6 ms·

Yep. I was on track for a $5000 electric bill at the end of the week. I got switched over yesterday. Still going to be painful but not horrible.

slater 6y ago
$5k?!?!? How?!
- ev1 6y ago
  $0.05 to $0.10/kWh seems like normal pricing. Average US house uses ~1100-1200 kWh (I don't actually know this, based on googling, assuming most places in Texas are standalone houses) per month. If prices are $3000-9000 per MW, then ~40 to 60 kWh/day (let's be generous, people are explicitly turning on heat for this extreme cold) for a week... Even $2/kWh (which was exceeded days ago) would demolish peoples' budgets.
  - maxerickson 6y ago
    I think most people are on fixed prices though. The supplier gets a big mark up over the wholesale cost and then is expected to have a plan to deal with situations like this.
    - rstupek 6y ago
      Griddy is a different provider which gives you grid prices for power
      - maxerickson 6y ago
        Yeah, this is the answer to slater's question, that some people have signed up for exposure to wholesale prices.
        ev1 6y ago
        griddy's twitter is full of people angrily demanding refunds because "i signed up for cheaper rates and it's been cheaper til now why am i paying higher rates??? this is a scammer"
  - phonebanshee 6y ago
    Those prices are far below normal prices. Normal is 28-50 cents in places like San Diego (https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/story/2020-04-16/cpuc-vote-on-removing-seasonal-residential-tiered-rates https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/s...).
    - shiftpgdn 6y ago
      In Texas griddy exposes you to real time spot pricing. I was frequently getting paid to use electricity at night due to excess generation by wind. As an electric car owner this was fantastic as I frequently got paid to recharge my car. My average delivered rate before this week was 7c/kwh all in.
      - tzs 6y ago
        Does anyone there get a battery system, like a Tesla Powerwall, to save up negative priced night electricity to use in the daytime?
        rstupek 6y ago
        It doesn't happen enough that I've seen to make it worthwhile
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
        manyes 6y ago
        Of course, during these cold snaps, the battery doesn't really work well, right?
        tzs 6y ago
        Powerwalls have an operating temperature range of -4 F to 122 F (-20 C to 50 C), although they recommend 32-86 F (0-30 C). They can also be mounted indoors.
- shiftpgdn 6y ago
  My house normally uses 70kwh/day. We have an electric heater and with this cold weather we were on track to use 150-200kwh day. At $5/kwh for 5 days of 200kwh due to the cold puts me at $5,000.
  - pilom 6y ago
    Holy cow! How in the world do you use that much? My old house in Colorado would use ~350kwh/month. Swap out that electric heater for a heat pump asap!
    - shiftpgdn 6y ago
      Big house (3700sqft or so), tall ceilings, four people working/schooling from home and an electric car as the primary family car. In 2019 I literally did not turn the heater on a single time, I don't think the investment in a heat pump would be worth it.
      - lgats 6y ago
        Heat pump systems can sometimes be an upgrade to standard air conditioning systems
      - dzhiurgis 6y ago
        Does your AC has not heating function (I assume everyone in Texas has AC)?
        toast0 6y ago
        I'm guessing most Texas AC systems don't have a reversing valve, and a defrost system and all the other goodies you need to run it for heat. It adds to the equipment cost when many years heat isn't needed, and if the temperatures are 10F, you'd still likely need other heat sources.
        dzhiurgis 6y ago
        > a defrost system What does a defrost system includes? My dad manages a place where defrost system on one of the devices broke. Technician replaced something and hence it was fixed. IIRC it was temperature sensor. All defrost system does is periodically warms up the outside grill basically. It used to get stuck at -15C or so.
conductr 6y ago
I’ve been half ignoring them because they tend to cry wolf with the high price emails. But this is no joke, I checked current rate which is $9.01/kWh. I immediately switched back to my old provider.

slater 6y ago

$5k?!?!? How?!

ev1 6y ago
$0.05 to $0.10/kWh seems like normal pricing. Average US house uses ~1100-1200 kWh (I don't actually know this, based on googling, assuming most places in Texas are standalone houses) per month. If prices are $3000-9000 per MW, then ~40 to 60 kWh/day (let's be generous, people are explicitly turning on heat for this extreme cold) for a week... Even $2/kWh (which was exceeded days ago) would demolish peoples' budgets.
- maxerickson 6y ago
  I think most people are on fixed prices though. The supplier gets a big mark up over the wholesale cost and then is expected to have a plan to deal with situations like this.
  - rstupek 6y ago
    Griddy is a different provider which gives you grid prices for power
    - maxerickson 6y ago
      Yeah, this is the answer to slater's question, that some people have signed up for exposure to wholesale prices.
      - ev1 6y ago
        griddy's twitter is full of people angrily demanding refunds because "i signed up for cheaper rates and it's been cheaper til now why am i paying higher rates??? this is a scammer"
- phonebanshee 6y ago
  Those prices are far below normal prices. Normal is 28-50 cents in places like San Diego (https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/story/2020-04-16/cpuc-vote-on-removing-seasonal-residential-tiered-rates https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/s...).
  - shiftpgdn 6y ago
    In Texas griddy exposes you to real time spot pricing. I was frequently getting paid to use electricity at night due to excess generation by wind. As an electric car owner this was fantastic as I frequently got paid to recharge my car. My average delivered rate before this week was 7c/kwh all in.
    - tzs 6y ago
      Does anyone there get a battery system, like a Tesla Powerwall, to save up negative priced night electricity to use in the daytime?
      - rstupek 6y ago
        It doesn't happen enough that I've seen to make it worthwhile
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - manyes 6y ago
        Of course, during these cold snaps, the battery doesn't really work well, right?
        tzs 6y ago
        Powerwalls have an operating temperature range of -4 F to 122 F (-20 C to 50 C), although they recommend 32-86 F (0-30 C). They can also be mounted indoors.
shiftpgdn 6y ago
My house normally uses 70kwh/day. We have an electric heater and with this cold weather we were on track to use 150-200kwh day. At $5/kwh for 5 days of 200kwh due to the cold puts me at $5,000.
- pilom 6y ago
  Holy cow! How in the world do you use that much? My old house in Colorado would use ~350kwh/month. Swap out that electric heater for a heat pump asap!
  - shiftpgdn 6y ago
    Big house (3700sqft or so), tall ceilings, four people working/schooling from home and an electric car as the primary family car. In 2019 I literally did not turn the heater on a single time, I don't think the investment in a heat pump would be worth it.
    - lgats 6y ago
      Heat pump systems can sometimes be an upgrade to standard air conditioning systems
    - dzhiurgis 6y ago
      Does your AC has not heating function (I assume everyone in Texas has AC)?
      - toast0 6y ago
        I'm guessing most Texas AC systems don't have a reversing valve, and a defrost system and all the other goodies you need to run it for heat. It adds to the equipment cost when many years heat isn't needed, and if the temperatures are 10F, you'd still likely need other heat sources.
        dzhiurgis 6y ago
        > a defrost system What does a defrost system includes? My dad manages a place where defrost system on one of the devices broke. Technician replaced something and hence it was fixed. IIRC it was temperature sensor. All defrost system does is periodically warms up the outside grill basically. It used to get stuck at -15C or so.

conductr 6y ago

I’ve been half ignoring them because they tend to cry wolf with the high price emails. But this is no joke, I checked current rate which is $9.01/kWh. I immediately switched back to my old provider.