National Grid (Mass.) rates have shot up...

[DRINKSFORALL]

Just got off the phone w/ a rep about my $324.00 electric bill and he admitted there rates went from 7 cents to 10 cents per kwh in early Nov. We have 3 Mits mini split systems (3 head units / 2 compressors) and was expecting a modest increase this past month. Our previous bill was about 150.00. Anyone else seeing this??

 

[stoveguy2esw]

i suspect its due to where this power company is getting their power from and what is being used to generate it. two schools of thought,

one, if the power is being generated by older dirtier coal plants then the plant may be getting punished fiscally for operating using coal 9and transferring the added operating cost to the consumer (guessing this as i have not researched it at all)

or two, power is being generated by a power plant which has had to switch to different fuel or had to modify to burn cleaner and the cost of this is as well being passed on to the consumer. (again, i havent looked at this much at all so this is conjecture)

one would feel a 30% jump in cost per kwh in a lump sum is being caused by the suddenly more expensive cost of producing power , or the expectation of it becoming much more expensive to produce

 

[DBoon]

Another theory on why this is...last year or the year before when New England had a cold snap, the supply of natural gas through pipelines became "pinched" and utilities who generate electricity with natural gas had to pay higher spot-market prices for electricity. If your electric rate is variable from month-to-month, this could be the reason why rates went up.

 

[jebatty]

That's one reason why I installed solar electric - to insulate myself from future rate increases. In our area rates are doubling about every 7-10 years.

 

[tsquini]

Yes, I saw a huge spike as well.

 

[Yel00tlr]

I was shocked when I opened my bill yesterday as well. As a new owner of a pellet stove my kwh went up due to the 24/7 fan running and then the price hike from 7.2 to 10cents..... My bill went from $130 to around $180. But the price is still less than other parts of the state and better than throwing it towards Dino fuel

 

[BrotherBart]

Our brilliant electric co-op CEO wanted for 15 years to get out of the big co-op in the state and source his own electricity. He finally succeeded in 2010 and took us solo contracting for power. His logic, the big co-op was getting too much into generation with natural gas. He now has us locked into long term contracts purchasing power from three coal fired plants.

We be screwed.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I swear my rates have not changed for 20 years(seems that long) I still paying about 10c Kw 7c generating and 3c delivery.

 

[Doug MacIVER]

I swear my rates have not changed for 20 years(seems that long) I still paying about 10c Kw 7c generating and 3c delivery.

Mass total bill north of $.17 I thought my 600kw/mo. was excessive, we'll jump over 800 this month with Christmas cheer. Cape wind is now adding to our bill along with the loss of coal plants.
still evaluating the cost of our 1500 watt space heater. used about 3-4 hrs/day in family room if the cold gets out of control.

a 30% plus increase in electric cost is pretty stiff, my few customers would tell me to stick-it . I would lose a ton of business with an increase like that.

Merry Christmas and have a day

 

[tsquini]

Companies will do 2 things before holidays or extended vacations. Report bad corporate news and raise rates.

 

[peakbagger]

If you track the recent natural gas weekly pricing, the decision to shut down coal plants and switch to natural gas in New England for power generation without increasing the regional import capacity is coming to roost. Pipelines can transport a maximum volume at any given time and there is very little natural gas storage in the region. How the lines get built is that various partners buy a percent of the maximum volume in the line to handle the coldest weather. When the weather isn't cold, other folks can "rent" the extra capacity at a lower rate, when its gets cold, the partners need more gas and thus the price for whatever volume is left goes up. The power plants aren't partners in the pipelines, they run on the extra volume so when it cold their gas price goes up and they charge more for power. At some point there is no spare volume and they have to cut back forcing the grid to buy whatever power is available which may be oil fired. There is currently a shortage of pipeline capacity from the Marcellus gas fields which further tightens up available supplies.

Mass utilities are offering significant incentives for renewable generation and that also is raising overall power rates.

 

[billb3]

NSTAR (SE Mass)
delivery charge: 14.3¢ (14.4¢ last month) (11¢ last year )
generation charge: 7.5¢ (6.6¢ last year ) ( 9.33¢ jan 1 2014 )
bill end dec 13

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...tional-grid/xYhmyWA4p6mVkch7ivhdRN/story.html

 

[sesmith]

Even though NY state is notoriously high, in my little bubble of the state I'm buying all wind power (and paying a premium for it) for 11.1 cents per kwh on last month's bill. This price includes of delivery fees taxes etc. It's down about a penny from the month before and about a penny higher than last year.

For those worried about doubling and tripling of electric prices, I wouldn't worry. History has not shown this to be happening over the last 20 years and the trend through 2040 is a pretty flat line for electricity, according to the EIA. BTW, you can look at the whole country's trends, or filter the chart and graphs for your region in the link below:

http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/aeo/tablebr...-0&cases=full2013-d102312a,ref2014er-d102413a

Using heat pumps and electricity for heating and cooling is pretty much a no-brainer most places, IMO, especially if that electricity is generated from renewable sources. Natural gas may make sense purely from a point of use cost many places. Maybe not, though, when you look at the whole picture including the environmental cost of the gas supply.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

just got my first over 200 dollar winter electric bill in almost 20 years yesterday9usual average electric bill last winter about 120"ish" last month was typical, so either its an aberration, or my electric bill has gone up substantially as well. will have to look at the bills to see what the cost per kwh is

 

[DBoon]

If your rates are allowed to vary month-to-month based on utility fuel cost, you rate hike could be temporary. It has been cold in the Northeast. See this from the EIA website http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=13751 about natural gas shortages in New England during cold snaps...

"The increased use of natural gas for electricity generation has raised concerns about fuel diversity, as the Northeast is also reliant on natural gas for part of its heating needs and has limited pipeline capacity to bring gas to market. The winter of 2012-13 saw spikes in wholesale electricity prices in New England and New York as demand for natural gas from both electric generators and natural gas distribution companies taxed the capacity to bring natural gas into these markets."