Community Chat

[Nonametoday]

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@catter70 wrote:

@CrazyKittyLvr2 ,you're lucky you got the rain, at least. I'm in east central Pa. and got nothing in my location. My sister lives about 15 miles north and she got the rain. BTW, how's the kitten?

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@catter70 @CrazyKittyLvr2 

I liive in the hot, previously humid south and we have not had an inch total since April 17.  Temperatures extremely high and going as high as 110 with heat index.  A/C running constantly and the power bills about to go up due to the increased oil prices since it takes gas to make electricity.

[Spurt]

And what happens when you cant get fossil fuels for your generators????....Oh and here's some "fun" one of those "wonderful" windmills that are useless without wind, caught fire after a lightning strike....just what we need 🙄

With two rate increases (one to catch up due to increase in market charges for fuel during the 2021 winter) and another rate increase for upgrading systems here locally in South Texas...PLUS our normal Fuel Adjustment Charge during the summer due to high demand....I guess our energy company, CPSENERGY...thought hey why dont we spend more money$$$$$ utility bills are exorbitant already....so check this out...they actually hired a full time Meteorologist to explain to customers the impact of weather on the Grid!!!!!!  The SAD thing it was NOT THE CUSTOMERS, but the ENERGY EXECUTIVES were the ones that paid no attention to the local meteorologists warnings on the 4 local channel newscasts, I guess they dont watch the news but should have!!!!  SO JUST ANOTHER WASTE OF RATEPAYER MONEY! 
😡🤬

[icezeus]

I was on vacation in Seattle Washington a few weeks back, and I used Uber a lot from my hotel. Every car that came was some sort of EV or hybrid.

I live in California and see them out here as well. Not as much as when I was in Seattle. My aunt even has a Tesla that she absolutely loves, but she is retired so she does not need to use it as much as a daily commuter would.

Next year my car will be 10 years old and I plan on purchasing another one. I am currently interested in a hybrid. One that uses both gas and electricity. I do have concerns that have been mentioned in this thread, and others. Our power grid across the united states are not in the best of shape, so what will that do to a already limited resource. I have seen where some have mentioned that they are living in places where power goes out due to storms. What would the cost be to replace a battery? I have not researched battery replacement costs yet, but I have seen more than once where people have said that they can cost up to $10,000. I am not sure if those are actual cost or hyperbole. If that's the case then there will be no hybrid in my future.

Lastly, I am by no means rich and I disagree that EV's are Rich peoples toys or second vehicles. For me personally I am tired of being held hostage to the whims of outside forces (meaning the cost of crude oil) to decide what gas prices are going to be. I sort of thinking it as hedging my bets with being able to use both sources for fuel. 

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

At the risk of sounded dumb, why is electricity in Texas so expensive.

We have a 1300 sq. ft. house.  It is old and not well insulated, we use home heating oil.

Our electric bill runs from $90ish in the summer with several fans going to $115 in the winter with the furnace running constantly in freezing weather.

[Cakers3]

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@CrazyKittyLvr2 wrote:

At the risk of sounded dumb, why is electricity in Texas so expensive.

We have a 1300 sq. ft. house.  It is old and not well insulated, we use home heating oil.

Our electric bill runs from $90ish in the summer with several fans going to $115 in the winter with the furnace running constantly in freezing weather.

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@CrazyKittyLvr2   Texas does not have the highest rate in the country,

The charts per state are out there, updated July 2022.

Not sure why you selected Texas but it seems Texas always gets the first shot thrown at it with no back-up.

California has almost double the rate as Texas.

Hope this answers your question.

[RedTop]

@CrazyKittyLvr2 

From what I've read, the biggest issue with Texas power comes from the fact the state has its own power grid.   

[CrazyKittyLvr2]

@Cakers3   I wasn't picking on Texas for cripes sake.  Someone mentioned rate increases plus I read where during that storm last year peoples bills really skyhigh.

It was a simple question prompted by information I read.

[Cakers3]

Per Choose Energy:   States with the highest rates per kWh

Hawaii	41.57 ¢/kWh
Connecticut	27.10 ¢/kWh
Maine	25.36 ¢/kWh
California	25.15 ¢/kWh
Massachusetts	24.25 ¢/kWh
New Hampshire	23.16 ¢/kWh
Alaska	22.75 ¢/kWh
New York	21.05 ¢/kWh
Rhode Island	20.26 ¢/kWh
Vermont	20.23 ¢/kWh

[Cakers3]

@CrazyKittyLvr2   The issue with Texas has been discussed many times.

My point is when somebody says why is electricity so high in just one state-and that state doesn't have the highest rate-it follows as to why only that state was involved.

It's that simple.

[Cakers3]

We could start discussing the pros and cons of wind energy (Texas leads in that area) or solar energy (Texas is in the top 5) but perhaps we need to look at all variables.

Rates are highest (Hawaii is a given every year) in New England and parts of the North East.

Why?  Same with CA.

We could look at all the variables because one question with one answer doesn't cover the issue completely.