Electrical Service Rates

[VictordeHolland]

Untill 2019-04-01 we have a contract with Eneco for electricity from "Hollandse Wind" (we know this is of course complete marketing B*S*, if the wind is not blowing or at peak demand, we still get power from gas generators etc..) These numbers all include (21% VAT)

To Eneco (supplier)
Per KWh
€0.06280 (low tariff, daily 21:00-07:00 and weekend)
€0.08069 (high tariff, rest)

Plus a monthly fee:
€3.46 per month

To government (taxes)
(Energy) Tax per KWh:
€0.126542 energy tax
€0.015972 storage renewable energy tax something

You get a reduction of €373 per year on the Energy Tax if it is a residential connection

To Liander N.V. (Distribution network operator)
€0.65146 per day for the connection to the grid

If we only calculate the variable cost per KWh:
20.5 eurocents (daily 21:00-07:00 and weekend)
22.3 eurocents (rest)

We pay more for the taxes (VAT and Energy Tax) than for the electricity+grid connection together...

[storm5510]

Duke Energy has announced a planned service rate increase in my area, (IN). Based on what I have read, Duke will raise the rates 15% in two increments. My current rate is $0.1309 per kWh. With this increase, my rate will be $0.1505 per kWh. This may not sound like much, but it all adds up.

Simply by experimenting, I have learned I can run my GPU at 80% capacity. This drops the throughput by 7%. This also drops the operating temperature by 15%. I see this as a definite plus. I do not see the need to run it flat-out for a few extra percentage points.

[masser]

Good topic -

My current (Summer: June, July, August) rates are:
$0.0779432/kWh (first 450 kWh)
$0.1240339/kWh (next 450 kWh)
$0.1495326/kWh (all additional kWh)

All of that precision is kind of funny, right?

During the rest of the year, the rates are:
$0.0779432/kWh (first 450 kWh)
$0.1070240/kWh (next 450 kWh)
$0.1217077/kWh (all additional kWh)

Our usage peaks in August due to AC cooling, with a smaller peak in January for the heater. My compute draw is approx. 180 kWh/mo and is enough to occasionally bump us into the highest rate tier.

[storm5510]

Originally Posted by masser

Good topic -

My current (Summer: June, July, August) rates are:
$0.0779432/kWh (first 450 kWh)
$0.1240339/kWh (next 450 kWh)
$0.1495326/kWh (all additional kWh)

All of that precision is kind of funny, right?

During the rest of the year, the rates are:
$0.0779432/kWh (first 450 kWh)
$0.1070240/kWh (next 450 kWh)
$0.1217077/kWh (all additional kWh)

Our usage peaks in August due to AC cooling, with a smaller peak in January for the heater. My compute draw is approx. 180 kWh/mo and is enough to occasionally bump us into the highest rate tier.

When I started this thread, I didn't think it would draw so much interest. Many seem to use it to vent about their service rates, and that is fine with me.

My utility provider doesn't have tiers for consumption, at least, at the commercial level. Industrial may be different.

I have seen my rates drop a little each month since July:

July: $0.1343.
August: $0.1309.
September: $0.1263.
October: $0.1222.

I measure my i7 consumption with a wall gadget. Typical monthly usage is around 55 kWh. Sometimes, I run only Prime95, and other times only a GPU process, like mfaktc. Rarely do I run them both at the same time. My UPS complains about going above 300W. I have an older HP workstation. It doesn't use enough to keep itself warm.

My overall monthly usage is usually between 900 kWh and 1,100 kWh. Extreme heat in the summer does not have much of an impact. A stretch of bitter cold in the winter, it will go considerably higher.

[aurashift]

Salt Lake City is at 0.08/kWH I do believe.

[storm5510]

It seems I have been expressing the value of my electrical rates incorrectly. My current rate is 2.13 cents per kWh. In the past, I would have written this as $0.213. This is 21.3 cents. It should be $0.0213. I have allowed this error to dictate things like furnace usage in cold weather, and computer GPU usage year-round. I thought it odd that my monthly statements were never what I thought they would be.

This $0.0213 is a residential rate. Fixed or not, I do not know. Commerical and industrial are in tiers. Below a certain number of kWh, they are charged more. 870 kwh, I believe it is. If they exceed a specific high value, they are charged less for each kWh. If a residential user goes considerably above what the utility thinks they should, then the local constabulary is sent to check for a "grow house."

[slandrum]

Originally Posted by storm5510

This $0.0213 is a residential rate. Fixed or not, I do not know.

In most places I've lived for residential there's a "baseline" rate, up to a certain amount of kWh/month, when you exceed that you go to a higher rate, not a lower one. Of course, the goal is to encourage people to not waste.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by slandrum

In most places I've lived for residential there's a "baseline" rate, up to a certain amount of kWh/month, when you exceed that you go to a higher rate, not a lower one. Of course, the goal is to encourage people to not waste.

And/or to enrich the 'stakeholders' of one's local state-granted utility monopoly - our baseline rate is nearly 15x the one storm5510 quotes.

(Similar diversions have been occurring for decades w.r.to funds for power line safety in wildfire-prone areas, and the supposed regulator, Cal PUC, is notoriously corrupt, due to added fund misuse by PG&E for bribing the execs of same - so if even *they* say PG&E did something bad, the truth is likely much worse. And if you look at the top campaign contributors for CA governor Gavin Newsom, you get a sense of the likelihood of his doing anything about it aside from speechifying - cf. here and here).

[retina]

Originally Posted by storm5510

My current rate is 2.13 cents per kWh.

Please convert it to USD for comparison. If the currency is already USD then that must be the lowest cost power anywhere in the world!

[VBCurtis]

Agree. Sounds like one of those bills that breaks down transmission costs, generation costs, and whatever other category costs, making it a math problem to find what power actually costs.

[techn1ciaN]

Originally Posted by VBCurtis

Sounds like one of those bills that breaks down transmission costs, generation costs, and whatever other category costs, making it a math problem to find what power actually costs.

I recently lived in an area where your $/kWh rate was straightforward, but your usage-based cost would be added every month to a fixed "base" cost (which was represented as one of these junk charges that you mention). I believe the specific amounts were around 9¢/kWh added to a $30–$35 base (U. S.). There was an option to pay a lower fixed cost, but then you had to accept a peak / off-peak variable rate scheme, where your $/kWh would fluctuate in steps between 5¢–14¢. (I did a bit of hypothetical math on it and determined unsurprisingly that someone with a high usage floor would probably come out behind on this.)