Mapped: America's highest electric bills

[Jseis]

https://flip.it/7L0P4u

Thinking of moving and having a BEV?

Study up buttercup! We live in coastal WA state and our rate is $.064/KWh. The above link might just indicate your dream state-county….eh.. not going there! A state by state heat map that can get you to the county level if your utility provider is willing.

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[hturnerfamily]

while a heat map might be an interesting 'overview' of some potential information, it's not specific to users, meaning that you can't simply go by a 'map' that someone has cleverly imagined as a way to highlight 'higher cost' areas... there's just WAY MORE TO IT than that... also,

- WHERE did they get the data? By simply using RATES shown by each utility? By actually SEEING full bills from millions of consumers over a LONG period of time?

- HOW did they arrive at this 'difference' in each 'area'? By simply calculating an 'average' bill vs those bills from other areas? By actually SEEING full bills from millions of consumers over a LONG period of time?

- Did they contemplate that we ALL use electricity differently, at different TIMES, and in different AMOUNTS?

- Did they INCLUDE additional fees, taxes, and all other potential add-ons?

- Did they include the many various and optional RATE PLANS that many utilities offer?


for example: two neighbors may have exact homes, in a 'cookie-cutter' row of homes, and yet one has a "large- overpriced utility bill", and the other has a very "normal" average bill - how is this?
Overall KWH USAGE, Time-Of-Day USAGE, and their chosen RATE PLAN, if a separate option.

another example: One utility promotes it's "lower rate" for home owners, versus the other utility's "higher residential rate", yet is has additional fees and add-ons, and sometimes even 'ghost' charges that make the actual ending bill calculations quite 'higher', otherwise.

third: at least for most, few homeowners can 'choose' their utility for electricity. You get what you have for that address, or area of service. It can be quite infuriating when a neighbor, next door, has another utility you 'wish' you could get, as you certainly are SURE that your bills would be lower.
Or, you dream they would be. Knowing for sure is very problematic, as you'll simply NEVER use the exact same electricity in the exact same way, and for the exact same amount... that's not how life works.

As a former Mayor for a small town, with it's own City-managed utilities, including Electric thru MEAG(Municipal Electric Association of Georgia), and part ownership in power generation plants like VOTGLE(4 Nuclear Units now), and many other coal, gas, and hydro locations ... I was always amazed at the number of citizens who somehow 'believed' that their city's utility bill 'had' to be higher than it should, since the city 'obviously' bought the power from 'Ga Power'. They had the notion that this was the only 'real' power generator within Georgia, although, as a little research can show, there are actually 41 different EMCs thru Oglethorpe Power, and 52 Municipalities thru MEAG.
Georgia's PSC(Public Service Commissions) does regulate power, gas, and other rates, supposedly, though some will think that they are just a 'rubber stamp' to increased rates.
My only response to those who complained, and generally all being smart competent residents, was that a 'rate' per kwh is not always the 'only' story to how power bills are figured. Complaining across the fence with your neighbor, who is on a different utility, also doesn't really solve anything.
Our City billing also included trash pickup, water usage, and sewer fees. It's easy for some to confuse the electric billing from the total. They just remember 'what they paid', in total.

Yes, if you're going to move, call your local provider and get any information that you'll need, but, obviously, most of us are not going to change or postpone a move, just because. It is what it is.

 

[Xalindor]

Neat, but kind of a useless map tbh. It shows national rates and in the state I live in there is orange but our rates aren't really that bad. But it also doesn't really give a lot of info. For instance, the southern states are really hot.

High 90s for a large portion of the year. So even if you have a low rate you will have a high bill because of AC. Also in southern states mobile homes are a lot more common. They don't have great insulation so the power bill will be doubly high due to poor insulation and hot temps.

A better, less misleading map, would be a map of power rates.

 

[bmwhitetx]

Agree this is useless for EV comparison. Our bills are higher in north Texas due to air-conditioning and the associated high usage we have. But our per-kWh cost is likely a lot lower and thus more EV-friendly than NY or MA which shows smaller bill amounts. The Pacific Northwest hydro states are the sweet spot - low rates and low usage.

 

[srspring551]

This doesn't take into account all the variables, but maybe better? https://www.electricityexplorer.com/, or https://apps.openei.org/USURDB/, or https://www.electricchoice.com/

 

[Xalindor]

Yea those are good. Not as pretty to look at as a map but more accurate information. I can tell you that on the map above I'm in an orange southern state but that my electric rates are 25% less than the national average. According to all three of those sources.

That map could dissuade someone from buying an EV but my bill is because it's really hot, not because of charging rates. I have driven my truck for 150 for the last ~5k miles.

 

[roddiaz1]

Time to move to NM. (What the HELL is going on in AL?!?)

 

[hturnerfamily]

two things generally happen when it comes to our 'feelings' about our electricity bill:

A) either we feel like we use 'just the same' as everybody else, yet our bill is 'outrageous', or 'we don't use any more than anybody else', and yet our bill is way too high!

B) we compare the 'bill', rather than comparing the 'rate', and even additional taxes, fees, add-ons, etc., and we often compare our bill to our neighbors - yet they have propane or gas for their furnace, water heater, and stove/oven, and we are all-electric.

Years ago, I was accosted by a local resident who 'swore' that we(the City) were intentionally overcharging her for her utility bill - we must have a 'magic button' at city Hall to push to 'get her', as her 'neighbor's' bill was 1/2 as much(!)...
I rode by her home later that day, during 90degree sunny hot weather: her front door was open, her screen door was letting in all the 'cool air', and her a/c unit was running full blast.

 

[chl]

Well AXIOS tried, but to what end...might be much better idea to go directly to the sources that are focused on energy issues than a general news outlet.

It says the sources are: Data: Heatmap News, OEDI, EIA, HUD, U.S. Census

That said, the HEATMAP source was pretty much correct about our area judging from our electric bill.

These are averages of course so big energy gobbling houses in your area will skew things to the high end

It is a starting point for thinking about energy costs in an area, but when it comes to EVs, there are many utilities that offer discounts and special plans, some better than others.
Our utility will give discounts if you use one of the EVSEs they can communicate with to schedule usage, for example. They can do that with modern hot water heaters as well if you agree.

Those price estimates are about to become old news as the fuel costs from the middle-east "excursion" hit the utility and get passed on to customers, so hold on to your hat.

 

[bmwhitetx]

Time to move to NM. (What the HELL is going on in AL?!?)

My in-laws live there. Their electric rates are higher than mine in Dallas but since the humidity is so low, they can get by with swamp coolers instead of conventional A/C (they call it "refrigerated air"). Much lower energy use.

 

[Jseis]

If you look at each state/ county you’ll find the utility provider and their rates/info. Some utility providers don’t participate, they show in gray. Any person contemplating on moving should do research. BEV ownership has many cost factors and local rates are one. Also… the sweet spot for BEV ownership is home charging not commercial DCFC.​

 

[Runaway Tractor]

This is a useless map. Mapping what people spend per month on power instead of $/kwh rate is as useless as mapping how much people spend on groceries instead of the actual cost of the food. Worthless data but makes for great mouse click money.

It is 15-16 cents per kWh here where I live in MD. It is about the same in Texas. But this map makes it look like power in Texas is the same as California where it is double that at over 30 cents per kWh.

 

[srspring551]

Also: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1SI7F

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