you pay although the actual cost is a lot less and varied constantly.
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No..I have it recorded to watch...I will watch it soon... , that's well reminded, thanks (y)
 
We can all be Sure that utility and fuel prices will only continue to rise. The "Green" movement has shut down many coal fired power plants, and oil refineries...etc. There has been no new investment in nuclear power plants. Wind and solar are marginally helpful. As more and more emphasis is being placed on electric vehicles, the "stress" will only increase on our electric grids.

The Only long term solutions I see would be Hydrogen power for vehicles, and Nuclear Fusion for the generation of electricity....neither of which are likely to be available in the foreseeable future.
 
I’m probably a spendthrift because electricity is relatively cheap here. I do avoid using large appliances if they’re not full. When I visit my kids in Ontario, I forget about that ‘peak’ hours thing and would do the laundry whenever. I’ll be damned if I’m going to do it in the basement in the dark of winter. I tell them to write it off as free labour.

We also have natural gas for heating. It’s fairly efficient and we have the thermostat set for various times in the day/night. Usually 64 at night. No AC at night in the winter and only peak hours in the daytime.
 
hollydolly said:
Huge increases here in the last 12 months on already expensive gas and electricity.. Mine has gone up over 100 %.. now costs £340 per month... when it used to cost that or less per quarter
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I had forgot to mention in my post that, from what I understand, Europe is getting it worse. And with colder weather, than I have anyway in California. That is an insane increase.

We are in for more hikes. Worried about summer AC. Might have to have it on 83. This unit is old and inefficient.
 
NorthernLight said:
I pay for my electricity, and am not too worried about that. If it doubled, it wouldn't hurt too much. And I don't really see where I could cut back -- not willingly anyway.

What worries me is that the electric heat in the building is provided by the landlord. If that goes up too much, I'm afraid the landlord will shut the building down. Or something.

They've already stopped heating the stairwells, which is understandable.
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How could a landlord shut a building down? Wouldn't they raise the rent or add a surcharge? They started water surcharges here a number of years ago when traditionally water was included.

I've always gotten a "great" rating with my utility use and no bill about once a year as some kind of reward or something.
 
Remy said:
How could a landlord shut a building down? Wouldn't they raise the rent or add a surcharge? They started water surcharges here a number of years ago when traditionally water was included.

I've always gotten a "great" rating with my utility use and no bill about once a year as some kind of reward or something.
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I hadn't thought of a surcharge. Thank you.

The situation here is, this is a dying town. Buildings are at about one third capacity, and rents are a fraction of what they are elsewhere. I keep wondering when the company that owns the buildings will simply give up on the whole mess.

Closing a building might be tricky, legally and otherwise, but I think it could happen.
 
Remy said:
I had forgot to mention in my post that, from what I understand, Europe is getting it worse. And with colder weather, than I have anyway in California. That is an insane increase.

We are in for more hikes. Worried about summer AC. Might have to have it on 83. This unit is old and inefficient.
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yes we are for sure getting hit with the Big stick here in the UK..I understand that out of the whole of Europe we've been affected the worst by energy price rises..
 
My utilities are billed all together so I looked it up to see that electricity portion was $50.19. Last year for the same month it was $55.00. I guess that's not so bad but I do see a lot of complaining about the cost on Facebook and the neighborhood app.
 
Myrtle said:
My utilities are billed all together so I looked it up to see that electricity portion was $50.19. Last year for the same month it was $55.00. I guess that's not so bad but I do see a lot of complaining about the cost on Facebook and the neighborhood app.
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yes that's very cheap. Even before the huge prince increases mine was never that low, and I'm not a person who wastes energy .. but tbh now having to not have heating on, and ensuring every light is switched off in the livingroom bar one when I'm watching tv, and cooking everything in the Air fryer, or microwave so as not to have the oven on for a long time.. ..etc etc.. is not making my home feel like the once comfortable home it always has been
 
hollydolly said:
yes that's very cheap. Even before the huge prince increases mine was never that low, and I'm not a person who wastes energy .. but tbh now having to not have heating on, and ensuring every light is switched off in the livingroom bar one when I'm watching tv, and cooking everything in the Air fryer, or microwave so as not to have the oven on for a long time.. ..etc etc.. is not making my home feel like the once comfortable home it always has been
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The electricity is the cheap part. Natural gas is what hurts. It was $135.08 this month and $131.68 for the same month last year. February is a cold month here and the gas charge is for both the furnace and the gas fireplace. The cats love the fireplace and we have it on every evening before bed. By the time I add water and sewage it grows bigger than I like. $229 this month for all.
 
Remy said:
PG&E Rate Increase 2023 — How It Affects You. - NRG Clean Power

I know this won't affect many but on the other side, it will affect many others. I couldn't believe my last bill was $105.00. I don't use much heating and I'm very careful about use between 4-9pm, the peak hours. I don't sit in the dark, I watch TV. But I wasn't running the dishwasher (when it ran) or doing any laundry.

This is a dirty company and even the liberals in this state are saying that the governor is in the pocket of the corporation. There was extensive media coverage of this company after the 2018 Paradise, Camp Fire. Even on liberal KGO Newstalk from San Francisco (now defunct) :( One attorney was extensively interviewed and it was really informative how these corporations operate.
Click to expand...
The reason utility prices are so high in California is because of everyone and their uncle suing them over stuff that isn't even their fault. Rather than defend themselves in California's kangaroo court system which is so heavily biased against utility companies, they simply pay out the damages asked and pass the costs on to ratepayers.
 
Myrtle said:
The electricity is the cheap part. Natural gas is what hurts. It was $135.08 this month and $131.68 for the same month last year. February is a cold month here and the gas charge is for both the furnace and the gas fireplace. The cats love the fireplace and we have it on every evening before bed. By the time I add water and sewage it grows bigger than I like. $229 this month for all.
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yes it's so expensive. If we had very cold weather like Canada , and places like that.. I shudder to think what our Gas bills would be ( I have gas central heating).. currently at £340 per month for the 2... with me hardly ever putting the heating on.. it's hugely expensive.. and like you I still have to find.. £2,454 in Council tax per year ( over £200 per month) and around £120 every quarter for water .. and more for garden waste recycling.. ..and our food has risen by 16 % in the last year!!... and here I am on a fixed income.. no chance of getting any raise like these strikers who earn far more than I do.. and are holding the country to ransom!
 
Reading that people here only have one light on while watching TV, I realized that I do too. It’s in the morning when it’s dark that I leave a light on in the bathroom or bedroom and walk around from there to the kitchen. It’s a small house so we’re not consuming much power or gas. Our biggest cost is in the summer because this is a semi-arid climate. They charge us plenty. This year we have a heavy snow pack so are expecting flooding again.
 
Jules said:
Reading that people here only have one light on while watching TV, I realized that I do too. It’s in the morning when it’s dark that I leave a light on in the bathroom or bedroom and walk around from there to the kitchen. It’s a small house so we’re not consuming much power or gas. Our biggest cost is in the summer because this is a semi-arid climate. They charge us plenty. This year we have a heavy snow pack so are expecting flooding again.
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Last summer it was so hot here I couldn't sleep without the fan on all night.. and even then it was hot.
Most houses in the UK as you've probably seen me say in the past do not have AC.. so unlike hot countries where it's cheap to have AC installed it isn't here... however, it has been so hot this last 3 years here, I was determined never to go through another hot summer.. and pay to have AC installed this year.. but with the price of Electricity, I wouldn't be able to run it.. it's just heartbreaking..especially as in Spain which is also in Europe and also suffering increased costs, but nowhere nearly as much as ours, I can run my AC over there and be able to afford it with little problem..
 

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