power company issues

[lorihadams]

Okay, so I have been charged right around $50 for the last 2-3 months for a "wholesale power cost adjustment" fee. I have never had to deal with this before.

Our actual bill for usage was $168.72 for the month of December....not too bad considering we live in a double wide which is not that energy efficient, use electric for heat, have had to use the clothesdryer, and had xmas lights and extra people in the house.

But, we also got charged for the wholesale power cost adjustment and a residential fixed charge which totaled $60!
So now last month's bill was $148.19...even with another wholesale power adjustment fee of almost $40. This months bill was $233.32

It went up $80 from last month. Some of that was the colder temps and xmas lights but dang.

Hubby wants to switch to a propane hot water heater in the hopes that it might offset some of the costs. What else could I do?

 

[lorihadams]

Oh, our usage for the month was 1858kWh, our only bill previously that even came close was August and that was 1625kWh and the bill was $158.92

I just don't understand how it can fluctuate so much?

 

[mandieg4]

Last winter we keep our thermostat at 70* and our bill ran about $180 a month. Plus our heater is propane so we spend about $700 on propane between November and March.

This winter we are keeping the thermostat at 50* and using our fireplace. Our bill last month was $113 and we haven't used hardly any propane. In fact we filled our 300 gallon tank last March and still have about 60 gallons left. The fireplace is not really an efficient way to heat our house and last year it didn't even warm the living room, but we installed a ceiling fan this summer and keep it on low and it has made a huge difference in the fireplace efficiency. As long as we keep the bedroom doors shut the main part of the house stays around 65* with the fireplace. Next year I would really like to put a fireplace insert in to make it more efficient.

The other big power user in the house is my computer. If I make sure I turn it off and turn off the power strip every night our bill is about $25 cheaper.

 

[miss_thenorth]

electric heat is a killer, but at least around here, propane is not cheap either. My best advise for anyone who cannot get natural gas is to get a woodstove. My sympathies. Although, my hydro is around $160/month, and we have natural gas for heat, cooking and hot water.

 

[savingdogs]

What is the cheapest source of energy for heat near you?

For us, much of the appeal of this particular house was the wood stove and access to wood to burn in it. But wood can be found here in our county cheaply especially in summer, can you put in a wood stove of some sort?

Works to make cheap energy for us.

 

[lorihadams]

I don't know about having a wood stove in the house for heat. We looked at the outdoor stove for heating water but you need to feed it year round. Right now we only have a 50 gallon? propane tank. It's small enough that the propane company won't come fill it. We have to unhook it and take it in the truck to be filled.

We also would have to pay around $1000 for a permit for a larger tank. Then we have to buy a larger tank. Since the fireplace is the only thing that runs off propane it just isn't cost effective.

I would love to get solar panels cause we are in the middle of a field with sun all day. They are just costly up front. I don't know if there is another power company we could even go with in the area or if we are just stuck with this one.

It just chaps my a$$ that I have no control over my electric bill. I could get zapped with a ridiculous fee even though I'm doing everything in my power to keep the bill down. I've never been with a company that does that. We are with a co-op. At our last house we were with a different co-op but never had a power increase fee. I had to look on the bill to find an explanation for it. Hubby called the company yesterday and they said there was nothing they could do. I just don't understand charging thousands of customers $50 a month. Can their cost actually fluctuate that much? All the more reason to live off grid.

 

[Wifezilla]

Out here natural gas is really cheap but propane is expensive. What can you get and for how much? Do you have room for a wood stove?

 

[Emerald]

You all are making me feel like a fraud! I was upset cuz our electric jumped from around $60 this summer to $85 this past month and our gas is $96 this month! in the summer we only use about $30 to $40 in gas.
The best way to lower our gas bill was to buy an in line water heater I think that they call them tank less water heaters now. You are only using the gas when it is running.
I live in a 100+ old house with 3 bedrooms a huge walk in closet and 5 rooms downstairs -kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, living room, and a really huge room that was two smaller rooms at one time.
It is a struggle to keep them all warm so all the bedrooms upstairs and the one downstairs are closed off-I have curtains around the stairwell to keep the heat downstairs-there are times you can see your breath up there! I put home made window quilts on many of our windows as we can not afford to replace them just yet. All the material for the quilts was either on sale or I had - that alone made a huge difference in the drafts in the house.
Our Kitchen and laundry rooms were, at one time, the back porch of the house and they just enclosed it so they are on a cement slab which is cold enuf to keep your milk and soda and any other drinks fresh and cold! So I put another big curtain on their doorways
I use mostly CFLs and a few LED lights. they get turned off when not in the room-mythbusters proved that it is cheaper to turn them off instead of leaving them on.
I keep the house about 64 to 65F unless I am baking then it goes up really nice for awhile! So if you are coming to my house be prepared to sit down with a nice big blanket or comfy comforter! And a nice big cup of coffee or hot tea!
After reading about everyone else's high costs I don't feel as bad now..
I just feel bad for you all!

 

[lorihadams]

We are getting used to the new house too but the extra random charges are what I just can't wrap my brain around. The fact that that charge could or could not be applied and the fact that apparently no one knows exactly how much it is from month to month is what gets me fired up.

The plain fact is that no matter how much I cut my own usage, as long as I have a bill-whether that bill is $1 or $200-I will be charged that fee.

 

[savingdogs]

I don't like that you cannot choose your electric company. What do you do if you don't care for them....say no thanks? It creates an unhealthy situation.

I wish we could go off grid! The power company here may be buying our farm to put up power lines, so their name is really mud in our book.