Electric Bills Again

[tolivac]

sometimes the "phantom load" is necessary-I don't want to reprogram all my home theater components by unplugging them and programming them for each use-the phanton power is with it to me.This is also a factor in "real" theaters too-projectionists don't want to reprogram sound processors every day before the days run of movies!
Glad the info on cartridge fuses was helpful-
In terms of power-the US has the greatest coal reserves and ores for nuclear fuel-the usual strategy for electric power generation is to use the fuels and prime movers that are most abundant and least expensive.It is true we are using the fossil fuels quickly.The answer is now "multiple sources"this would include the nuclear,fossil fuels,and wind farms.Now envionmental folks are complaining about wind turbines becuase they spoil views,make noise.-and the "not in my backyard "syndrome.also unlike other fuels and prime movers-you can't control them.electric companies like to be able to "control" their prime movers.The great thing about electricity is there is so many diffrent "fuels" we can use to generate it.Thats where electric vehicles can be a godsend.You are not stuck with one type of fuel to run the car.And with proposed "solar parking lots" the cars can be charged while they are parked at work or the shopping place.The parking place would have a roof on it covered with the solar cells.

 

[retromom]

Shock for December

Electricity $168.89

Gas $287.82

Water $39.33

The look on my face....PRICELESS! >:-0

 

[toggleswitch]

For us FORMER accountants:

Gas (dryer) $12 per month
Electric (cooking, A/C etc) $183 per momth
Fuel oil (heat and hot water)$177 per month
Water $20 per month

All on budget plans.

Knowing what your expenses are in advance (ostensibly *FIXED* expenses)- priceless.

 

[vivalalavatrice]

Complaints to American Electricity?!?

As far as I remember the most electricity you use in North-America is produced by nuclear resources... what would we have to say in Italy without neclear?!?!? In another forum I said that: we consume a lot of energy more than that we can produce by our electric centrals (almost the 90% are idro-electric centrals, the remaining 10% is produced by wind/geothermic rescources). That's why we have to import electricity from other countries as France or Swiss which produce nuclear energy the same and that make our bills higher than the ones of the other Europe countries.
Anyway here in Italy 1 Kwh costs from 0,008€ to 0,012€... it depends on how Kwh you use per year. About gas or water I dont'remember... I have to ask my father who is busy with them...

BYE

 

[appnut]

The TX Public Utility Commision has approved putting wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico

 

[DADoES]

I hear there's been preliminary application for a power plant on the Colorado River near Wharton. But I hear it'd be gas-fired.

We already have STP near Bay City, but who knows where that power goes. My electric mostly comes from a plant near San Antonio (I think that's where) that runs on lignite with gas as a backup during maintenance.

 

[sudsmaster]

Actually, only a small fraction of electricity in America is produced by nuclear power plants. After the Three Mile Island near "China Syndrome" in the 1970's, construction of new plants has virtually halted, and older plants are being decomissioned at rather high cost (which is tacked onto consumer energy bills).

Nuclear does have some things going for it - plentiful fuel, no CO2 or smog-producing emissions. But plant siting, security, and waste disposal are serious problems. As well as the occasional melt-down. Additionally, the radioactivity at the core of a nuclear plant takes its toll on unrepairable components, so eventually the plant has to be mothballed. All this drives the real costs of nuclear energy rather high. But maybe there are more advanced designs that are more efficient, reliable, secure, and long lasting.

Solar photo voltaic offers great promise, if only they could improve the efficiency (currently around 10%) and lower the cost of the panels.

 

[toggleswitch]

My, What a lovely glow .

Nuclear does have some things going for it.

Too bad we cant get Bush to service and maintain them, e.g. change the fuel rods. Maybe the radiation would sterilize him at the very least.

 

[DADoES]

Yikes!

The grandmother's electric is $241. And gas $31. She has been using the heating function on her window unit (Friedrich, not an el-cheapo) and a small space heater in the bedroom, instead of the open gas space heater (of which there's only one in the kitchen). Dunno how much difference it would have made the other way, witness Venus's numbers. Granny prefers temps high enough to make me uncomfortable ... she is accustomed to that open gas heater that gets hotter and hotter instead of the window unit with a thermostat -- gotta *feel* the heat. Complains about being cold when it's a perfectly fine 72°F, or even higher.

 

[rayjay]

Gas Bill

We us gas for heating, hot water and clothes drying.

November $100.00
December $237.00

I did not think it was that much colder in December!

 

[sudsmaster]

Nov-Dec: $62 for Gas

Yikes. My Nov-December gas bill was all of $62 (November was a warm month here, only 38 Therms used). December's bill hasn't arrive yet, although I expect it will be here in a couple of days. I just checked the meter... am on track for using about 25% less than last year, mostly due to the milder weather, but also because I've turned the thermostat down from 68 to 65, and worked through the holidays.

The good news is that this will qualify the January portion of the bill for a 20% rebate. Hopefully I'll also be able to keep the consumption down for the next couple of months to continue getting the rebate.

 

[brisnat81]

Our costs this quater for electricity

90 Days
$0.13AUD/KWH
2300KWH
Total $299AUD

Our water bill was $40 for 3 months.

 

[geoff]

A learning lesson

Connecticut is the richest state in the nation for most likely one reason. It is expensive as all Hell to live here. Only 7% of the entire state falls under the category "millionaire" The rest (read Fairfield County) MIGHT only make 6 figures LOL.As for the rest of us?? Hmmmm. Taxes have jumped thousands of dollars. Example, My elderly Uncle George sold his house in Lordship Stratford about 10 years ago because the property taxes were too high. $10000 a year. After he moved out, the new owners kept us informed of property taxes on the house every year. That $10,000 a year has jumped to a nauseating $30,000 this year. My Uncle moved again this year cause the property taxes on his current house rose to $10000 again. Of course the man falls under the 7% of the state and cries poor on a daily basis LOL. (believe me, it gets old fast)EVERYTHING is going up. Electric for our family of 3 teeters at about $200 a month. Water at a relatively cheap $100 every 3 months. We are rediculously lucky to have a locked in oil price of $1.99/gal. meaning it costs us about $160 a month for oil. I have heard from many friends that they are paying WELL over $3.00 a gallon for oil and have $500-$600 dollar a month oil bills. That is outrageous. Of course, everything else is mind blowing. Over $120 a month for basic cable and a cable modem. Car insurance that is getting cheaper for the state but still through the roof in comparison to other states. Even TIDE is now just about $10 for 100 ounces LOL. This one I still can't get out of my head. My friend Mike heats his house with gas. He shut off all of the parts of the house that didn't need to be heated. He even shut off the kitchen and only heated 3 rooms. His gas bill for the month?? OVER $1000!!!!!! Oh I KNOW why Connecticut is the richest state. It's cause the state has all of our money LOL.

 

[sudsmaster]

Property taxes would be as high as Connecticu here in California, except for the 1978 initiative called Proposition 13 that put limits on how much they could be raised each year. It raised a big outcry about how local governments would go broke, at the time, and I opposed it because I was a renter and couldn't see any benefit. But now that I'm a homeowner, I appreciate the fact that taxes are more reasonable than they otherwise would be. I also appreciate that when I retire, and the house is paid off, taxes won't drive me to sell and move somewhere else.

Whenever a home changes hands, except for some limited circumstances such as inheritance, the tax base is reassessed and taxes in this hot real estate market shoot up again. But they are pretty much limited to no more than about 1% of assessed value. Anything over that needs 2/3 local voter approval. Right now my local school district is proposing a 1.2 cents per square foot of lot increase, as a "parcel tax", which I'm inclined to vote down. And they decided to hold a special election in April for this, instead of waiting till June for the regular election. What a waste. They will have to get 2/3 approval and I think they went for a special election in hopes that the turnout would be low and they could have those who support the tax turn out in numbers. We'll have to see about that. I don't have a problem supporting the schools, but I don't think it's quite fair to base a school tax on lot size. And there seems to be a lot of waste and incompetence in the local school district, especially with overpaid administration.

There are rumblings from some quarters to repeal or revise the Prop 13 state property tax law. Most people think it will never happen. I understand there are some unfortunate clauses/loopholes in the current law that allow commercial property owners to buy and sell property without triggering a reassessment. I would support closing those loopholes, but even that seems like it wouldn't pass muster. But who knows what will happen in 20 years.

 

[tolivac]

"Nuke Plants"Actually we need them more than ever-the "accidents" at Three Mile Island and Cherynoble were due to HUMAN error.If the equipment was allowed to do what it was intended-these "accidents" wouldn't happen.If this country would install "breeder" reactors-we could generate MORE power with them and RECHARGE the fuel rods from the conventional "fission" reactors.Maybe then we wouldn't have power "shortages"also would solve the problem of what to do with "spent" fuel rods-these can be "recharged"you use a breeder reactor to do it-the use of breeders for "making bombs" is a wives tale spread by our know-nothing media.Bomb grade fuel and reactor grade fuels are two completely diffrent animals.I am for Pres Bush allowing the licensing of more nuclear power plants-we will need something to replace aging fossil fuel plants-I am afraid "solar"photovoltiac technology is not going to do it.Too expensive and innefficient.It has its place though-excellent for generating small amounts power for where it is needed and recharging electric cars,and batteries.The solar power would be a poor choice for "central" power plant use-and that is what our systems are designed around-doubt that will change.Maybe Solar "thermal" power would work for central use-but requires a larger place to site the plant than nuclear or fossil thermal plants.Also the site would have to be unobstructed to the sky.that would mean out in the middle of a desert.

 

[Designgeek]

See also the December issue of Scientific American re. new nuclear technology that allows conversion of 99% of nuclear waste into new nuclear fuel.

There are many new designs for fission reactors right now, which are "intrinsically safe," meaning they cannot have a catastrophic accident: the basic physics of their designs prevent that. In one case, overheating causes the fuel elements to expand and thereby increase the distance between the actual fuel in each element, which shuts down the fission reaction altogether. As we say around here, "automatically!"

Apparently there is some new technology on the horizon for producing photovoltaic panels using "quantum dots." Estimated efficiency is just over 60%. This will make solar competitive with nuclear and wind, and open up wider use of PVs in situations that would not have been feasible before.

"Greens" who know anything about engineering, support nuclear because it's the most sustainable & ecologically benign energy source next to wind & solar. Fortunately more and more are coming around to this perspective as they learn more about the technology. NIMBYs who call themselves "environmentalists" are merely hypocrites, of which there are no shortage.

Despite my numerous disagreements with the Bush Admin, at least they're doing a decent job getting an energy policy going. They licensed Federal lands totaling more square miles than all of England, for wind farms. And they've got the ball rolling again for nuclear. And Bush has been giving energy press conferences at biodiesel plants. There are other issues that need to be dealt with, such as incentives to Detroit to produce more hybrids and high-efficiency diesels (e.g. the VW Lupo which gets 100 miles per gallon on diesel), but those items can be dealt with over time.

Rayjay, part of the increase in your gas bill is the general increase in the price of natural gas. "Peak oil" is also "peak natural gas," in that the factors driving the former also drive the latter.

Meanwhile, here's me doing my part for conservation, with the current indoor temperature at 61 degrees Fahrenheit, adding a layer of clothing any time I feel a chill, and staying pretty cozy.

 

[appnut]

Just got mine for December: $129.05 for 890 kwh. Works out to be 14.5 cents per kwh. And it was 10.5 last June.

 

[perc-o-prince]

I just saw our electric bill an hour ago and it has taken an hour for me to absorb it!! It was bad enough that our oil bill was $1000 for Dec but the electric bill just came in at $415. It has doubled!!! We don't waste and if you were to drive by our house you would think that nobody was home!! I have to keep certain sections of the house warm for my grandfather (it is HIS house ) but the rest of the house is kept fairly cool. Thanks for letting me vent!!! That's all I can afford to do this month

 

[rickr]

You can go ahead and "vent" dear,but don't let any "heat" out!

 

[perc-o-prince]

Thanks!! Hell, I was just about to go thru the roof when I realized that I couldn't afford the repair