TXU increased my kilowatt charge from 12.7 cents to 14.8 cents effective 01/01/06!!! ( 1 Views )

no kitty!

My bill has gone from $353.69 to $412.18 a month. An increase of $58.49 per month is pretty big if you live check to check and watch every dollar. I'm dreading having to power down my 3 boxen. They currently fold around the clock but it looks like that may have to change.

(serifali, Botswana)

I'm dreading this coming electric bill. It's going to be big. I figure I can do this for at least one month though full tilt then back off so I can eat again.

(selcuk, Peru)

Be glad it's as low per kWh as it is. It was overf 14 cents for me last month from TXU, and reliant(the big boys here in H-town) were around 16 cents at the same time.

Of course, I only use about 500kWh per month in the winter. I haven't turned my a/c or heat on in 3 months, and I remember to shut everything non-essential off before leaving/going to bed. I've got 2 boxen folding in my place, one xp-m@2.4GHz, and a 1.86GHz laptop(Pentium m). I thought I used a lot of power, since all my appliances are electric. I'm glad I live in a moderate climate in the winter.

(leyla, Falkland Islands (Malvinas))

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandmanx

Of course, I only use about 500kWh per month in the winter...

Try 2785kWh. That was my usage this month. :eek:

(feyza, Virgin Islands, U.s.)

I would get rid of the P3 850 and Celeron 677. They can't be very good on the speed/kw chart. Maybe give them to a family member and in exchange for the free computer they will fold under your name.

(baþak, Saint Helena)

I guess I'm lucky to pay around $150 a month for water/sewer and electric in Michigan, I have around 4 boxes running around the clock!

(necmi can, Malaysia)

my electricity bill was $9, $9, and $11.57 for the past 3 months.. I don't understand it... since I got more electronics than best buy in my apartment. (and all my appliances are electric).

(yusuf, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aratech

Try 2785kWh. That was my usage this month. :eek:

Check outside you house for extension cords to be sure all your neighbors aren't charging their hybrid cars off your outlets. Thats an assload of electricity!!!

(tuðrul, Martinique)

Hell yeah it is

(kenan, Moldova, Republic of)

Do your local power companies do usage approximations? I believe ours (either that or our gas company) does this some months, and then after a month or two, checks the real usage vs. what they expected, and you either pay more if they underestimated, or less (or even have a balance) if they overestimated usage.

If your company was making low estimates for a couple of months or something, I could see where you might be charged for disgusting amounts of power this month.

(yasin, Senegal)

I think its mostly the Gas companies that do estimates. Our Water and Electric is read every month.

(gamze, Zimbabwe)

Man I'm glad the local rate is 7.5 cents per KWh, my average bill for the apartment is about $75 a month with all electric appliances, and 3 fulltime folders. 14.8 cents per KWh must be deriving power from union workers running on treadmills to generate power :eek:

Quote:

Originally Posted by benamaster

I think its mostly the Gas companies that do estimates. Our Water and Electric is read every month.

My local electric company will do average usage where they average your bill using the previous 13 months of usage, and then check it once in a while, or you can enter the meter reading yourself and then they just come out once in a great while to verify it.

(berna, Andorra)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aratech

Try 2785kWh. That was my usage this month. :eek:

That is friggin crazy. Unless you have a large family living in the house. During summer at my parents' place, the a/c was on 24/7, pretty much the same thing with the rig and a buttload of other appliances and the usage came out to aroun 900 kWh. Maybe something might be borked with your meter.

(burak, Jordan)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aratech

Try 2785kWh. That was my usage this month. :eek:

I generally use almost 3000 kWh...in the heat of the summer, it can go over 4000 kWh.

(ugur, Hong Kong)

gotta love being 15 and having the parents pay the bill...it's probably gonna turn around and kick me in the ass one of these days though.

(sanane, Czech Republic)

Quote:

Originally Posted by toymachineman19

gotta love being 15 and having the parents pay the bill...it's probably gonna turn around and kick me in the ass one of these days though.

you mean your dad literally doing that to you? :p

(hakan, Guadeloupe)

I'm averaging 69 kWh per day right now from what I can tell. That comes to 2070 kWh for this month. For some reason last months bill was for 2576 kWh and I was running 3 computers instead of the 14-15 that are running now. I'll have to keep watching the meter to see what's going on.

(murat, Honduras)

Quote:

Originally Posted by magnusvir

you mean your dad literally doing that to you? :p

If our bill is high, and he puts two and two together about having I think 4 computers running 24/7 yeah, but 4 comptuers isn't bad, and I turn off the monitors, so I doubt he'll even notice :p

(mustafa, Jordan)

Quote:

Originally Posted by toymachineman19

If our bill is high, and he puts two and two together about having I think 4 computers running 24/7 yeah, but 4 comptuers isn't bad, and I turn off the monitors, so I doubt he'll even notice :p

Thats it son, you're busted. Now come down stairs so I can kick you in the ass, while we discuss the power bill!!

(levent, Spain)

haha that sounded just weird :p

(mehmet, Benin)

Gexa has done the same thing to us. In the summer, we were paying < 9 cents/kWh. Our December usage was less than a third of what we used in the summer. And we were charged over 14 cents/kWh. So we cut our usage by almost 70% but only saw a decrease of about 55% in our bill. Stupid meter reading charge...I kind of want to get solar panels now, so I can pump power back in the grid and charge the electric company for it. Ah, well, as soon as I'm a bit richer and we get to build our dream home, perhaps then I'll be able to do it. Until then, *sigh*.

(Mahmut, Saint Helena)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mohonri

Gexa has done the same thing to us. In the summer, we were paying < 9 cents/kWh. Our December usage was less than a third of what we used in the summer. And we were charged over 14 cents/kWh. So we cut our usage by almost 70% but only saw a decrease of about 55% in our bill. Stupid meter reading charge...I kind of want to get solar panels now, so I can pump power back in the grid and charge the electric company for it. Ah, well, as soon as I'm a bit richer and we get to build our dream home, perhaps then I'll be able to do it. Until then, *sigh*.

Solar takes a long time to pay for itself. Wind power and hydro power are much more efficient, and work 24 hours a day, rather than about 10 hours during our winter.

It's best to just try and be efficient as you can with what you got. I use all floro lights in my place, and remember to shut off anything that sucks power(other than my folding boxen).

If you really care, check out powertochoose.org....there is a company that serves clear lake that is pure natural gas, and is around 9 cents per kWh...at least right now. :rolleyes:

(^^^^kabullen^^^^, Haiti)

if you can drill a hole deep enough and cap it pressure tight aka a few hundred pounds of pipe you should be able to get a decent ammount of steam if you are able to get water in there that is of course to run the large steam turbine generate you handbuilt -_- that will power your boxen for a while.

(qülþah, Mozambique)

If you guys are using that much power to run anything less than 2GHz boxen, you should really consider ditching the old systems and using the money you'll save on electricity to up your production by buying a new A64 or two. One fast new system is much more efficient than two or three old ones and will easily outproduce them in the points category as well.

(bedir kaçakçi, Liberia)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattman

If you guys are using that much power to run anything less than 2GHz boxen, you should really consider ditching the old systems and using the money you'll save on electricity to up your production by buying a new A64 or two. One fast new system is much more efficient than two or three old ones and will easily outproduce them in the points category as well.

You're right. The trick comes in convincing SWMBO that it's worth the initial cost...especially when you have half a dozen other projects around the house that are all demanding funding! :p

Quote:

Solar takes a long time to pay for itself. Wind power and hydro power are much more efficient, and work 24 hours a day, rather than about 10 hours during our winter.

Problem is, wind isn't consistent where I am, and the city frowns upon erecting wind turbines on 7,000 sq.ft. lots. :p The advantage of solar is that it has no moving parts, so it's low/no maintenance.

(havva, Seychelles)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mohonri

Wind is pretty constant when you get up in the air a bit, but yeah, unless you are in a deed free area, you're kinda screwed. Try and price out solar sometime if you're bored, and you quickly see why it isn't very cost effective. Wind power is pretty cheap though when you build your own, and they don't have to be monsterous, and 30-40ft in the air is good enough. Then again, it all depends on the subdivision nazis that have nothing better to do than enforce 'no antenna' restrictions.

(filiz, Tajikistan)

This is a good time to switch to Green Mountain Energy, if you live in Texas.

(serkan, Niue)

Well I feel blessed for two things reading through this post...

a) Most of my boxes are school borgs
b) My last power bill was being charged at 5.9 cents Canadian / KwH

:cool:

(hüseyin, Luxembourg)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarneyGumble

This is a good time to switch to Green Mountain Energy, if you live in Texas.

Elaborate please...

(SONER, India)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandmanx

"Subdivision nazi's" is putting it....extremely kindly. Want an example? Ok, our garbage day is Friday. Two weekends ago we went out of town Thursday night (after putting out the trash) and got back Monday evening. Tuesday I bring the trash cans back in. A few days later we get a letter from the HOA saying "put away your garbage can before we do it for you and charge you." These are the same people who drive around looking for lawns that haven't been mowed this week (yep, I missed it once and got a letter), or (get this) excessive leaves in the street by your house(yep, happened to me)! I could go on...

Aaaaaanyways....I HAVE priced out solar, as it turns out. About the cheapest you can get is about $42 /kWh/month. Which, after a bit of math, comes out to about 30 years to pay back the initial cost. Of course, that's based on a very-worst-case scenario of 4 hours of full sunlight per day. A more realistic estimate would put the yearly average at 6 or 7 hours per day, knocking the 30 years down to 20 or less. So at this point, it's not economical in the short term.

There *is* a measure of security when you know that if the power grid goes down, you'll have power while your neighbors suffer. :)

(ibrahim, Zambia)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aratech

Elaborate please...

If you live in TX, use this: http://www.powertochoose.org/

Slam your zip code in and compare away.

(Hakan , Cape Verde)

If I was rich I'd build a monolithic dome out in the country, install wind and solar power equipment and drill a well with filtration system for water. I would cut off all communication from the world except for satelite TV and high speed internet access. Last but not least, I would fill an underground bunker with rack after rack of dual "opterOWN" boxen which would quickly rocket me to # 1 for the [H]orde!!!!

Okay, so I'm a little crazy....

(ipek, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aratech

If I was rich I'd build a monolithic dome out in the country, install wind and solar power equipment and drill a well with filtration system for water. I would cut off all communication from the world except for satellite TV and high speed internet access. Last but not least, I would fill an underground bunker with rack after rack of dual "opterOWN" boxen which would quickly rocket me to # 1 for the [H]orde!!!!

Okay, so I'm a little crazy....

Little?
:confused: That exhibits anti-socialism, over compensation and extreme prejudice towards Intel processors. I can allow the first two, but come on! How ya gonna heat the place?

(mustafa, Spain)

agreed.... you have to have some Intel chips to heat your dome!! you have to go at least 75/25 with AMD/Intel..... how else are you going to get QMDs,etc,etc??

Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

(Tufan, Switzerland)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aratech

Elaborate please...

They use all renewable energy sources. Rates do not increase because of fossil fuel price increase. I pay 14.5 cents/Kwh, my rates don't increase.

(Tolga, Slovenia)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ICE_9

Little?
:confused: That exhibits anti-socialism, over compensation and extreme prejudice towards Intel processors. I can allow the first two, but come on! How ya gonna heat the place?

One of these should heat up the place right? I could run the heat pipes right into the foundation.

and over compensation? I resent that! :p

overcompensation - (psychiatry) an attempt to overcome a real or imagined defect or unwanted trait by overly exaggerating its opposite

(ilkay, Poland)

Electricity here in BC is pretty cheap: $0.0605 per kWh Canadian!!!

(yasar, China)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aratech

If I was rich I'd build a monolithic dome out in the country, install wind and solar power equipment and drill a well with filtration system for water. I would cut off all communication from the world except for satelite TV and high speed internet access. Last but not least, I would fill an underground bunker with rack after rack of dual "opterOWN" boxen which would quickly rocket me to # 1 for the [H]orde!!!!

Okay, so I'm a little crazy....

That would be quite efficient if you wire the dome itself to transmit satellite/HSI. Who needs the rest of the world, just allow the eastern european hot chicks in.

Currently I'm working in Utard...um, Utah (the locals are Utards :D) and electric is .067/kwh. Gotta love them $38 bills with 3 boxes and a combined total of ~1550W of psu's.
The apt I just moved out of was all elec and monthly bill was ~$225...closer to $300 is the summer to try n run an a/c unit that couldn't cool an ice chest.

(l, Austria)

Quote:

Originally Posted by benamaster

I think its mostly the Gas companies that do estimates. Our Water and Electric is read every month.

Mine only reads the power every other month at most, usualy they go 3 - 4 months between readings. Never noticed it until one month I got a bill and the meter reading on it was higher that what the meter outside read.

(irem, Palau)

I noticed too our Gas is "Pro Rated" where we pay the same every month and they read two or three times a year and estimate the usage through the winter, so at the end of the year we can have either a large payment or credit depending on how bad the winter was.

(nur, Malaysia)

TXU increased my kilowatt charge from 12.7 cents to 14.8 cents effective 01/01/06!!! ( 1 Views )

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