Power bill at ole joyful's place

13 years ago

We recently went to Smart meters for power, and there are three prices related to time-of-day usage, cheapest nights, weekends, 6.3 cents/kwh; mid-range, morning and evening either spring and fall and during day in winter and summer, 9.9 cents kwh, and peak rate, morning and evening in two seasons and during the day or morning and evening in the other two, I can't remember which, at 11.8 cents/kwh.

I find that the major part of our usage (including landlord's shop) is during nights and weekends. Prices for only power ran from a low of $23.22 in June to a high of $49.90 in the next month, only slightly over a quarter of the total bill.

Delivery charges, somewhat related to the price of the electricity used, but it's not a direct relationship, ranged from $44.01 to a high of $58.04 the next month, same as the earlier ones.

There are regulatory charges, as well, from a low of $2.13 (same as above) and a high of $4.19, as above.

The system has developed a debt and, despite their not having built a major generating station in 35 years, so we figure that they should have money in the till for replacement, we're paying that off, from $1.92 to $4.00 monthly, as above.

There's a harmonized federal and provincial sales tax added, from $9.27 to $15.10, again, same months as above.

Total usage for the year that we paid was $1,031.05, but the province has been providing a temportary reduction of 10% of the bill, so that's only 90% of what the full cost was.

I haven't used an air conditioner, but used a dehumidifier in summer, no humidifier in winter, use an oil-fired furnace and pump water from our wells, including some for garden and landlord's shop where he repairs farm machinery. Landlord has wood-fired furnace in the shop, he cuts his own wood.

Landlord pays 10 - under 15% of the bill.

ole joyful

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Comments (7)

glenda_al
13 years ago
My youth days, we had a coal burning furnace in the basement.

Coal truck would drive to the back yard and coal sent down a chute to the basement. My dad's job to shovel it and keep us warm.
susanjf_gw
13 years ago
just got my gas bill...about $350 this month...electric has been running at a more moderate $200....i admit the heat doesn't go much below 70, and yes we do need more insulation...and we're one of the few home with NO fireplace to supplement...

one town here in detroit got the water bill messed up BIG time...a middle class, lets say 1000 ft homes (i call them motor indusry homes, built for the workers) of $2 -3000 grand cause the bill didn't go out, for over a year...and they had actually cut off some of the customer water because otheir error??
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Ole joyful's recent history
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Comments (21)
The car was missing if I pushed more than most gently on the throttle, so I took it in for repair ... they said likely new spark plugs or wires, put them on and it worked better ... ... but ... ... there was low pressure in one cylinder and they thought that it needed to have the valves ground ... ... educated guess probably $600. - 700. When I took it in the following week they lent me a van while they were working on mine - gas gauge didn't work, probably about 1/4 tank ... so I put in $10.00 worth. Friend had said he'd like some straw for his garden and I figured that I could get several bales into the van, and only one or two into my little car ... and the back hatch has to be opeend by baler twine. Loaded a bunch of tarps into the van to collect the straw bits, it's old and breaks easily. I've been watching the female canine of a friend who's having surgery for a growth on his neck, and a boisterous canine and a half dozen bales of straw in the same van aren't a recipe for a good game. The tarps covered most of the necessary area, so I was able to get it reasonably well cleaned out without too great effort. When I went to check on the car ... it seems that a valve was a bit bent, so more work necessary. When they were finished, bill was about $1,200. So I can't let the car die for quite a while, yet! I don't think that I've seen the lady since - she'll get a kick out of the dilemma, I expect! Her uncle who died at 91 had been a major executive in a large Canadian supermarket chain ... ... she recently installed real granite counter tops and top of island which includes counter for eating and bar stools, in her kitchen: shiny ... and shiny bits that appear deep into the structure. Was it on the video that I was characterized as, " ... a sweet old dude"? She says that I remind her of her grandfather. Time to bring this literary masterpiece to a close, I think. ole joyfuelled ... was that gas?
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Problem: 400 lbs. meat, 90 degr heat, power outage 6 hour, ongoin
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While a power interruption of a few hours isn't of great consequence to people with a freezer ... longer periods can be rather hair-rising. I've thought that it might be good idea for people where they have power interruptions from time to time to gather a group of, say, four to six or so, to share in buying a generator, possibly of somewhat better quality and capacity than one person would wish to, alone, to move from house to house when the power is out, to keep the food in the freezers intact. Some people where I visited with a generator wanted me to fire up their furnace, but most have an unbreakable connection to the power box and I was unwilling to risk the possibility of the main switch getting reconnected inadvertently, thus pushing power back out on to a line that the linemen understood to be dead, possibly with drastic consequences. Where codes allow, I think that it would be advisable for people to have a push-and-twist connection between the power box and the furnace. When the power is down for an extended period, most people are not going to their place of employment, so would be free to move the generator from member's house to member's house during the day and night ... or even to help an outsider, should they so choose. It would be necessary to have at least one member who had an establishment large enough to store the generator without its being a nuisance. Such a plan would provide cheap insurance for people with a substantial amount of expensive food in their freezers ... and have you noticed how the price of that food has escalated in recent times ... while the wage increases earned by most ordinary workers have been much more ... meagre? Does anyone foresee a substantial change in that scenario, any time soon? ole joyful
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ole joyful's recent adventure
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Greetings, everyone. I'd had no indication prior to that trip that something was wrong with the rad. I had a '90 Dodge "Colt" (also standard tranny) from about '97 to about '04 or '05. I used it to travel the 12 miles or so to Uncle's farm nearly daily after his death, to make it look lived in, until the farm was sold, and, as I was usually travelling at midnight or 2 a.m or so, when there was little traffic, found that I could coast over 16 of the 20 km. trip ... and if anyone had told me that they could coast 80% of the time, I'd have thought them to be lying. Didn't have any clutch or transmission troubles with it. When the mechanic said that, at about 200K miles, it was risky to put it on the road, donated it to a charitable agency for a charitable receipt. When I initiated a discussion here about coasting some time ago, some said that such is illegal in their state. I've asked several police people and have been told that it's my responsibility to be in charge of my vehicle, and to drive in a safe manner. I don't usually do it if someone is following me rather closely, as it is not fair to interfere with his/her progress. _____________________________ The lady in question called me the next evening, to ask whether I'd got home O.K., and I told her that I had, and of the issues that I'd had to deal with ... and asked her how she knew that I'd had any problems. She said that she hadn't seen me at the commital, or afterward at the luncheon, and that she had been pretty sure that I'd have been there, so thought that something probably went wrong. And, yes ... I've seen her again ... why not? Last evening, as a matter of fact ... for a short visit before coming to the library ... but hadn't time to make this post, then. Any other questions/comments/(advisories)? ole joyful
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ole joyful calling
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Well, olejoyful - it must feel great to be missed by so many caring people! I for one am delighted you feel up to gardening which I consider A1 therapy for anyone. If I lived closer and your friend was unable to have lunch with you, I would surely try to worm my way in as I love good food and wonder what you two usually eat when you get together. Bless you, and please continue to feel better every day.
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ont_gal
13 years ago
Ed-up here in the Bancroft area, combining the regulatory,delivery,retirement and taxes has my monthly bill @ $108.00/month BEFORE I use any of the power at all.This little house is heated with a high eff.propane furnace(brand new 2010) and total square ftg is only 560.
My "actual" power usage averages about $40./month,some months being a bit less,others a wee bit more(summer-CA)
sjerin
13 years ago
Yeah, we have the "smart" meter whether we want it, or not. I don't love the idea of it but at least my bill didn't go up by a ton the way some peoples' did. Hopefully they've worked the kinks out by now.
eccentric
13 years ago
We live in Toronto and were one of the 10,000 households first chosen to "test" the Smart Meters. Frankly, no one should have had to have a Smart Meter until everyone did. I feel the same way about the Garbage/Recycle Bins - they started with our end of the City while people in neighbouring areas continued to put out what they wanted to. Our costs are ridiculous when you consider that we live in a small bungalow - just the 2 of us, with a dog. Hydro, Gas, Metered Water, Garbage and of course the dreaded NO FAULT INSURANCE. I am ballistic about the latter considering that a week ago a SUV decided to pull out of a car wash and turn left - speeding of course - crossed 2 lanes of traffic and smashed into me as I was sitting in a designated turn late with a traffic light. Stupid me was on the phone trying to get the police to come since it was 100% obvious I was not at fault - if nothing else I wanted that on record - not about to happen. This happened in a very busy part of town and there were several witnesses - but not one person would help me - or come forward - but they sure wanted me to move my car - but to where? I was alone and was not certain the car could even be driven. I do not have a cell phone so wasn't playing on that. I had just had my eyes tested that week - 20/20. Thankfully, the dog was not in the car. I did not get home until 10:30 that night - accident happened at 4:30 p.m. The police were very nice to me at the accident reporting centre and agreed that it would have been nice if someone had come forward. It has been a week and I have still not spoken to the insurance adjuster. If you have an accident try and do so between 8:30 and 4:30 Monday to Friday. I am very happy that when Ontario decreased insurance coverages a few years ago I called and paid the difference to up ours back to where it was. It seems that these days nothing is anyone's fault which is a problem - especially considering the misuse of cell phones - the texting etc. while supposedly driving. We have a rental but it does not have snow tires. I am afraid to drive anywhere in case someone hits me with the rental car and we keep getting snow. You know things are bad when my husband suggests that I drive. The car is a 2002 but only has 48,000 km on it - obviously we don't drive far - husband takes TTC. If we didn't have the dog frankly I would be tempted to give the car up now. Many people once they no longer have the need - other than convenience are doing just that - you can take a lot of taxis etc. or rent cars (in summer with their insurance) for the price of our car's insurance, repairs, gas etc. This is my rant today! Sadly, whenever I have witnesses such an accident I have always provided the victim with my name/phone number to give to the police. I have done so many times in the past, but now, frankly, I would really have to want to help someone out before I would do so again. I am still waiting for Karma and so far it hasn't...
cynic
13 years ago
My last 3 natural gas bills were $89, $134 and $130, and that includes all the various little taxes and other fees and charges.

My last 3 electric bills were $28, $30, and $41, including all the various little taxes and other fees and charges. (Hmm, quite a bit higher last month. Need to look into that.)

They show their per therm and kwh rate but to me that's deceiving. I still have to pay the other fees, including a flat fee whether I use electricity/gas or not, (not unlike those ClubCo store scams) so to me all of those charges need to be factored in to gain an accurate cost per unit.
joyfulguy
Original Author
13 years ago
It is my impression that if one signs up for reduced power charges with one of the different providers, the only portion of the bill that is affected is the cost of the power produced, and mine is usually a quarter to possibly a third of the total bill.

The main charge is the delivery cost, and as the other "provider" isn't doing the delivering, I expect that fee would remain unchanged.

Same for "Admin", "Debt retirement" and "Harmonized sales tax". The "harmony" is not related to singing - it's just that the feds and the province got together and amalgamated their consumption tax charge.

Most food is excluded from the harmonized sales tax: but not snacks or candy ... a couple of muffins in a pack taxed (snack), a dozen not, as "food".

ole joyfuelled ... with a bit o' help from a muffin, here and there, usually bought by the dozen ...
...and seldom buy them in the coffee shop

Power bill at ole joyful's place

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glenda_al

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Power bill at ole joyful's place

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