Electricity Bill Increase Sought
The San Francisco Chronicle reports on a new plan being considered by the California Public Utilities Commission to change the way electricity is billed. Under the proposal, charges for electrical use will be higher during times there's a big load being drawn from the grid and supposedly lower when it isn't.
Interestingly, those who use lower amounts of electricity under the new plan will likely see their bills rise. Those using higher amounts will pay less. In addition, either a fixed monthly fee would or minimum bill level would be added to ensure The System, as one environmental lobbyist put it, would save money.
He's not concerned about the people who use electricity, just The System.
And keep in mind that AB32, that greenhouse gas law passed by the legislature, hasn't fully kicked in yet. Even proponents of that law admitted the bill might raise energy bills by up to a third.
In typical California style, I'm sure we'll see this blamed on the greedy corporations. One commentator to the story has already blamed PG&E for the plan. Never mind that it was brought about by regulators and at least some environmental groups.
Bad news for all, but no surprise for California. We can only hope cooler heads prevail.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 10:09 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
the lobby groups were funded by the big corporations most of which are exempt this is another example of crony capitalism whereas corporations fund the lobbyist past new restrictions that mainly affect municipality ownedby states as the state-run power plants are shut down often before they even are up and running the need for power increases because less supply is in the grid and the companies that are not shut down by the regulations can charge more for their energy we are shutting down power plant to the tune o 2-3 a week while countries that are exempt from the NATO regulations build them at the tune of three to four a week and these power plants have absolutely no scrubbers whatsoever take Texas as a prime example that keeps shutting down power plant only to be forced to buy the power they need for Mexico which has no environmental laws at all so even if you're hippy that think co2 is destroying the world these regulations are causing more emissions not less and have already caused power prices in most states to double already
THC
I've always believed that time-of-day billing is the real reason for the installation of smart meters, rather than any increase in accuracy or efficiency in utility billing and such. Those of us who work at home will be penalized because we have to keep the lights on and the computers running during the day, while everybody else gets to lay this at the feet of their employers. If it's an environmental thing, we're already not getting out and driving a car to work, and I'll bet a day's worth of electricity leaves a smaller footprint than a day's worth of commuting. Clearly you just can't win.
One can thank energy decoupling as a factor, insuring that utility companies will always get their money. Consumers start using less energy, less money coming in for the utility company, no problem, raise the rates to make up the difference.
Those of us who work at home will be penalized because we have to keep the lights on and the computers running during the day,...
Yep, and even those that don't work at home will get hammered for what most would consider necessary (if not live saving in some instances) use, such as air conditioning during the hot part of the day.
...no problem, raise the rates to make up the difference.
That's how it works. To some extent it's understandable. The utilities need a certain amount of money to provide their service, whether it be power or water.
Sonoma and Mendocino counties went through some heavy water conservation measures the last couple years because of the drought. People really cut back on water use because of local restrictions along with their own feelings toward conservation.
Did they get relief when it came time to pay bills? Nope. They raised rates because the water agencies weren't making enough money to keep going. People were rightfully PISSED!
I'm sure glad I live in the country with my own water my own septic and my own power For about $5000 and then about $60 a month in gas I power my entire house that should be constant for about six or eight years intell my battery's wear out then it will be another 2500 for another set of batteries for another 6-8 years if I could get some hydro electrii.c and wind power setup I wount need any gas at all
Thats about 120 a month for the first 8 years then 86 a mouth after that for all the power i need not to bad.
THC
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