What are your all inclusive(taxes, fees ect) electric rates per KWH? I just realized that I am paying 19.68 cents per KWH which is double what my brother pays at his pizza business 65 miles away. My electric portion of my utility bill last month was $2498.25 for 12692 KWH while he paid $1036.77 for 10505 KWH. Is my utility company gouging me or is my brother just getting a sweet deal from his?
Wowzer! I must have it good, I pay substantially less than both of you.
Summer: .098214 per kwh on the first 1,500, .055063 on all kwh’s over 1,500
Winter: .0904000 per kwh on the first 1,500, .056889 on all kwh’s over 1,500
I used 3,504 on my last bill (almost no air conditioning for the half the month) and paid just over $50.00 in taxes, fees, garbage, for an additional .014 per kwh.
10.24 cents per KWH for us.
My lowest bill this year has been 4744 KWH with a total cost of $913.80. the cost breakdown was as follows:
first 1500 KWH @ $0.07 $105
remaining 3244 KWH @ $0.103 $334.14
customer charge $25.50
electric fuel adjustment 4744@ $0.056 $265.66
electric surcharge $48.34
FL gross receipts tax $19.97
County electric util tax $53.30
Electric state sales tax $55.90
Electric choices surtax $2.00 (this funds county healthcare for working poor
Electric wild spaces surtax (3.99) (funds county acquisition of land for conservation/parks)
Ok, I checked a bill and here’s ours:
Total KWH usage: 8964
Current Service 855.39
Environmental Compliance Cost 26.99
Franchise Fee 25.68
Sales Tax 63.56
Total Due: 971.62
WOW! All I can say is that I am blessed to have cheap hydro electric power out here in the Great NW.
2 months billing = $341.95 or about $170 per month. Our consumption for the 2 months was 4899 Kwh. Keep in mind we have no AC.
Are your guy’s $900 bills based on a monthly billing cycle?
Yes, ours is monthly. We average about $1200/mo year-round. We are big AC users.
My $913 was the cheapest month of the year. My most expensive was over $2600 for a month. I am open 18 hours a day and run 10 tons of A/C for all of that time in the summer.
Our commercial rates range from .07 to .09 per kWh here in southern Indiana depending on the time of year. My residential rate is .10 per kWh for some reason.
I’ve been on a efficiency kick lately: Programmable thermostats, switching to LED and CFL accent lighting, and changing our T12s out for T8 fixtures. Although the last one actually increased our bill since half the T12 ballasts were blown from employees trying to change bulbs while the lights were still turned on.
Paul, didn’t you save a bunch by switching to Edge ovens? Man, how big were your bills before???
There are different rate structures for different kinds/patterns of usage. You should ask your utility which is best for you. You may be paying too much if you are on the wrong plan. It works kind of like cell phone plans. You can buy into a plan for bigger users that has a high base fee and a low kw price and end up paying way too much if you don’t actually use the amounts the plan is designed for (personal experience).
Paul;
Are you and your brother both provided by the same utility company, and are you both have the same rate plan? Here in Manhattan, Kansas you can be 3-miles away and be under a different utility company with a totally different rate structure. The first thing to do is to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples, and then discuss matters with your utility company. I’ve always found them more than wiling to help you find the best rate plan for your needs. They will also work to help you reduce power use too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
My total electric usage went down with my switch to Edge Ovens, I’m guessing because they fit under my hood better and don’t blow so much hot air out the ends. I think the bulk of my electric is from my A/C as my summer electric usage is almost 2.5 times my usage in the winter months.
You can compare apples to apples more simply by asking each utility company for a rate sheet. It should list all the various tiers of usage and rate (Like 500kwh, 1000kwh, 1500 kwh . . . they are likely all rated at different amounts). You may find that one utility is charging ‘punative pricing’ on larger and larger amounts. Most likely, you are using more than a standard commercial sort of retail account, and would benefit from a “Large Customer” structure of some sort if they offer it. The utility company I was commissioner for did have large customer structure as it was a big benefit to the overall balance of the system when large, consistent customers were on line.
It looks like the kWh charge isn’t too bad, although it is “punitive” like Nick described.
But look at the rest of this stuff!
customer charge $25.50
electric fuel adjustment 4744@ $0.056 $265.66
electric surcharge $48.34
FL gross receipts tax $19.97
County electric util tax $53.30
Electric state sales tax $55.90
Electric choices surtax $2.00 (this funds county healthcare for working poor
Electric wild spaces surtax (3.99) (funds county acquisition of land for conservation/parks)
What is a customer charge? What’s the electric fuel adjustment? The electric surcharge? And HOLY COW that’s a lot of taxes!
It reminds me of the Seinfeld where Putty is selling Jerry a car and and is running through the line items - one of them is “additional overcharge”
“Customer charge” is a charge to all customers (or customers of a certain rateclass) that you pay even if you were to use zero electricity. It pays fixed costs of distributing power, that is, costs that aren’t dependent on how much electric power you use. You’re a big user, you should like this. It saves you money. Without it, you’d be paying a higher per kilowatt-hour rate, and subsidizing the insurance office next door to you. “Fuel adjustment” is an adjustment to kWh rates based on the cost the utility pays for fuel. If their price of coal/natural gas/hamster food is higher than the base, this goes up. If it’s lower, this goes down.