Re: A TIP FOR MY FELLOW TEXANS

Spurt · ‎03-20-2010

@gertrudecloset wrote:
@Spurt wrote:
@Kachina624 wrote:
@granddi. Some people are going to have a lot to answer for. You can probably kiss a lot of politicians goodbye. This scandal will go on for years. Millions of people snookered.
@Kachina624

To put it in Reader's Digest terms. There is a separate charge on the bill in addition to the wattage used....the separate charge is called a "fuel adjustment" and it's based on the market price for energy....thats what's going to cause the increase.....

Now our Mayor says it should definitely not be the consumers but ERCOT (the energy distributor) that should bear the additional cost due to mismanagement.

Our energy company, CPS, said they would try to spread the increase out over a 10 year period....But now other considerations are on the table.... The long-term plan is still taking shape and options on the table include bonds, federal aid and working with state lawmakers. (there's something called a "rainy day fund" the State has in place....for unforseen catastrophes)..... But I dont trust the CEO of CPS...she has been caught in so many lies as she's tried to throw other people under the bus for her part of the mis-management at the local level....

Isn't their more than one Mayor in Texas? Which part of Texas are you referring to? The set up where you are sounds similiar to where I live.

Killowats + delivery charges + any state and local taxes. However, where I am, I can spread the cost of year's heating costs over the course of the year. This just means I pay the same rate in the Summer as I do in the Winter. This is to offset winter usage so that bills are not astronomical. I live in the Northeast though. Can your area do something like this with spreading it out? Maybe shooting an email to your Mayor or getting signatures or something can force their hand.

@gertrudecloset

Im in SA.....they do have the "averaging plan" here which spreads heating/cooling costs over the full year so your rates dont spike and are leveled out.... We dont worry so much about winter bills (at least until NOW), our concern is summer energy costs---We do or DID have some of the lowest energy costs in the State...-but a lot of people have seen the handwtriting on the wall and recently tried to switch plans but some said that option is closed for now....I dont trust the person in charge of our local Energy Co either who will be representing us .....

Yes your right, its gonna be a Statewide decision for those markets under ERCOT and I am just relating what our energy CEO said she's hearing from all the other Bureaucrats in the State as well... All I know is our Mayor is going to try to fight for us consumers....I dont know what the others will do....

Animals are reliable, full of love, true in their affections, grateful. Difficult standards for people to live up to.”

gertrudecloset · ‎02-13-2021

@granddi wrote:
@Nightowlz wrote:
I thought they were being billed daily for usage? I read an article saying one company wiped out her account from billing daily usage. She closed the account to the debit card.
They said our gas rates went up due to usage so our bills will be higher but not $7000 or $17,000?
Our water bill will be higher too from dripping the faucets.
Yes, we are prepared for sky high water bill but that was our choice to leave the faucts dripping. We were so fortunate to have power so we ran space heaters towards the plumbing on the outside walls.

When the power failed, so did the equipment at the water treatment facilities. That's why boil water is in effect for much of Texas metro areas. Water mains have broken leading to low or no pressure. Some hospitals in Austin had NO water.

The head of ERCOT (Tx power commission) earns $800K and the dozen or so board members earn in the $200-300K range. So this is one of the many layers. One lives in Germany, one in Michigan, another in Canada.

Texas legislature only meets every 2 years so a special session will have to be called. We do not need endless studies and investigations. Texas likes minimal government.

As early as Feb 5th NOAA alerted officials about the approaching storm. 10 days of emergency preparation would not have made up for decades of neglect but some effort could have lessened some of the damage.

@granddi I understand, but minimal government has nothing to do with this debacle.

A Negative Mind ~ Will give you a Negative Life

gertrudecloset · ‎02-13-2021

@Spurt wrote:
@gertrudecloset wrote:
@Spurt wrote:
@Kachina624 wrote:
@granddi. Some people are going to have a lot to answer for. You can probably kiss a lot of politicians goodbye. This scandal will go on for years. Millions of people snookered.
@Kachina624

To put it in Reader's Digest terms. There is a separate charge on the bill in addition to the wattage used....the separate charge is called a "fuel adjustment" and it's based on the market price for energy....thats what's going to cause the increase.....

Now our Mayor says it should definitely not be the consumers but ERCOT (the energy distributor) that should bear the additional cost due to mismanagement.

Our energy company, CPS, said they would try to spread the increase out over a 10 year period....But now other considerations are on the table.... The long-term plan is still taking shape and options on the table include bonds, federal aid and working with state lawmakers. (there's something called a "rainy day fund" the State has in place....for unforseen catastrophes)..... But I dont trust the CEO of CPS...she has been caught in so many lies as she's tried to throw other people under the bus for her part of the mis-management at the local level....

Isn't their more than one Mayor in Texas? Which part of Texas are you referring to? The set up where you are sounds similiar to where I live.

Killowats + delivery charges + any state and local taxes. However, where I am, I can spread the cost of year's heating costs over the course of the year. This just means I pay the same rate in the Summer as I do in the Winter. This is to offset winter usage so that bills are not astronomical. I live in the Northeast though. Can your area do something like this with spreading it out? Maybe shooting an email to your Mayor or getting signatures or something can force their hand.

@gertrudecloset
Im in SA.....they do have the "averaging plan" here which spreads heating/cooling costs over the full year so your rates dont spike and are leveled out.... We dont worry so much about winter bills (at least until NOW), our concern is summer energy costs---We do or DID have some of the lowest energy costs in the State...-but a lot of people have seen the handwtriting on the wall and recently tried to switch plans but some said that option is closed for now....I dont trust the person in charge of our local Energy Co either who will be representing us .....

Yes your right, its gonna be a Statewide decision for those markets under ERCOT and I am just relating what our energy CEO said she's hearing from all the other Bureaucrats in the State as well... All I know is our Mayor is going to try to fight for us consumers....I dont know what the others will do....

@Spurt I understand. We have more than one utility here for gas and electric. We can shop for heating costs. One company provides gas and the other provides electric. There are lots of companies, actually.

They are called ESCO's. There is a prominent electricity provider that will charge you to deliver the service from your ESCO to your residence. Good thing is you can shop around, but the sticker is the big provider will deliver the service. You might get a better deal on the killowats per hour, but not necessarily the delivery charges.

The good thing about is when can switch whenever we want and save a few cents here and there.

I hope you and all Texans can get ahead of this. No way in the world you should have to pay this cost prohibitive utility bills because of the way it is set up in your state. I find it shameful.

A Negative Mind ~ Will give you a Negative Life

Spurt · ‎03-20-2010

@gertrudecloset wrote:
@Spurt wrote:
@gertrudecloset wrote:
@Spurt wrote:
@Kachina624 wrote:
@granddi. Some people are going to have a lot to answer for. You can probably kiss a lot of politicians goodbye. This scandal will go on for years. Millions of people snookered.
@Kachina624

To put it in Reader's Digest terms. There is a separate charge on the bill in addition to the wattage used....the separate charge is called a "fuel adjustment" and it's based on the market price for energy....thats what's going to cause the increase.....

Now our Mayor says it should definitely not be the consumers but ERCOT (the energy distributor) that should bear the additional cost due to mismanagement.

Our energy company, CPS, said they would try to spread the increase out over a 10 year period....But now other considerations are on the table.... The long-term plan is still taking shape and options on the table include bonds, federal aid and working with state lawmakers. (there's something called a "rainy day fund" the State has in place....for unforseen catastrophes)..... But I dont trust the CEO of CPS...she has been caught in so many lies as she's tried to throw other people under the bus for her part of the mis-management at the local level....

Isn't their more than one Mayor in Texas? Which part of Texas are you referring to? The set up where you are sounds similiar to where I live.

Killowats + delivery charges + any state and local taxes. However, where I am, I can spread the cost of year's heating costs over the course of the year. This just means I pay the same rate in the Summer as I do in the Winter. This is to offset winter usage so that bills are not astronomical. I live in the Northeast though. Can your area do something like this with spreading it out? Maybe shooting an email to your Mayor or getting signatures or something can force their hand.

@gertrudecloset
Im in SA.....they do have the "averaging plan" here which spreads heating/cooling costs over the full year so your rates dont spike and are leveled out.... We dont worry so much about winter bills (at least until NOW), our concern is summer energy costs---We do or DID have some of the lowest energy costs in the State...-but a lot of people have seen the handwtriting on the wall and recently tried to switch plans but some said that option is closed for now....I dont trust the person in charge of our local Energy Co either who will be representing us .....

Yes your right, its gonna be a Statewide decision for those markets under ERCOT and I am just relating what our energy CEO said she's hearing from all the other Bureaucrats in the State as well... All I know is our Mayor is going to try to fight for us consumers....I dont know what the others will do....
@Spurt I understand. We have more than one utility here for gas and electric. We can shop for heating costs. One company provides gas and the other provides electric. There are lots of companies, actually.

They are called ESCO's. There is a prominent electricity provider that will charge you to deliver the service from your ESCO to your residence. Good thing is you can shop around, but the sticker is the big provider will deliver the service. You might get a better deal on the killowats per hour, but not necessarily the delivery charges.

The good thing about is when can switch whenever we want and save a few cents here and there.

I hope you and all Texans can get ahead of this. No way in the world you should have to pay this cost prohibitive utility bills because of the way it is set up in your state. I find it shameful.

@gertrudecloset

Im glad that you have a good system that seems to work great for the consumers..... But sometimes having options doesn't work out either....just like they promised if we had options for cable the competition would result in rates going down, instead they went up!! Also, in a small coastal Texas town they elected to not join ERCOT and they also have options of where they can go to get electric power....but their rates also went up from they had been with just one company.... from $300 to $500 during summer months..... Of course different States have different rules/authorities/power sources etc etc...that make each State's experience different.....

Animals are reliable, full of love, true in their affections, grateful. Difficult standards for people to live up to.”

gertrudecloset · ‎02-13-2021

@Spurt Don't get me wrong. I never said our system was the best. It's not. I was just explaining how it works. We get duped by the Big companies that deliver service from the ESCO's. Wile we can save by going to an ESCO based on killowat costs that can easily be offset by delivery charges that the big company charges to deliver that service to my home. That's supposedly where our Public Service Commission comes in. It's no better oft times in stopping huge increases.

And yes, I agree with your point about Cable and the merging of cell phone companies too.

A Negative Mind ~ Will give you a Negative Life

suzyQ3 · ‎03-09-2010

@gertrudecloset wrote:
@granddi wrote:
@Nightowlz wrote:
I thought they were being billed daily for usage? I read an article saying one company wiped out her account from billing daily usage. She closed the account to the debit card.
They said our gas rates went up due to usage so our bills will be higher but not $7000 or $17,000?
Our water bill will be higher too from dripping the faucets.
Yes, we are prepared for sky high water bill but that was our choice to leave the faucts dripping. We were so fortunate to have power so we ran space heaters towards the plumbing on the outside walls.

When the power failed, so did the equipment at the water treatment facilities. That's why boil water is in effect for much of Texas metro areas. Water mains have broken leading to low or no pressure. Some hospitals in Austin had NO water.

The head of ERCOT (Tx power commission) earns $800K and the dozen or so board members earn in the $200-300K range. So this is one of the many layers. One lives in Germany, one in Michigan, another in Canada.

Texas legislature only meets every 2 years so a special session will have to be called. We do not need endless studies and investigations. Texas likes minimal government.

As early as Feb 5th NOAA alerted officials about the approaching storm. 10 days of emergency preparation would not have made up for decades of neglect but some effort could have lessened some of the damage.

@granddi I understand, but minimal government has nothing to do with this debacle.

@gertrudecloset, I'm not so sure of that.

~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

Boy, there's a LOT of mininformation out there. I've read in a few places that, basically, years ago Texas wanted to have an "independent" energy grid, meaning they would not be able to send or receive electricity from other states. Lone star energy. No help from other states that could have helped. The voters wanted to go it alone, and now this is their mess.

Now it seems it's not quite the whole story ....

Cakers3 · ‎06-17-2015

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
Boy, there's a LOT of mininformation out there. I've read in a few places that, basically, years ago Texas wanted to have an "independent" energy grid, meaning they would not be able to send or receive electricity from other states. Lone star energy. No help from other states that could have helped. The voters wanted to go it alone, and now this is their mess.

Now it seems it's not quite the whole story ....

@Tinkrbl44 It isn't and the transfer of power (both ways) can happen with the Eastern Grid (800 MW) and the Mexican Grid(400MW) each perday, although not enough to stop rolling blackouts.

I wish people would stop submitting misinformation because they are basing "opinions" on what they THINK is happening instead of REALITY.

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindy D · ‎05-23-2010

@ValuSkr wrote:
@MamaWick wrote:
If your heating bill is normally, say $75 a month but sky rockets because of our blackouts and rolling blackouts (and yes, that causes increase in usage), the auto pay will deduct that sky rocketed amount.
I understand about rates increasing, but wouldn't your usage be less during blackouts and rolling blackouts?

@ValuSkr @Some Texans have chosen to not get variable rates on their consumption. Their bills will be lower than users that took the variable rate option. The reason there's such a price increase is because the price on wholesale power Texas. The residents with the variable rate power plans are charged for electricity denpending upon the amount of demand for power. When demand rises so does the price. The wholesale price for electricity has skyrocketed due to the winter storm. During the actual blackout there is less useage but before the blackout and during on times with rolling blackouts demand was peaking enough to account for the huge price increase in wholesale power.