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My Electric Bill

Posted by Glenn on October 11, 2005 - 11:32pm in The Oil Drum: Local

Last month I did a big energy conservation sweep of the apartment. I unplugged a bunch of small appliances that are a contant draw on the electricity. I converted all my lighting from old incadescent bulbs to compact florescent bulbs and turned everything off before leaving the apartment. I mostly read and listened to the radio for entertainment. Used a fan instead of the air conditioner. I even dimmed my computer monitor a bit. You get the picture...

Yesterday I got the results of my experiment. I was able to trim my electric usage from over 8 KWH a day to just 4.7 KWH per day. Some of that was just the natural transition of a hot August to a more mild September, but I think I can do even better for October.

At the price that I pay as part of the Con Edison Energy Solutions, Green Power Initiative, 5.64 cents per kilowatt hour, I paid just $8.46 for my actual electric usage. I'm not sure what the average is, but I think this is pretty low overall.

That's the good news. For the bad news, go below the fold

 

In addition to my actual electric usage charge of $8.46, there was a $12.07 "basic service charge" and then a supply charge of $19.97. At least the supply charge was based on actual usage - 12.8 cents per KWH.

That got me thinking - the actual power generation cost less than half of the cost of supply. That is the power (pun intended) of local energy generation. If we can move supply closer to the end user, we can potentially reduce total energy costs significantly.

Now turning to my gas bill, it shows zero usage, but I still pay $14.36 in basic service and tax charges. Now I do cook, but I still haven't used even 1 CCF of cooking gas in the last 3 months.

So total Con Ed bill for
August: $64.89
September: $50.31

So the question is: How many KWH do you use per month?

My Electric Bill

PDF version

9 comments

The Interloafer on October 11, 2005 - 11:49pm Permalink | Comments top
It's also the power of living small. How many rooms in your apartment, PeakGuy? I imagine that it's not more than three, given that you live in Manhattan. If your three-room bill was about $60, imagine someone who lives in a 12-room McMansion. That's $240 per month on electricity alone. Then there's the issue that apartments (surrounded as they are by other people's apartments) hold their heat far better than detached single-family houses. Then there's the issue that single-family houses can only be accessed by automobiles, and on and on and on.
Super G on October 12, 2005 - 10:52am Permalink | Comments top
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has recently launched a website on green power options: New Jersey CleanPower Choice. Jersey residents, check it out!
Glenn on October 12, 2005 - 4:10pm Permalink | Parent | Comments top
that's like the Con Edison Solutions Green Power program. Definitely the right thing to do.
Super G on October 12, 2005 - 4:28pm Permalink | Parent | Comments top
We've been on Con Edison Solutions Green Power for going on a year now. We've been locked in at 12.6¢/kW-hr. With the tax exemption on the delivery portion of the bill and the $25 rebate, it came out to about $20 extra for the whole year. That's less than 6¢ a day!
The Interloafer on October 13, 2005 - 11:48pm Permalink | Parent | Comments top
Super G: You mean you paid an extra $20 for the year, or saved that much on your bill?
Super G on October 14, 2005 - 7:44am Permalink | Parent | Comments top
Green Power costs $20 more per year than conventional power.
odograph on October 13, 2005 - 2:30pm Permalink | Comments top
I think this is interesting from a national perspective, what we pay and how the rates vary.

FWIW, my most recent bills for a southern California condo, with no heat used show:

  147 kWH electricity, over 32 days, at a total cost of 18.08
  22 therms gas, over 28 days, at a total cost of 30.84

total damage 48.92 ... spitting distance from your bill.

Details - kenmore energy star fridge, old gas kenmore dryer, gas stove.  The usual mix of fluorescent and incandescent lamps, efficient and inefficient "minor appliances."

MikeCapone on October 15, 2005 - 3:43pm Permalink | Comments top
Maybe you would be interested by the $600 solar kit:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/10/inexpensive_diy.php

Glenn on October 16, 2005 - 12:19am Permalink | Parent | Comments top
Thanks for the link. So let's see I use about 4 KWH a day x 7 days a week = 28 KWH a week. The $600 kit would give me 1KWH per week. I bet that would power my radio and a few hours of computing a week. But despite the gap, I think it would be good to have something inbetween full electricity and no electricity!

My Electric Bill

PDF version

9 comments