Each month you open your electric bill hoping that your total bill will not keep rising. But it does. In these troubling times you need to save all you can. You want to save on your electric bill. Now you are determined to do something about it. This article will help you understand those electric rates, fees and charges that make up your total electric bill. Then you can optimize your use of electricity for the greatest savings.
What does your electric bill tell you about how you use electric power?
Take another look at your electric bill. In addition to telling you the total amount you owe for the month, your bill gives additional information to help you understand your monthly amount. Your monthly bill tells you how many kilowatt-hours (kWhs) you used in the current month.
Your total dollars billed per kilowatt-hour is generally not given on your bill. You can do the math yourself -- simply divide your total bill for the month by the total kilowatt-hours you used that month.
Your bill also gives your power usage last month and a year ago. Your monthly bill can be a tool for you to track the results of your household energy conservation. Some utilities include a bar chart showing monthly kWhs used over the last year. If your house is air-conditioned, that big hump in the chart's summer months reflects your air conditioning load.
Your bill says nothing about how much your appliances cost to operate.
Look at all those electric rates, fees, taxes, charges and surcharges
Somewhere on your bill is your "price to compare" per kilowatt-hour as of a certain recent date. It is the average price you pay for electric supply [or commodity]. If your state and electric utility offers "supply choice" you may be able to obtain your electric supply from an alternative supplier for less than your utility's "price to compare." You can also use your 'price to compare" to estimate your annual electric supply charge from your electric utility. Simply multiply that rate by the total number of kilowatt-hours of electricity you use in a year. (Some utilities include on their bills the number of kWhs you used over the last year.)
But your electric supply charge is only part of your electric bill. In addition to the supply charge there are:
electric delivery charges
state taxes local taxes
other charges, depending upon your utility and your state regulatory agency
Wait, there may be still other charges on your bill:
power factor charges
time of day adjustment
time of year adjustments
environmental surcharges fuel adjustment
power factor charges
time of day adjustments
time of year adjustments
environmental surcharges
fuel adjustments
Sign up for time-of-use rates offered by your utility
Check with your utility and see whether time-of-use rates are an option for you. If you are home mostly on weekends or evenings (off-peak), you may be able to save money by signing up. Most low off-peak rates are in the evenings and on weekends.
Be Careful! If you sign up for time-of-use rates and find yourself using all of your power during the peak rate time, you could end up paying more than you would have had you not signed up!
Additional charges used by some utilities
There are an almost infinite combination of use charges, fees, and rate structures in use throughout the world. Engineers, utility accountants, regulators, legislators, public advocates, environmentalists and others are constantly at work coming up with additional electric rate structures that provide incentives and/or disincentives.
For example, high peak-use rates are intended to encourage the user (you) to reduce your power use during high-cost periods; for example, do your laundry at night in the summer, not during the hot day when air conditioning loads are at their highest. We can look to California to see more examples of complicated rate tariffs (rate structures). Some CA bills include two or three basic rates:
baseline allowance billed at a lower rate
medical baseline allowance (at an even lower rate for qualified households)
non-baseline rate (at a higher rate)
The above rates are applied to your monthly kWhs used to come up with your total bill. To help you understand the components of your total bill, a breakdown of your total bill is given for:
electric energy charge
rate adjustment(-) due to capped rates
California alternative rates for electricity (low income)
transmission charge
distribution charge
state-mandated public service program charge
nuclear decommissioning charge
trust transfer amount (bond repayment charge)
competition transition charge (to be phased out)
Consider interruptible electric service rates
You utility may offer you a discount on your electric rates if you agree to interruptible service. During times of peak electric loads (such as hot summer days) your electric utility can reduce its load by interrupting your electric service. This may apply just to your air conditioner, or it many apply to other appliances. Check with your local electric utility.
Understand your electric bill and save!
Take the time to dig into the rates you are being charged on your electric bill. Contact your local utility and explore your options. You can save money.
Know how much power your household appliances are using and optimize their use.
There are electric meters on the market today that are convenient, easy to operate and not expensive. You can place a meter conveniently inside your living area. With an easy-to-read and understand digital screen, they tell you how much power your house is using and how much it is costing you.
A squidoo.com/the-powercost-monitor-and-energy-meter wireless electric meter is particularly convenient as it allow you to walk from room to room, read how your home's total real-time power consumption changes as you turn an appliance on and off and unplug it. You will know exactly how much power each appliance is using in each situation.
Following a simple squidoo.com/the-powercost-monitor-and-energy-meter#module29968572 protocol (guide) you can inventory power consumption in every room of your house.
No comments:
Post a Comment