Hurley's Gold

Fixed or variable electric rate?

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  • Southpaw

    Forum BSer
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    Mar 30, 2009
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    Guadalupe Co.
    We are fixed and I have always put away a set amount every month for our electric based on just slightly over what historically our highest bills have been. It looks like we are coming in at about $5 under that.
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    cygunner

    Devil's Den - Gettysburg
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    Jan 20, 2021
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    Cypress, TX
    The thing that bugs me about electric rates is W(orthless) Bush promised reduced rates due to competition when he got deregulation. Like most of his promises - never happened. We pay higher rates now with Reliant than before. They have pretty well stopped sending me their customer satisfaction surveys.
     

    oldag

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    The thought with the milsurp is two fold. One they run on diesel which is quite stable and can be bought in advance and stored in barrels which the genset can draw on with aux pump. Two they are designed as primary power and can run thousands of hours if properly maintained. Really I just want to tinker with it. The Generacs are good but run on NG which could go down too. Of course they can be set up to run on LP from a tank too. I really probably need neither as our power has only gone down for over 24 hours twice in the 23 years since we bought our house new in 1998.
    Generac supplies diesel models as well. At least in the larger sizes.

    Propane as well, from someone I asked recently.
     

    oldag

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    The thing that bugs me about electric rates is W(orthless) Bush promised reduced rates due to competition when he got deregulation. Like most of his promises - never happened. We pay higher rates now with Reliant than before. They have pretty well stopped sending me their customer satisfaction surveys.

    I am paying significantly less than I did before, adjusting for inflation.
     

    oldag

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    Well oldag I am adjusting for retirement and to hell with inflation and other excuses.
    Not an excuse, just a fact.

    Would be kind of senseless to complain, for instance, that a burger used to be 99 cents in 1960, but costs $4 today. Wages are a lot higher today than they were in 1960.
     

    cvgunman

    Not a Leftist douchebag!
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    Oct 9, 2017
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    Mckinney TX
    Finally checked and see we are on fixed rate (.097/kwh). We are with the GCEC (Greyson-Collin Electric Coop) and got our bill today. Time period from 1/14 - 2/14 was $89.01. I can't imagine it going sky high next month as we were intermittently without power during the snowpocalypse. Guess time will tell.
     
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    ktaylor966

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    Aug 9, 2020
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    DFW
    This may be covered in another post but for people that have signed up for fixed rate electricity they may be saving some huge bills. Those that have variable rate plans may be in for severe sticker shock. I have Direct Energy, just signed onto my internet site at Direct Energy and for 1/15-2/16/2021 my bill is lower than the previous month and my predicted bill for next moth is even lower. If you have an auto pay option on your credit card your next bill may exceed your credit card balance if you do not have a fixed rate plan. Check it and hopefully you are not going to get sticker shock.
    I have fixed like many on this board but even if we didn’t I think the State is stepping in. This didn’t go unnoticed and I doubt the consumers will be on the hook for the full amount. They’ll get “bailed out.”
     

    candcallen

    Crotchety, Snarky, Truthful. You'll get over it.
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    2   0   0
    Jul 23, 2011
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    Little Elm
    I have fixed like many on this board but even if we didn’t I think the State is stepping in. This didn’t go unnoticed and I doubt the consumers will be on the hook for the full amount. They’ll get “bailed out.”
    There is a reconciliation rate, if that's the proper term, that's is applied to bills to spread the pain over all customers over a longer period. For co ops anyways. If I understand what I read correctly. You already pay it to begin with so it won't be a big deal.
     

    Dumpnpump

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    Jun 6, 2020
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    Oldag,
    In response to your posting re gen sets. I installed what I call a poor mans Generac. We have wired an exterior outlet into the breaker box with all the safety interlocks to prevent me from electrocuting a lineman. Being installed by a licensed electrition, it is also a legal installation. Bought a Firman tri fuel gen set with 7500 watts capacity, more than enough to run my little spread, but they also make a 10000 watt model. As improvements progress to my system and I get natural gas piped to where I need it, I will convert the fuel over to NG but it will also run on propane as well as gasoline. We don't even use it that often maybe once a year. but the wife needs electric to run her CPAP so for less than $2,000.00 I have whole house back up, heat, well pump, lights and AC if I don't get crazy with the other things. It does not auto start or switch over but does have an electric starter powered by a 12 volt battery which I keep a battery tender on. Good luck!
    Dumpnpump
     

    cvgunman

    Not a Leftist douchebag!
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    Oct 9, 2017
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    Mckinney TX
    A variable electric rate is a gamble. I feel sorry for those that get burned the way I fell sorry for someone that loses a big bet at the tables in Vegas.
    I look at it he same way. Those on variable gambled. In the good times, they saved money, but now the tide turned and they're on the hook for it. I sure hope the taxpayers don't have to bail them out for their gambling habit.
     

    Younggun

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    6   0   0
    Jul 31, 2011
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    hill co.
    It’s a gamble for sure. But not sure if it’s reasonable to expect electric rates to hit $9k/MW without warning.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    cvgunman

    Not a Leftist douchebag!
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    16   0   0
    Oct 9, 2017
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    Mckinney TX
    It’s a gamble for sure. But not sure if it’s reasonable to expect electric rates to hit $9k/MW without warning.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    That's true and needs to be explored. I hear Griddy? is one of the providers that told customers to please leave them and switch to another provider. Only problem these customers faced was the time it takes to switch providers ( 7-10 days) and that they gambled with their electricity rate. I could not do that to my family.
     

    mitchntx

    Sarcasm Sensei
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    5   0   0
    Jan 15, 2012
    4,117
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    Waco-ish
    I confirmed that my Co-Op is a fixed rate, but has a fuel price multiplier (pcrf). So it appears I have a fixed rate, technically, but am tied to market whims, regardless.

    In my case, the PCRF multiplier looks at the highest cost found in a billing cycle and applies it to the whole cycle. So when I used 150kW on the 15th and 16th (the highest wholesale cost days, I assume) and the rest of the month I averaged ~50kW or less, the PCRF from the 15th and 16th will be applied for the whole month, not just the crazy days.

    I can deal with paying for massive wholesale price increases due to supply and demand on the days when those prices skyrocket. I get it. But it seems a bit unfair when I have to pay the inflated price for days when the wholesale price are "normal".
     

    candcallen

    Crotchety, Snarky, Truthful. You'll get over it.
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    2   0   0
    Jul 23, 2011
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    Little Elm
    I confirmed that my Co-Op is a fixed rate, but has a fuel price multiplier (pcrf). So it appears I have a fixed rate, technically, but am tied to market whims, regardless.

    In my case, the PCRF multiplier looks at the highest cost found in a billing cycle and applies it to the whole cycle. So when I used 150kW on the 15th and 16th (the highest wholesale cost days, I assume) and the rest of the month I averaged ~50kW or less, the PCRF from the 15th and 16th will be applied for the whole month, not just the crazy days.

    I can deal with paying for massive wholesale price increases due to supply and demand on the days when those prices skyrocket. I get it. But it seems a bit unfair when I have to pay the inflated price for days when the wholesale price are "normal".
    They stretch that out so you arent screwed all at once.
     
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