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

[Heliian]

I made good money on crypto using my gaming pc for any a year. No scam to it.

LOL, 1 pc would have made you a few dollars at the beginning. It turned into a scam pretty darn quick after that.

Sponsored

 

[RLXXI]

LOL, 1 pc would have made you a few dollars at the beginning. It turned into a scam pretty darn quick after that.

I don't consider generating $700 a scam. When it went proof of stake is when I shut my rig down. You can still make good money but you'll pay up to begin with for the hardware.

 

[TheBigBezo]

I can't complain since rates in Florida are roughly 10c per kwh. That said, FPL raised rates during and after covid because folks were failing to pay. Then they raised rates after the damage from Hurricane Ian. FPL is a state monopoly so no alternatives for me. Flip side, the state has been pouring money into Solar and I put panels on my house for cheap so even in this dreadfully humid summer most of my bills have been close to $25, Florida's net metering is actually quite consumer friendly. Hopefully Solar continues to expand, it is the sunshine state after all, free electricity burning my skin from March to November lol.

 

[msdickerson]

My total rate in MD has gone from $0.17/kWh to $0.25/kWh (~+50%!!!) over my 14 months of ownership.

I’ll have to do some math to check but I would be surprised if it wasn’t cheaper to run gasoline now for at least an equivalent f-150. Eco boost is still definitely the inferior powertrain, but electricity costs have gone nuts.

We here in a northern Massachusetts town, with municiple power company, were warned about 6 years ago, our rates were temporarily going from about .14$ per kwh to about .25$ per kwh. Well lo and behold about 3 years ago, the rates were reduced to about .18$ per kwh. So they actually did restore costs close to the original. Lucky.

 

[djwildstar]

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. [...] Now I'm paying over 300 dollars, and it seems that every month it keeps going up.

Take a look at your billing details, with particular attention to kWh used, any added taxes or fees, and bottom-line price. Compare that to similar bills in past summers, and see what has changed.

Here in Georgia, rates are up, just like they are nationwide -- in general, electricity prices are going up about twice as fast as inflation. Many utilities are raising rates or adding "capacity expansion" fees to their bills to cover the costs of additional generating capacity and transmission lines, mostly to serve data centers. The US average is up some 2 cents/kWh, which would increase the price of driving a Lightning by just shy of one cent a mile. That doesn't sound like much, until you realize that the Lightning normally costs under 10 cents a mile to run.

If your overall kWh consumption is up but your driving hasn't changed, you might want to have your air conditioning system checked. For us, increased electricity costs for the A/C was an early sign that the system was getting old. According to the US DoE, average A/C lifespan is 15-20 years, but this can vary greatly depending on where you live and how you use it -- here in Georgia, A/C works overtime in the summer which cuts a good 5 years off the average lifespan.

 

[Randall Stephens]

My total rate in MD has gone from $0.17/kWh to $0.25/kWh (~+50%!!!) over my 14 months of ownership.

I’ll have to do some math to check but I would be surprised if it wasn’t cheaper to run gasoline now for at least an equivalent f-150. Eco boost is still definitely the inferior powertrain, but electricity costs have gone nuts.

Time to make friends with the local HS cross country team, install some hamster wheel generators, and make them pay you for the privilege.

 

[hturnerfamily]

... I think the OP is saying that the rate per unit of energy (kWh) plus all the add-ons (distribution, fuel, etc) has gone up recently.

it certainly sounds like he's somehow 'blaming' the truck.

...

Government regulators of public utilities...will set limits...

yes, this is EXACTLY what the PCS Public Service Commission is for, although each state's commission may vary on how they 'regulate'...

Some countries have state run utilities, maybe like your little town...

my 'little town', as I said, had it's OWN electrical utility - THEY decided on the rates, no one else.

Perhaps the companies putting in AI data centers ought to be required to pay for ...

they DO - they pay their electric bill just like everyone else. If the utility needs to expand to make more room for that additional power, as they DO everywhere, for everyone, then the utility will decide how to do that - sometimes that may mean raising money by adding PCS-allowed fees, but not the rate, itself. This is basically just like your local SPLOST Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax that may provide for a new roadway, a new stadium or park, etc. Some of us like it and are o.k. with that method, others are not, but, those living in that area generally get to vote on it, as well as get to enjoy it.
in the 1940's, with FDR's new social security tax, as well as the later Medicare tax, were NOT well received. Looking back, now, though, I dare say that no one would 'let' the government take away their Social Security income, and their Medicare health insurance coverage, just because they didn't vote for it.

If you can install solar, it seems to me to be a good idea.
I'd have to cut down a lot of trees ... (ha ha).

Unfortunately, you'll spend MORE installing, paying for, and maintaining 'solar' and it's required Equipment, in order to pay the same thing, over time, that you are now complaining is 'going to Date Centers'...
Utility generation providers will tell you that it's inconsistent, and more maintenance-heavy than they would ever admit... but, they've had folks pushing it on them for years... whether it makes 'cents', or not.
Nuclear is always going to be the best 'answer', although we might not necessarily like it.

I guess cutting down more trees makes it worth it.... : /

 

[jdmackes]

My total rate in MD has gone from $0.17/kWh to $0.25/kWh (~+50%!!!) over my 14 months of ownership.

I’ll have to do some math to check but I would be surprised if it wasn’t cheaper to run gasoline now for at least an equivalent f-150. Eco boost is still definitely the inferior powertrain, but electricity costs have gone nuts.

I've found that it's now slightly cheaper for me to charge my truck at work (it's a charger supplied by the local power company so I have to pay their rate of 0.17 per kw) than it is for me to charge at home during the off peak hours (0.18 per kw currently). Doesn't make any sense, but if they're gonna charge me more to charge at home I'll just charge while I'm at work instead.

 

[ryun]

It's all the crypto miners and AI data centers that are the largest reason for costs going up.

We're getting solar soon (fortunately my household doesn't need to rely on the tax credit to afford it). The costs are only going to get worse. And I say that while only paying about $0.18 per KWh here in SE PA. Some of your guys' rates are shocking (no pun intended) .

 

[WXman]

I never realized until I got an EV how wildly different electric costs are throughout the US. As a MA resident paying 0.36 my jaw would drop when I heard about people paying $0.08. I guess it’s just going to keep going up everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised to see $1.00 kWh rates in the northeast 10 years from now.

Yeah it's all about regulation. A certain party in this country loves to regulate the hell out of everything they can, which directly causes basic needs in life (water, electricity, food, etc) to skyrocket in cost.

The reason electricity has traditionally been so cheap in the lower Ohio Valley region of the nation is because 95% of our power has come from coal. But with regulation tightening up since '08 our power companies have been forced to buy power from other sources, which are all much more expensive sources. Therefore, the end user sees higher bills. A HUGE chunk of my bill here in Kentucky is for "environmental fees" and "fuel surcharges" now. It's sad.

But, for the time being I'm not complaining because at least electricity rates are far more stable. Gas and diesel go up and down like a yo-yo, but my electric rates only change once per year or less. It makes budgeting easier.

 

[Joe.....Montana]

Are your responses in red? If so, tell me you have no clue about solar without saying, "I have no clue about solar"...

 

[Jseis]

OK, end of rant... for now.

I charge at home and average about 35 KWh a day 22 days a month at $.064 per kW. I drive 88 miles per day on my commute.

$49.28 per month. The S.O. confirmed our electric bill went up $50 a month. Gas card went down over $400 per month.

$.064 is dirt cheap. Some areas in central WA pay $.040 per kWh.

 

[EFG]

Washington state electricity is cheap because of the Federal Columbia River Power System (aka Grand Coulee/Bonneville/etc hydroelectric system). Built starting in like the late 1930's by the ACOE. I think Grand Coulee is still the biggest hydro plant in the USA. That is some amazing renewable energy.

 

[RLXXI]

Can't complain here at $0.10/kWh, spent less than $50 in a little over 3 months charging @ home, my commute is 4 miles round trip lol.

 

[evowner]

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 have had a very hot summer. Climate change is taking effect. There were more cooling degree days this year than ever for Ohio. Wait til next year, probably an average of 2 degrees warmer. Soon all of our cooling systems will be undersized for the climate.
But hey no worries trump is doing his best to get rid of alternative energy and bring back the coal industry.

Sponsored