My home electric bill has basically doubled in the past 4 months! WTF is going on?

[Jseis]

When wind power appeared in central & eastern Washington, there’s was an initial period of “how to integrate into the grid”. The result was a grid balancing act that took advantage of the hydro dams ability to “store” water and the windmills vagaries with daily & seasonal wind cycles. Turned out that hydro dams let water over for flood control and fish (salmon), thus wind offers the power adder offsetting water flow for other reasons.

One other odd factoid. Power futures are constantly in play on the grid (West Coast Grid) and an energy provider can by futures in wind, nuke, coal, solar, natural gas, oil, etc. We are in the Western Interconnection Grid. My colleagues dealing with data centers talk about immense power demands…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interconnection

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[hb.sagen]

We have prices change every hour, all year around. They are set at 1 pm for the next day. They fluctuate with expected demand, weather forecast in Europe and a lot of other factors. It’s run like a stock exchange.

It can change from 0 to $1 for the kWh.

People are fed up, and now we get to choose between this and a fixed price of $0.05 for the kWh.

Absolutely all energy in Norway is from hydro or renewable. Not a single coal plant or nuclear. But we sell cheap energy to Europe in exchange for expensive coal/nuclear power.

No AC in summer and wood for warmth in winter. $2000 to $3000 yearly cost in power.

 

[Athrun88]

We have prices change every hour, all year around. They are set at 1 pm for the next day. They fluctuate with expected demand, weather forecast in Europe and a lot of other factors. It’s run like a stock exchange.

It can change from 0 to $8 for the kWh.

People are fed up, and now we get to choose between this and a fixed price of $0.5 for the kWh.

Absolutely all energy in Norway is from hydro or renewable. Not a single coal plant or nuclear. But we sell cheap energy to Europe in exchange for expensive coal/nuclear power.

That's nuts, I thought my prices were high!

I'm on the worst possible plan with my electric company due to not being able to adhere to any TOU plan. First 1000Kwh is charged at 9.3c/Kwh with anything exceeding that 11.0c/Kwh. If I can ever get my wife on board with sticking with TOU, I'd probably save a few bucks.

 

[hb.sagen]

That's nuts, I thought my prices were high!

I'm on the worst possible plan with my electric company due to not being able to adhere to any TOU plan. First 1000Kwh is charged at 9.3c/Kwh with anything exceeding that 11.0c/Kwh. If I can ever get my wife on board with sticking with TOU, I'd probably save a few bucks.

Sorry, a typo snuck in. Max price is around $1.

 

[Newton]

Just to put the numbers in perspective - The average two car household drives 60 miles per day (about 22,000 miles per year). Even a very inefficient truck like my Lightning achieves a yearly average of over 2 mi/kWh.

So assuming 22,000 miles per year and 2 mi/kWh, you are using 11,000 kWh to charge the truck. Assume 88% efficiency grid-to battery so total grid energy is about 12,500 kWh for a years charge.

At .10/kWh you are paying $1250 per year to power your truck. At the worst case .50/kWh) you are paying $6,250 per year.

This is not much compared to the depreciation that you face buying any $60-$100K vehicle, let alone the insurance, interest rate, and opportunity costs. If cost is at all of an issue, one should buy a less expensive and (much) more efficient EV such as my other EV - the EV6 which is almost twice as efficient and much less expensive. It doesn’t haul dirt, though.

 

[hb.sagen]

This hour the price is $0.15. Attached is the hourly prices and when my car is scheduled to charge. The power utility app automatically calculates how to cheapest charge my car to the set % and time.

Any company can sell power in the grid, they just buy it on the exchange. The prices are given, and they just add a monthly fee. The company with most customers earns the most. To get customers they need the best functionality. So they excel at reducing the power use and optimize timing of needed use.

The prices in this graph is without tax and grid fees.

 

[kf59]

Sure, I dont disagree with the statement. But to be clear, the argument is that cheap or expensive energy affects the local area. Are you claiming that if an extremely low cost form of electricity was implemented in some geographical area then the area around that would NOT see a reduction in electricity cost, more or less than geographically separated areas? Conversely, in an area with very expensive generation costs, that area would NOT have higher costs than geographically separated areas.

I recognize there are nuances to the discussion, but above is the premis being discussed.

Not if someone elsewhere can bid the value away from local users which often happens in the case of wind and solar in states with less green initiatives Indiana.

 

[Lightning Rod]

 

[daczone]

I live in Northeast Ohio and my electric bill while owning my Lightning for the last 30 months has ALWAYS been right around 140 dollars. During the scalding hot summer months with the central AC running constant, the bill was always no more than $180-$200, and all of this is with sometimes heavy charging of the Lightning.

Now I'm paying over 300 dollars, and it seems that every month it keeps going up. We've been using measures to lessen our electric usage and it's still going higher. They're blaming all the AI data centers, but why do we have to pay for that sh!t?

It's going to get to point where ICE vehicles and going to be more economical.

OK, end of rant... for now.

Can you do Solar? Seriously... I finally did it and couldn't be happier. My $400-450 has been $13 (meter charge) ever since and I charge my Tesla and my Truck. If your handy you can do it yourself and save $$$$. I also did a battery for my house as well, no more running a generator when the power goes out. Solar is like free electricity and free gas.

 

[RickLightning]

If you want to understand the dilemma we face in power generation, I highly recommend Bill Gate's book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. https://amzn.to/4nv96U0

This was written before AI and the huge boom in data centers.

In short, there isn't enough land for solar or wind to begin to solve the problem, but it makes a dent.

The two biggest users of energy are... cement and steel production. Innovations to make more environmentally friendly cement are coming.

The solution to having enough, and cleaner energy, is innovation in nuclear power.

Keep in mind that if manufacturing "returns to the US", energy usage will increase, and electricity costs will go up more.

Our utility company puts in for rate increases every year. They spend many dollars on advertising, which because we are a captive user, is nonsensical. Yet the utility commission cannot regulate that by law. Nor salaries. An executive from that utility just built a home in our community. It is clearly in the top 5% of homes in our 130 home neighborhood. A fully sodded lawn was just put down, and their driveway is concrete, one of 2 or 3 in the neighborhood. He is VP of Distribution, so I may ask him why we had to spend $10k to put in a whole house generator a few years back...

However, our rates don't compare to some of the rates elsewhere in the country, which makes solar not work financially, unless we want a breakeven 15+ years out. The rules on paying customers for generating electricity changed a few years back, dramatically lowering the reimbursement, thus worsening the payback.

Our rate has increased about 25% in recent years, but nowhere near New England or California rates.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

In Ohio your solar potential should be better than typical PNW that Dave has in Oregon, at least during the Spring/Summer/Fall seasons.
Will depend on if you have the right conditions and open areas for solar panels.
You can check using PVWatts online calculator and your address here

Plugging in Columbus and 5 kW PV array into PV Watts - you may get 6.5MW per year.
My solar is a lot further north than Ohio, and with 13kW array supplies the house, my business (next door) and charges the truck reliably April-October.

Free Advice:
Do a lot of research first, and know the local rules for solar installations.
NEC requirements for roof top solar make it a lot easier to go with ground mounted if you have the space. (none of my solar is on the roof of my home).
Be warned: once you start into solar, it will quickly become an obsession er hobby that consumes a lot of your time ... just saying...

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

very true,
everyone's situation is different, even just shading issues or being on the North side of a hill rather than facing south will have a major impact on the practical application of solar.

I am ususally "home" most of the time -ie I work next door to where I live, so daytime charging is often a possiblity. But for times I am out all day, or evenings, overnight, long winter storms - I built a large LiFePO4 battery pack (currently 147 kWh of storage) so the truck doesn't have to be in the yard to get the benefit of solar energy. I can charge at night from the stored day-time solar power.

Comparing with just Utitlity rates the payback with our very low cost of electricity would 'never' pay back.
but, comparing against winter power outages, lost fridge/freezer spoilage, staff in the shop standing around in the dark wondering when the grid will come back on (while being paid to do that) the battery system was the right solution for us, with reasonable payback time.

Honestly, the original system was only to run the shop lights and a few 15A plugs. But-once we built it, and it ran the house during a 3-day winter storm took out the grid, then she gave the green light for expansion. Thats what a hot cup of tea, the well & furnace running and lights on can do for ya.
Then I started to find new ways to use electricity instead of other energy sources and this continues to grow our "on-site generated power" .
By the time I retire, I expect to heat and cool the buildings, charge up several EV's, run a 3-season greenhouse, add more freezers, and a freeze-dryer, do all the welding I like...

 

[daczone]

To fully take advantage of an EV... you should also invest in Solar. My suggestion: If you buy a "System" know exactly what you are paying for. (My system would have cost me more than 3x what I spent if I had someone else do it). If you are handy you can install a system yourself. Grid Tied, Permits etc. I simply measured my roof and figured out what would fit. I used a inexpensive company that did all of my legal requirements, plan set, measurements, filing for my multiple permits, doing all of the paper work for my grid tie. My kw is $0.17 plus misc transmission charges. I was paying $400-$450 a month. Here is a graph of my power usage and costs:

You can tell exactly when I turned on my solar in Jun and then on Jun 20th was able to send excess power back. My month bill has been simply a meter charge $15 and excess power building credits for the winter.

My only regret is not doing it sooner. My Tesla and Lightning now get free gas. I will have a few months in the winter where I won't be generating as much power.

I did a 15kW system (36 panels). My house uses about 20-25kW per day and I send back to the grid 60-80kW per day. (My summer peak was just over 115 kW solar production)

Right now (2:04 PM) the System is making 9185 Watts, my house is using 1145 Watts and I am sending 7803 Watts back to the grid. (I also have a 15kW battery that should run my house for 12 hours).

What did all of this cost?
I paid $19k for all the equipment (racking, mounts, inverter, panels, gridboss system), But there were extras in there, the 15kW Battery was $3500 a I did solar optimizers for $2000 (They mount under each panel and protect you from shading). I recover 5% usng these, If I did it again I probably wouldn't do it. I paid $1000 in professional services (plan set, filing permits, etc) and another $1000 for permits. At my current power rate I should have a >4 year payback and the system should last 25 years. Down the road as technology changes higher more effecient panels can be installed.

I also qualify for the Fed 30% credit. (Good through 2034) but sadly that credit goes away this year. So roughly $21k for the system and a $6300 tax credit back over the next 9 years.

 

[Kansan]

I live in Northeast Ohio and my electric bill while owning my Lightning for the last 30 months has ALWAYS been right around 140 dollars. During the scalding hot summer months with the central AC running constant, the bill was always no more than $180-$200, and all of this is with sometimes heavy charging of the Lightning.

Now I'm paying over 300 dollars, and it seems that every month it keeps going up. We've been using measures to lessen our electric usage and it's still going higher. They're blaming all the AI data centers, but why do we have to pay for that sh!t?

It's going to get to point where ICE vehicles and going to be more economical.

OK, end of rant... for now.

We've got it pretty good here in eastern Kansas. I just checked my electric usage through my last bill, which was 8/27/25. I've used 18,139 kWh and the total cost including distribution, taxes, etc., was $1,885.09 (or 10.4 cents per kWh). My August bill included 24% more usage than the prior August bill but the cost was $38.62 less due to my switching to a time-of-use plan in December 2024. The biggest issue with the time-of-use plan is getting my wife to avoid using the electric dryer during peak cost hours.

My biggest electric savings since buying my house was replacement of the 1996 A/C unit with a new 16 SEER unit in 2020. My summer electric usage dropped 1200-1400 kWh per month with that one change, which was a reduction of 35% in electric usage.

 

[daczone]

You say your electricity rate is around $0.17/kwh plus transmission. What do you get when you provide power? Is it even credit, price ($0.17/kwh), and what is your transmission cost?

As I said above I cant get the numbers to make sense where I'm at, but a lot of that is price structure. When I see amazing success stories like this it always makes me wonder if I'm just doing the math wrong...

Edit: if I do the math on your numbers I get 70-80 kwh per day usage, or about 2000kwh. Can you dive into the numbers a little more?

Same graph by usage... Bill calculations are not straight forward... First 1000 kWh is at a different rate. Then there are transmission charges. Graphs are from my provider:

Net Metering:
When you’re enrolled in our Net Metering program, your bill is calculated using a bidirectional meter that measures how much electricity you use from PGE, as well as how much energy your system sends to the grid.

If you generate more energy than you use during your monthly bill cycle, you won’t have any kilowatt-hour charges on your bill. Instead, you’ll receive kilowatt-hour credits that can be used for future electric bills.

Every March, your annual billing cycle wraps up and any unused energy credits are donated to customers in low-income bill assistance programs.

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