Utility companies gouging customers--one LARGE reason why people are barely making it.

[Dappleganger]

This is an ongoing complaint in our area, and it looks as if there is no end in sight. People cannot pay their mortgage or rent because utility bills keep skyrocketing and there is NO ONE who is holding these utility companies accountable!

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=125810&catid=3

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- When Linda Godwin got her JEA bill this month, she could not believe it. It was more than double what it was in November.
She called her sister, Cheryl Godwin, to tell her about it and found out the bill for her sister's power was two-and-a-half times what it normally is.
"I'd like to have had a heart attack. My sister couldn't breathe," said Godwin.
"Everywhere I go, this is what everybody's talking about - how these light bills have doubled and tripled what they normally are," Godwin added.
The sisters compared their bills with their father's bill.
They know there have been some recent rate changes... So they're concerned more about the kilowatts (the amount of energy used) than the dollar amount.
***
Here's a summary of their bills:
Dad's House
Month of Service Kilowatts Used
November 08 1252
December 08 2132
December 07 1606
November 08 Charges $161.05
December 08 Charges $269.75
Linda Godwin's House
Month of Service Kilowatts Used
November 08 807
December 08 1888
December 07 1106
November 08 Charges $106.06
December 08 Charges $239.63
Cheryl Sheppard's House
Month of Service Kilowatts Used
November 08 1387
December 08 3235
December 07 1642
November 08 Charges $179.24
December 08 Charges $447.59
***
Sheppard says her JEA bill is only $100 less than her mortgage.
According to Sheppard's meter, she has used roughly 720 kilowatts so far this month.
"We put up our tree last night, but I'm scared to turn on the lights," said Sheppard.
A JEA spokesperson suspects the families used more energy to heat their homes on the cooler days during the billing period.
"I understand we've had a few cold days, this month. but when we've had winters when we've had ice for a week. They've never been like this," said Godwin.
The spokesperson says technological limitations prevent JEA from providing a daily comparison of the kilowatts and temperatures.
The sisters think a computer glitch or a misread is responsible for the increase.
"Something has got to be wrong," said Godwin.
JEA says a preliminary review uncovered no errors.
However, the sisters and their father have requested a JEA technician check the meters at their Trout River-area homes. That is available to all JEA customers. They can also have in-home energy audits to find ways to reduce their energy consumption.
JEA also offers payment plans to customers who qualify.
Godwin has asked Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton's office to investigate the high prices.

**Just wanted to add that Mayor Peyton doesn't give a damn about this issue so complaining to him will be futile. Note all of the comments on this article!

[rucky]

1. Between this and the mortgage, there goes over half of people's paychecks.

Mine included.

[Orrex]

2. I've never heard of anyone not getting totally fucked by utility deregulation

Well, I guess the well-positioned investors might be making out like bandits, but everyone else is fucked.

[madokie]

3. The whole system as it is today has to change

I think that will be part of what the Change that PE Obama was elected for. 37 more days until the shit will start hitting the fan.

[JVS]

4. It might not be gouging, it might be that they fucked up and are passing it on to the customers.

A few weeks ago someone posted an article about people locking in prices for heating oil this summer and then feeling ripped off this fall when they had to pay the agreed price rather than the market price which had plummeted. It was mentioned that utility companies also can lock in at prices. If the energy company locked in this summer expecting prices to keep increasing this winter, then the costs that go into their billing are locked at that expensive level and cannot go down to reflect current energy prices.

[Sal Minella]

6. That makes sense. And the Big.Oil.Boys are still making out like bandits. nt

[Coyote_Bandit]

7. Ummmm......

The utility company would most likely also have purchased some of those evil derivative instruments which can be used to manage risk. Risks like changes in energy prices. The energy company most likely knew last summer that its energy cost would be in a range between x and y with the ultimate cost dependent upon a combination of the market cost of the energy and the payoff of their risk management instruments.

[Phred42]

5. Just another example of why we MUST HAVE Decentralized Sources of power

[Greyhound]

8. All a benefit of the "privatization" plan.

Look at what happened in CA in 2002. The only place in the state that wasn't bankrupt by the blatant extortion of the energy companies was the city of Los Angeles, that not coincidentally was the only municipality that declined to sell it's generation and distribution.

We had no dramatic rate increases, no rolling blackouts or brownouts, because we still own our own power.

[juno jones]

14. Municipal Sacramento too.

We sat pretty with SMUD while our con ed neighbors suffered.
edit to add: When we moved out to Con ED land, our electric rate tripled.

[Greyhound]

18. Oh, I thought LA was the only city to turn them down. How ironic that Sacramento

was another (seeing how hard the state legislature pushed this fiasco).

[shanti]

22. smud's been great

for me, so far. they really go the extra mile for their customers. no i don't work for them, but hey have lots of programs to benefit their customers - i've used a few. my heat pump went out one winter, but i found that i could get a new system (energy efficient to) thru them for a good price - they even financed it. new windows too.

my home is all electric and now my bill is very reasonable - about $60-70 monthly. it used to be double that.

another thing to check on is whether they'll replace your old meter with a digital version.

[Andy823]

9. It's the Bush

New world order! Those who control the source of energy, food, medications, and most of all the media, can control the world, at least that's the plan. The democrats have a chance to change all the crap that Bush has done over the last 8 years, it won't be easy, but it has to be done if we don't want to become just another 3rd world country. I just hope that the democrats can get with the program and do something for the people instead of doing as Bush did and only taking care of the big corporations and rich donors!

[NutmegYankee]

10. Whoa! Even in Conn. with electric heat, I never used that much.

We'd Joke that our bill would double, but holy crap. And this is Florida? Something is wrong here.

[Dappleganger]

11. This is NE FL...

very mild winters here.

Most people have heat pumps and it's rare to find oil heat in the area.

[NutmegYankee]

17. Aren't heat pumps fairly efficient?

I don't know much about them because they don't work up here. My current place uses oil (steam radiators), and my previous place used electric baseboards. Other sources include: wood pellet stoves, gas stoves, wood furnace (I have neighbors who heat all winter on wood alone), and some natural gas. The oil heat has multiple methods for heating by water, including steam radiator, baseboard hot water, and hot water radiator.


The electric is expensive, with bills running $300 during the winter months, but then again, we're talking about some mornings at 0 degrees F, and entire weeks with highs in the teens. The $300 also includes the fact that New England pays horrific prices for electricity.

[RC]

19. Huh??? What? Heat pumps don't work up there?

I live in North Dakota. It is currently -13°F. It normally can get down to less than -30° in the winter. We have ground source heat pumps here. They supply both heat and A/C.
0 degrees, cold? Ha! I laugh in your direction. It is currently -11°F with a wind chill of -25°F. It is snowing. We are expecting up to a 14 inches of snow. They are forecasting -20°F with wind chills of -47°F. I'm expected to show up at work in the morning.
Again Ha! in your direction. :P

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=58103
As of 6:35 PM

[NutmegYankee]

21. Ground source heat pump is a little different.

I was referring the the most common air source units.

[smoogatz]

25. How does your ground-source heat pump work in extreme cold?

I know a couple of folks who have them here (w. central Wisconsin) who say they have a hard time keeping their houses over about 65 when it's 20 or so below zero outside.

[RC]

30. The place I was referencing to has two 300 foot wells handling

4 heat pumps. For home use they can bury pvc 3 to 6 feet down.

BTY, Geothermal is something different. Geothermal takes advantage of hot spots in the earth, like at Yellow Stone or volcanically active places.
Marketing calls Ground Source systems, Geothermal because it sounds more exotic and then they can charge more. They are two different animals.

[smoogatz]

40. So, how do they work in extreme cold?

We thought about getting a ground-source system when we rehabbed our house, but the guy couldn't guarantee it would keep up in very cold weather, given the size of the place and our funky old ductwork. We were also looking at replacing a boiler (it's a weird house w/ a weird dual-system setup; radiators in some rooms, forced-air in others). Our frined got a ground-source heatpump system when he built his house, but finds that the house is chilly once the temps dip below -10 or so; he's had to install electric baseboards in some rooms. Kinda defeats the purpose.

[RC]

42. It works fine, even at over -35°F

Outside temperature doesn't matter much.
It has a natural gas backup, that to the best of my knowledge hasn't been needed.

In the Summer the heat is pumped into the ground and the Winter it's pumped back out.

Maybe they undersized your system or maybe you don't use the A/C side in the summer enough.

[smoogatz]

43. We went with a conventional high-e gas furnace

but I regret, kind of, not taking a chance on the ground-source thing. The gas backup wasn't an option from our supplier, who's the only guy in the region. Also the initial cost was prohibitive: around $16k for the ground loop and inside unit versus $4000 for a new furnace and AC. It's possible my friend's unit is undersized--that's his theory anyway. My understanding, though, was that the juice comes out of the loop at 55 degrees F, summer and winter: then there's an electric gadget that heats the air further, and a blower as in a conventional system. The shortcoming of the units our guy uses, apparently, is that they struggle a bit to produce enough 68-70 degree (say) air to heat your house when the outside temp is very low and your house is losing a lot of heat fairly rapidly. Now, if you live in a new house that's very tight and has the proper-sized ductwork, etc., that's less of a problem. But that's also not our house.

[RC]

44. A heat pump is like a air conditioner that runs both ways.

Running one way it sucks the heat from the ground and puts it in the house. The air from the inside coils should be a hundred and some degrees.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/geothermal-is-not-a-heatpump.php

55° should work fine.

[NutmegYankee]

45. I think we don't use them because of the land need.

My neighbor had to dig 3 pits alone just to site his in-ground pool because of huge boulders. If you dig a hole in New England, prepare to hit rocks.

The other problem is the older home age (avg around here, New London, Conn. is 50-90 years old) which do not have central air ducting, and would be very costly to retrofit.

[LostinVA]

31. Heat pumps are very, very effecient someplace like FL

And, they do ahve ones now made just for areas that have harsh winters, but they currently are aboyt three times theamount of a regular heat pump.

I am frankly surprised at how manyk ws they ueed in Florida -- they don't have to use much heat nor AC at that time of year.

[csziggy]

20. Since Thanksgiving it has been colder than normal here in Tallahassee

I don't know about Jacksonville, but I know our power usage has been higher in the last 30 days than it was in the previous 30 days. We've had several nights in the mid-twenties and lots of days when it does not get above 60.

And as you said - most people have heat pumps which are economical for hot times and for mild cold periods but use inefficient heat strips for really cold periods. If the outside temp is below the mid-thirties, the heat strips kick in and they cost a lot to run.

[Coyote_Bandit]

12. Ummmm......

Dad's House
Month of Service Kilowatts Used
November 08 1252
December 08 2132
December 07 1606
November 08 Charges $161.05
December 08 Charges $269.75

Let's do some calculations:
(December Kilowats divided by november kilowats) multiplied by November charges equal ?
(2132/1252)*161.05 = 274.2481

Per kilowat cost (Dec 08)
269.75/2132 = 0.126524

Usage increases year over year calculations show:

2132/1606 = 1.327522

Assuming energy costs were the same December 07 charges would have been:
1606*0.126524 = 203.1975




Linda Godwin's House
Month of Service Kilowatts Used
November 08 807
December 08 1888
December 07 1106
November 08 Charges $106.06
December 08 Charges $239.63

Again, let's do the same calculations:
(1888/807)*106.06 = 248.1305

Per kilowat cost (Dec 08)
239.63/1888 = 0.126923

Usage increases year over year calculations show:

1888/1106 = 1.707052

Assuming energy costs were the same December 07 charges would have been:
1106*0.126923 = 140.3768




Cheryl Sheppard's House
Month of Service Kilowatts Used
November 08 1387
December 08 3235
December 07 1642
November 08 Charges $179.24
December 08 Charges $447.59

Again, let's do the same calculations:
(3235/1387)*179.24 = 418.0544

Per kilowat cost (Dec 08)
447.59/3235 = 0.138359

Usage increases year over year calculations show:

3235/1642 = 1.970158

Assuming energy costs were the same December 07 charges would have been:
1642*0.138359 = 227.1855




Assuming that the kilowat usage information is correct it would appear to me that there isn't significant differences in the energy costs from November 08 to December 08. It would be interesting to know what the charges for December 07 were. I'd bet the present sticker shock comes from a combination of both higher energy usage and higher energy costs. It would also be interesting to know something about the homes and lifestyles of the folks involved.




I live in a home that is over 50 years old, has just over 1800 square feet and an average monthly kilowat usage of less than 600 kilowats. I work from home and I live in a climate that has four distinct seasons. I heat with natural gas and my average monthly gas bill is less than $100.




Not defending the electric company or big oil here. Just doing the math.

[dysfunctional press]

27. it might also depend on how their electric company produces it's power...

not too many places still use oil to fire their generators- but the ones that do probably had higher osts.

[LynzM]

51. Indeed.

Doing the math shows that this should not be so surprising... their usage increased almost twofold, thus the increase in cost.

Month of Service Kilowatts Used
November 08 1252
December 08 2132

November 08 807
December 08 1888

November 08 1387
December 08 3235

Are these estimated costs? Otherwise, people need to figure out what they changed to be using so much more power per month.

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. I'm very thankful to be served by a public utility district. n/t

[amborin]

15. californians got screwed several yrs ago...was due to cheney's fraudulent actions

someone can look this up....it was during the so called energy shortage in CA.....led to rolling brownouts, etc....

[shanti]

23. yeah i remember

although not really affected because we're smud here, but pg&e folks were feeling the pain!

[Le Taz Hot]

39. We're still feeling the pain because

the prices never went down. Compared to pre-fake-energy "shortage," my bill has tripled AND I'm using probably a third of what I used to use just because I'm more vigilant about turning off lights, etc.

To add insult to injury, the San Joaquin Valley Air Control District has implemented three times more "no burn days" in the Valley so I'm less able to supplement my natural gas portion of the bill using my fireplace. So this year we're keeping the thermostat at 56 degrees and basically freezing our collective asses off on no-burn days.

[shanti]

41. i did not know that

what is pg&e's reasoning for not bringing the costs down to pre-"shortage" levels?

[Le Taz Hot]

38. It was a fake energy "shortage."

It was all proven out months later and there was a multi-BILLION dollar lawsuit of California v. Duke Energy (and others). Only months after Cheney met with Ahnie and poof! Recall election. First thing Ahnie does? Drops the lawsuit. Damnedest coincidence I ever saw. :eyesroll:

[LWolf]

16. I am very fortunate

to live in an area served by an electric co-op. My bills are lower than those living a few miles to the south, who are served by a private utility company. And:

I just got a check for $25; dividends back to customers, the excess income beyond projected operating costs divided.

I'd like everyone to have the same opportunity.

[yowzayowzayowza]

24. Our usage jumped 20% over last month and last year.

Thatz with one less occupant and two fewer computers. WTF?

[JCMach1]

26. My mom has been complaining about the cold in N. Florida-

So I suspect the bills are legit... just a colder than normal Fall.

[glowing]

29. No there not.. see the post just below yours. Its ok for them to jack the rates,

but the reason is because we are pre-paying for future sources...

[glowing]

28. A little 411 on Florida Utilities. OUR state leaders decided in 2006 to

sign a bill that said utilities could charge for future investments. Florida is in the process of trying to get 2 nuclear power plants. All of the utility companies are raising the rates to "pre-pay" for the nuclear plant. Now all the state reps are getting phone calls and complaints about the outrageous charges showing up. We're still paying for 2004 storms an $8.00 clean up fee charge.. which is insane in itself. But utilities write the bills and fund campaigns. In return, citizens get screwed. There's a bunch of reps running around now saying they didn't understand or didn't know what would happen when they voted for this bill.. Oh and across the board, dems and pugs both voted for this bill... 1 voted no on this bill.

[JCMach1]

32. Of course, my mom is on a Co-Op So probably not even involved in the NUKE deal...

[glowing]

33. Co-Op is a fancy way of saying that your mom is a co-owner.. which means

she shares in the profit and shares in the reponsibility of "investing". I've never seen a co-op pay out yet.. though they do charge the connection fee and the higher rates.

[rucky]

34. Hey! I got 5 dollars back last year from my co-op.

Well, not really in cash, but it was shown as credited on my bill.

[conscious evolution]

35. Co-ops are no better than utility corps.

Just ask the Members of Cobb EMC.The directors spun off a for profit division and are ripping/raping off their customers.They rigged it so that the board members are making lots of money and the co-op members get the bills.
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/10/30/cobb_emc_buyout.html
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/12/13/mkinged.html

[JCMach1]

46. Clay Electric regularly pays out...

I even got a couple of checks from them over the years...

[Laelth]

36. The joys of deregulation!

It's the free market at work, folks! Rejoice! :sarcasm:

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[SammyWinstonJack]

47. Great, isn't it?

x(

[Earth_First]

37. On a complete side note: who uses 3235 kWh in a month? n/t

[supernova]

49. Yes, that's rediculous

Unless you are running a small substation out of your house.

:crazy:

[Greyhound]

53. This story came out of FL and you have to realize that, as a bastion of

corporatism and the model of the Amerikan police state, houses are built to a lack of standards that would, literally, be illegal in NY.

[supernova]

48. Mine doubled the past two months

I nearly fainted when I got a $200 bill for my 1300 sq house. But then again, my water heater was going bad and leaking like crazy. I got it replaced and the first month, my usesage went down to $80. That's standard for my house around $80/month. If it's really cold, like in January and Feb, it can be as much as 150. Summer heat waves it can be about $120, but those are the really high points, not every month.

Nevertheless, I've got my thermostat set on 63 and use a space heater in the evenings and a heating pad to warm the bed. I am going to see how long I can take it.

[KansDem]

50. Several years ago, a wastewater-removal fee was added to my monthly payouts...

Wastewater removal used to be covered by county taxes. Now it's a separate fee.

I live in a heavily Republican county. GOPers may hate taxes, but they sure love enacting fees.

[supernova]

52. Oh, that whole fee-based culture

needs to die. DIE!!

We won't raise taxes, but we will "fee" you to death instead.

Yeah, smart that.

[Bake]

54. At the height of oil prices, my Entergy bill was $800.

EIGHT HUNDRED FUCKING DOLLARS!!

Way more than double the previous motnh's bill. They called it a "fuel adjustment surcharge." Because they generate electricity by burning oil, apparently. Alhtough there is a nuclear plant 45 miles away. I guess they ship that off on the grid to somewhere else.

Bake