How many of you have "on demand" electricity pricing?

[GasSavers_Erik]

I just learned that TVA (the major electrical utility in the southeast) is mandating on demand pricing by October of 2008 for my area (Western Kentucky).

At first I believed the power company when they told everyone that the digital meters that are radio read were to make it more convenient for everyone to not have to read the meters anymore. These were installed about a year and a half ago. Now I see the real reason behind the change over...

How many of you already have on demand pricing? And what area of the country are you in?

What are your on/off demand rates? Our current flat rate is 9 cents per KWH.

[JanGeo]

Take the total bill including all the taxes and surcharges and divide by the total KWH used. In my office in Newport RI 22kwh $10.12 = $0.46 per kwh

[Erdrick]

JanGeo: That is freaking insane!!! If you are paying 46 cents per kwh, then you are getting royally screwed!! I live in Japan, and even I only pay about 20 cents. What I am guessing, is that you have a flat fee, where say, up to the first 100 kwhs or something, you don't pay anything. After that you get charged at a set rate, and that increments up as you use more. 22kwh is a really small number, so you are most likely paying some flat fee.

[GasSavers_Erik]

Yes- I think that pricing might be tiered here as well- so it gets cheaper per KWH the more you use.

[JanGeo]

Nope - it has some fixed billing fees and then they add on what you use which if I was using 100kwh then it would be around 25-28 cents per KWH and still rather expensive. It doesn't get less than that from what I have seen since the rate increases last year. It used to be 18 cents a few years ago and then started going up. The local electric company on the Island is like a separate company from the power generating company even though they are all "National Grid" and they charge more on top of the off Island rates.

What is interesting is I only have a magnetically suspended globe of the earth and the little fridge running in the office having turned off all the little power packs keeping laptops alive and a couple of battery backup units constantly charging their internal batteries and the electric usage had finally dropped down to just about what the fridge uses. The bill was about 80kwh with all the other "passive" devices powered up and a trickle charger for the scooter. Hard to believe that much power was going to waste all the time. Bill would usually be about $20 a month.

[GasSavers_Erik]

I just heard a radio news story about this (my first post was after I heard it from an inside source that works at the power company).

They are calling it "time of day pricing" and its being implemented to reduce power consumption- the radio story did not give an implementation date.

[GasSavers_theCase]

I got it at my cottage in Wisconsin. Rates are around 6.7 cents/wHr for offpeak, 18.7 cents/wHr On Peak.

Off Peak is between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. with the balance On Peak, Week-ends/holidays are off peak too. Works good for the cottage, cause we're generally only up there on weekends.

AFA Dollars savings, it's only about $3.00/month, mainly because we're only there on week-ends.

[101mpg]

That "time of day" or "off-peak" pricing is a SCAM. CHECK FOR HIDDEN CHARGES!

My wife and I are unusually thrifty (and are featured regularly in newspapers for it) and we thought we'd get this and save several dollars a month. We called the power company to change our plan since we can do neat things like set the dishwasher for up to 6 hours in advance so we could do dishes at night, start laundry late, run the dryer late (electric is cheapest here, gas is more), etc.

They gave us the rates, we figured we'd need to use 2/3 of our electricity after peak, etc., and we said, okay - sign us up but repeat the rates to us.

Here's what we found:
1) They charge a FEE for this - it's a "convenience" fee which eats up your savings.
2) They charge additional money for billing for it on top of that.
3) They raised the rates they said they'd charge - up a penny for peak over what we were quoted, and up a penny and a half for off-peak!
4) They charged a setup fee on top of that!

Figuring 80% of our electric on off-peak it would have saved us about 5 CENTS per month - if we switched all of our heating from gas to electric (it is MUCH more efficient and cheaper on gas for heating & cooling here), with a LOT of added lifestyle changes. It is CHEAPER for us to maintain gas cooling & heating (by about $100 a month) and stay on normal pricing.

SOOOOOOOOOO much a scam. It was MANDATED by the Federal government or freeway funds would be taken away - nationwide, btw. So what you have is waste - and the government steps in to MANDATE this "deregulation" which costs more money.

Such a waste, such a scam. Check for the REAL fees. It will likely save energy as you are more efficient, but will cost you more money. Where's the savings?

[GasSavers_theCase]

Originally Posted by 101mpg

That "time of day" or "off-peak" pricing is a SCAM. CHECK FOR HIDDEN CHARGES!

It was MANDATED by the Federal government or freeway funds would be taken away - nationwide, btw. So what you have is waste - and the government steps in to MANDATE this "deregulation" which costs more money.
?

Sorry you've had such a bad experience!, but please refrain from such broad accusation's unless you have the facts right. I think you may be incorrect AFA the Federal mandate. I reviewed the billing for my two accounts (one with TOU billing, one without, and can find no differences AFA extra charges). If it was a federal mandate I think I would see some evidence of it.

Whats next? It's a conspiracy, like the 100 mpg carburetor?

Good luck with your utility company.

[101mpg]

I'll find links on the Federal mandate.

The hidden charges issue is separate. All utilities are allowed to charge a fee to implement the program, thus eating up your savings. They do not all do it....yet.

Washington State utilities are providing coupons for free or deeply discounted CFL bulbs. Same state that brought you "WHOOPS" - WPPSS - and the nuclear plant that Homer Simpson works at was modeled on this. (That real plant was destroyed a few years ago, btw.)

Here's the rationale - get you to use less energy, see a further reduction in electric bill when you first go on the deregulated "off-peak" plan - then raise rates, and raise them again with hidden "program fees" - taking a cue from cel phone providers who can charge nearly whatever they can get away with. Note your cel bill has "taxes and fees" - and guess who gets the fees? Most of them go straight to the cel phone company. The electric utilities are all phasing this in.

Another caveat: Our electric company a) advertises how cheap they are when they are a monopoly - further waste of money, and b) mandates you MUST keep the off-peak meter there for a minimum of a year. Check the fine print before you sign up.

Buyer beware. Just remember, electric utilities have sued people for NOT using electricity! There is a guy who got off the grid, demanded the electric company remove their lines from his property, and he's spent a LOT of time in jail as they did NOT have an easment allowing them to be on his property - yet they still got him jailed.

Don't think for a minute that the utilities are acting in YOUR best interest.

Think of it like the difference between a bank and a credit union. CUs are member owned and run - banks are for-profit corporations. Ever see what big bank CEOs make? In the millions each year. Someone does pay for that.

Same principles here.