Electric Uility Deregulation In the United States

Started by Technowraith, February 03, 2011, 02:56:52 AM

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Technowraith

As some of you may or may not be aware:

In 2011, the United States federal government is ending rate caps on electric utilities. In some cases, rates already increased, as much as 30%. In my parents case, their rate went up 35%. With their solar array, however, their net loss is about $10-30 a month.

Some of you may be thinking, why spout off about such a little amount? Think about this, prior to the rate deregulation, my parents averaged a credit of $50-75 a month. They now have to pay $10-30 a month. That's a rate change of $60-105! Not sure about you, but a sudden rate change of $60-105 can wreak financial trouble, especially in the troubled US economy these days.

So what's my point?

My point is twofold:

1. Learn about any possible utility rate changes if you haven't done so yet. Your power utility may have already begun informing you of rate changes several months ago. Inserts in your bills during the last months should have contained information relating to the rate changes. Consult with your utility and get more information if you need to do so.

2. Consider energy saving practices, including conservation and production through a solar array.

I insisted to have my dad look into the rate change and see if the rate for selling back power to the company also changed. My dad found out something rather interesting:

While the regular monthly rate for using power from the power utility went up 35%, the rate the power utility paid to purchase power back from my parents solar array didn't change. Which I found somewhat shifty. So I had my dad look into it deeper.  He discovered the rate for power purchased back into the grid does  indeed change whenever the regular purchase rate changes. It rises and falls in accordance to the purchase rate. The power utility just doesn't tell you that the rate changes, nor will they update your exchange rate as accurately as they should. They do reflex a change, it's just not the full rate. As an example, my parent's electric bill jumped a whopping 35% in one month as the rate cap ended for their utility. The rate to buy back power from their solar array didn't change. After investigating and asking some serious questions and possibly hinting at legal action, my parent's buy-back rate rose 35%, to match the 35% increase in purchase rate. So come this March, my parents are back to receiving a credit from the utility company for the power sold back to the grid.

Note that each utility will treat the rate cap deregulation differently, and your rates may or may not change significantly. The only way to fully understand the rate change is to talk to your utility. Get a hold of someone who can talk to you in a clear, concise, easy to understand manner. Have him or her fully explain your rate change, what it means. If you sell power back to the grid through a solar or wind array, ask about the buyback rate. Make sure you and the utility are on the same page. I'm thinking my parents situation may have been unique, because their neighbors across the street have had their solar array much longer. During the rate cap deregulation, their buyback rate changed in accordance to the rate increase. I don't think the utility was trying to scam my parents, but probably forgot to change the buyback rate in the computer database of their billing department. My neighbors use the same utility as my parents.

In any case, if you're fortunate enough to be able to sell power back to the power utility, great! It feels so good to be able to tell the power company to send you money. LoL.
See that shadow? It's the last one you're gonna see.

Tsmukan fa kxetse anawm

Technowraith

Smart meter upgrades are actually for two reasons:

1. Better maintain status of the power grid, including on-demand usage, instant reporting of usage, instant notification of equipment and hardware failures, and better overall supply and demand management.

2. To better manage high demand and low demand usage. This is to help the utility set on-demand rates for power usagebased on the time of day. For example, it's cheaper to run yourelectric  dryer overnite than it is to run it during the day. That's because the going rate for your electricity is cheaper at night then during the day.

Here's some interesting facts you may or may not know about how the US power grid works:

-There isn't an "unending" source of power. There is a finely tuned and precisely maintained level of supply of power  that exactly meets the current demand for power. It's not like turning on a faucet at the kitchen sink, although it can seem like that. Here's why: Without anything to use it's power, a power plant will blow up the power grid. That's right, there has to be something using the power that's being generated. The power meter's job isn't to just tell the utility you've used "X" amount of power, but to tell the power grid to send "X" amount of power to your house. It also tells the utility to have the generating plant make "X" amount of power to send to your house. By managing "X" amount of power effectively, the utility can tell the power plants to make precisely "X" amount of power - no more and no less. A failure of any piece of hardware throughout the entire system, be it a transmission line, a transformer, or a switch will result in power failures.

-Your utility changes the rate for your electricity hourly, based on the time of day. the most expensive hours are from 11am-7pm give or take. The cheapest hours are from 11pm-5am.

-A smart meter can communicate your exact usage to the utility. Some utilities are experimenting with smart appliances that reduce their power usage during peak times. An additional feature is to cut power use even more during low demand periods. These features make smart meters much more effective at managing the power grid's supply and demand.

-Utilities often don't know something went wrong until after the fact. In some cases, a utility may not know until you call them asking why your lights went out. Smart metering is designed to combat this poor approach to handling problems by making the grid more "proactive" to situations that lead to power failures. Your smart meter can send a signal to the utility if power goes out, or power levels on the lines are dropping, which could lead to damaging brown outs.

-There is currently no effective way to completely harness intermitent power sources such as solar and wind generation on a mass scale. Solar and wind farms tend to serve local areas only. Continuing developments in technology are making power storage technologues more effective.

-Collectively, if every house or building in the US had 500 square feet of solar paneling on it's roof, you reduce the overall power consumption of the United states by easily a quarter to a third of it's current usage, possibly up to half. O_O

Food for thought. :D
See that shadow? It's the last one you're gonna see.

Tsmukan fa kxetse anawm