Oh Crud... Now I'm really frightened! Last month was $300, but if I get an $800 I'm jumping off a ledge. At least the summer-saver rebate will offset up to $200 of that, but still, I can't stay within the baseline unless I live in a dark house.

Jeff

Great Post Snookums,

You would think after the last California power fiasco, more measures would have been taken to control our power supply. Part of the problem, since are lack of own self-reliance was made perfectly clear, no additional power plants have been built, although they reopened the steam plant here in HB, which was slated to be torn down. And although I would not want a powerplant built in my neighborhood (There is one), steps have not been taken to secure other sources of power. During the summer, when everyone in the world knows it will be hot and demand will be high, the power grid operates at or above its ability. One major transmision line failure means blackouts. Without new research and development, I fear that we will be this boat for a long time. Why would the power comapanies care? With all the political, environmental and any other special interest groups blustering their rhetoric, it is a wonder anything can get accomplished. Limited supply, means higher demand, means higher prices, means more $$$.

We have seen our rates more than double the last couple of months. We have ceiling fans, but no A.C., and of course, are running our new pool equipment. I was running it from 8am to 4pm and then decided to help out by running it from 7am to 11am and again from 5pm to 8pm, but am I actually helping? I'm turning the pump off during the hotest part of the day, and probably, this is when it should be on the most?

I searched SCE website looking for some sort of tiered rates for daytime usage, you know, give your appliances the day off, and could find none. So although they have a catchy slogan, they have no financial incentive built into their rates for those of us who try to conserve. Finally, don't get me started on the "low-income" rates program. A good idea, but I have personally seen it abused and the fraud that is abundant in any program where you give something away. Our elderly need A.C., without a doubt. But the family that I respond to in the middle of the day that has two giant big screens, an XBOX going full blast, Multiple A.C. units going so that their apartment is actually freezing, etc., etc., is not doing their part and should be penalized, not subsidized. Sorry, I'll step down from my box now.

Anyway, if anyone has different info on the rates for SCE, please let me know.

Good luck and do your best to stay cool,

Mike

My 30 day June/July bill was $412 for 1900kw. AC set at 80 degrees 24/7. We are running two central units, one for upstairs one for down stairs.

This time last year we used 1200kw.

Thermostat now set at 84 24/7.

Reason for difference? I presume an earlier hotter start to the season.

One more thing, I don't even have a cool pool to jump into yet so quit ya's complaining :( !!!

Damien

Rancho Cucamonga

I know what you mean snookums...we live in moreno valley and we keep a thermometer in the shade in our backyard and yesterday...ready for this....it read 118 degress at 1pm yesterday!!!!!! ouch!!! atleast yesterday we had a nice show of lightning and thunder.

we were at $811 last month an all time record fo us as well. 31 cents a KWhr is the rate which I think is higher than it has been in the past. I work at home so we run the AC during the day and that pretty much kills us, there is no plan to cut our costs.

The only option is solar gen, but I bet that has a hefty install charge. A neighbor down the street has that and I might go talk to him to see how much it helps.

WOW - if I needed another reason to be glad we moved from Victorville (after 31 years) to Lake Havasu City, this thread is it. Our July bill was $325.46 for 36 days - pool pump (2 hp) set for 8 hours, t-stat set at 75 during the day and 74 when we go to bed, plus 5 ceiling fans, 3 air filters, and a freezer and extra reefer in the garage. I'm not trying to rub it in; our kids are in Victorville and Hesperia and I fear for what their electric bills will be (my son works for SCE in Rancho and with his discount his bill was STILL $270).

Steve

Yikes. 895 bucks?? Now I don't feel so bad about my last electric bill. Went from $87 in May to $340 in June.

Johninsocal - the Register article (Friday's) said that Tier 5 rates go from 31 something now to 48 cents a KWhr in August. Tier 5 was at 17 cents in December.

I just don't know what we are going to do. It's 108 here now. This is just not fair, not right, just so WRONG. I'm so scared of our September bill. I think we may top $1000 for the first time.

While I do not live in So Cal, I do symphatize with many of you. Last month our bill was over $400... don't want to know what it will be this month... it is currently 114 degrees where we are in Nor Cal - and we had a power outage yesterday from 3:30 to 8:45 and again from 10:00 to 12:00 midnight. Dealing with the cost of electricity AND a power outage too... Arg!

And the pool is 93 degrees... way to warm to enjoy. :(

Aimee

>Tier 5 rates go from 31 something now to 48 cents a KWhr >in August.

Oh man, we are screwed. We used 3100 KWhr in july, at 48 cents that is going to be expensive, well over a thousand bucks by the time you add all the generation/tramsmission costs and other nonsense, there is probably some kind of surchage to pay off the war of 1812 or some other nonsense as well like the phone bill has.

Ours was a record too -- $795 and we get ocean breezes. What kills me is that we went to a fancy outdoor mall yesterday (The Grove) and every store had their doors open in 100+ degree heat. I mean both doors propped open. I can't believe that that could be considered acceptable. Someone should be fined for that -- it is that kind of needless waste that drives all our prices up.

Consider solar electric. True, initial investment is steep, but most pay for themselves in 7-9 years. Some electric companies will actually pay for surplus you generate (SDG&E does not...only get credit).

I too have a $650.00 SCE bill and we have been sweating it out with the therm. set at 85. I refuse to turn the upstair ac on-it never shuts off even at 90. We can't even run our whole house fans at night because the outside temp never cools down. On my local community forum someone suggest using this energy saving product(he said you can buy it at costco).
"Anything that has a motor (or a compressor) has one. the refrigerators, the heating units, the dryer, the dishwasher, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY the
AC's. For the appliances you can get the units at costco. What they do is reduce the electricity being supplied to the appliance by 20% to 39%. When you plug in your refrigerator it will draw as much electricity to operate itself that it is given. With these units, it moderates how much actual electricity it needs. As a result, it doesn't use the full amount that you would otherwise use. A side benefit is your motor and compressors won't work as hard
and stay cooler (thereby your appliance(s) will last longer because they run cooler). Plus, we found that we can set the temperature of the fridges higher since they run more efficiently, therefore they run cooler (= even less
energy used). He ran a test with his neighbor running a/c 24/7 @ 76 degrees and his bill was $300. less."
I'm going to try them. Can't lose if they don't work take them back- it's costco. Rian

Here is a link that might be useful: energy saving products

I am on Anaheim electric and while I do not know what I pay My bill has been less than at my old house in SDGE area that only had a pool. The new one also has an AC. My last bill was for about $240 with the AC set to 79.

There is also a product called kill-a-watt that can be used to find what Items are using the most energy (110 only) I used it to find out that the 3 fridges and 2 large TV's used much less than I had expected.

Sage

$772. Now, my office is at home, and someone's almost always home. I've even been waiting toOn a similar note, Lowe's has 6 packs of 60w flourescent bulbs on sale for under $10. I picked up a few and changed them all. Not sure how else to keep it down.

Scott

It just makes me think - $820 was the cost of the first apartment's rent dh and I had after we were married. My utility bill is more than that now.

I am having an AC company come out to do maintenance on our unit - just to make sure it is running efficiently. And SCE is coming to check our meter. I don't think it's that, but dh wanted to do it just to cover all our bases.

We used 3106 kwh last month. 2763 this time last year, 2228 2 years ago. As I sit here in a dark hot house, I know that something is going on. It's obviously more than increased rates, since our usage is more. We have the pool pump now - we didn't last year. Other than that everything is the same, and we are being far more conservative with our usage than we have EVER been. Gosh, when we moved in 7 years ago, I happily kept the thermostat at 68 without a care in the world! Now it's at 79 and I'm hot, sticky, and po'd. And broke.

Just received SCE bill for July in Corona. I found the original post re middle class inland area very interesting.

$875 and I DON'T HAVE A POOL or spa. Just 1800sqft 2story house. One central unit w/tstat set at 80.

This is more than DOUBLE our highest bill ever. Used 3200 kwh compared to 1800 last year and 1700 year before. AC ran all the time and during the worst week of the heat wave I don't think the house was ever as cool as 80 degrees.

Wondering if my a/c unit needs to be replaced.

Got mine a few days ago. After reading about the high bills I considered myself lucky mine was only $560. Of course, that was $200 more than last bill :(

Our bill, pre pool, in San Diego (SDGE) was about $150. three adults and two little ones.

After pool, running pump 4-5 hours a day, spa maybe twice a week (gas), was about $250. Pretty much $100 more for the pool per month.

Summer hits, rump pump longer (6-7 hours), and run AC, and we got up to $350. Reading the posts of others, I feel pretty lucky. We run the dishwasher everyday, and do at least a load of laundry a day on average.

We do have a 15 seer A/c unit that was installed last year, which is probably saving us a lot of money during the summer vs. the old unit.

I am still considering solar, as I know that rates will continue to go up, and the solar will pay for itself in less than 10 years (more like 5 if we continue to see the escalation of electrical/gas prices like we've seen in the past two years).

I live in Riverside County so I hear you all about the heat out here. I'm glad I found this thread, I was about to post up asking people what their electric useage was because I was worried that I was using too much!

I've been scrambling, trying to figure out ways to save electricity and such, my July Bill was $269.40 for 1319kWh, 1575 sqft, single story house with vaulted ceilings - 2 adults.

Pool pump runs 6-8 hrs a day. AC is off when no one is home and set betwn 80-85 degrees when we're home in the evening (or all day on the weekends). As soon as the outside temperatures drop lower than in the house, the AC gets shut off and we turn on the Tamarack Ghost - Whole House Fan. When the attic temps match that of the interior of the home, I turn off the Whole House Fan and turn on the small window fan to keep a breeze going. I think I've been doing everything possible to keep electricity useage down to a minimum and have even tried looking into solar panels for the roof to help - but the people who sell those say it's not worth it for me to get it. I'm a little confused by that...but oh well.

Here's some good news:

SoCal Edison asks to delay rate hike until November

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Southern California Edison, the state's second-largest power company, has asked the state to delay a planned 2 percent rate increase until November.

The utility said that after the recent heat wave, which sent power bills soaring, customers aren't ready for the increase, which was set to take effect Aug. 1. The company petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission to delay the rate hike by three months.

"Because of the unprecedented heat that we've had and the impacts that our customers are seeing, it seemed like a good thing to do," said Lynda Ziegler, SoCal Edison senior vice president of customer service. "We've gotten a positive indication from them that our request will be approved."

The delay will save even more money for the utility's heaviest users, such as those in desert areas such as the Coachella Valley. A fifth pricing tier is set to be added which would charge more to heavy residential users and shift costs from mid-level customers.

Delaying the new pricing tier and the rate hike will save some Coachella Valley customers $145 to $370 per month on summer bills, Ziegler said.

The utility has already increased rate by 15 percent since the beginning of the year.

The utility said Friday service has been restored to all customers who lost power because of the heat.

During the past two weeks, 1.1 million SoCal Edison customers lost power for various amounts of time. More than 1,300 of the utility's 700,000 transformers were damaged during the heat wave, the company said.

Here is a link that might be useful: SoCal Edison asks to delay rate hike until November

That is GREAT news. But - to be a devil's advocate, my higher than ever bill was before the rate hike...so still high! At least now I have hope that we won't tip over the $1000 mark. I will FREAK when/if that happens. We've tried ever so hard to be conservative, but it's been so hot here, that it is hard.

I'd love to update this - 2nd bill of the summer? We were super conservative (including knocking an hour off the filtering time) and lowered our bill by nearly $180! Last month it was $895, this month, $722, and that included the insane 100-108 degree heat wave we had a couple of weeks ago, when our AC was on nonstop. Still not nearly where we would like it to be, but it's something...

We also installed auto-off sensors on the light switches in the house that we noticed got left on a lot. Lowes has them - you push a button for 10 minutes, 20, 30, and 60, (put those on the walk-in closets and the garage) and hourly ones (1 hour, 2, 3, 4). Those have helped to keep the lights off quite a bit. That, the pool filter, and cutting back on AC whenever we could stand to.

Still nowhere near our neighbors' bills though. We did have SCE come out but haven't heard anything yet.

snook, what section did you find them? I looked, but didn't find them anywhere. My husband went back and came home a timer that turns :~(
I heard that the latest hike for August was being postponed til Nov.. I don't know if it's true , I haven't had the time to verify. Rian

It was on the lightbulb aisle, not the lightswitch aisle - confusing I know. The motion sensor switches were on the lightswitch aisle, but the timers were with the bulbs. Right by the timer that turns that you bought. At our Lowe's, the timers that turn were on the top shelf, and the button ones that we bought were more at eye level, at the end of the aisle that has all the bulbs. I think they were $19.99 each.

There's a link up above about the rate hike postponement - it's true. :)

Okay, just got our SDG&E bill (San Diego, CA): $423.25. That's the highest we've ever paid, but we had the AC on non-stop a few weeks ago during those 100+ days. We used 1,859 kWh, and baseline allowance is 450 kWh.

Should go down on next month's bill because we haven't been running the AC. We still run the pool pump/filter about 6-8 hours a day, depending on usage.

-Melissa

When we lived in Laguna Niguel we had SDG&E. Those were the lowest electric bills we ever had. Loved them! SCE has always charged us up the nose, moreso than anyone we know, almost as if we are blacklisted or something...

Snookums-

adding up all the extra costs for this pool we are about to embark on...wondering if you would share what your average SCE bill has been since your orignal post with the $895 SHOCKER!

It tapered down as it got colder, and has been holding steady at around $350 throughout the winter. I'm sure it will go back up come summer.

I should have updated this thread again.

In June, our air conditioner died. Something electrical - it would run for 5 minutes, make a loud grinding sound, and then shut off and trip the switch on the panel.

Called an AC company out to repair it, said that he could repair it but that it was on it's last legs. Didn't surprise me - it's 8 years old, extremely cheap builder special, and we used it year-round, almost every day, both day and night. Life of a normal use AC unit is 10-12 years.

So, we opted to replace it, and got an American Standard unit - very nice. This thing is silent - our old unit sounded like an airplane roar. No joke.

We had a very hot summer again, September being the worst. Rates did go up too as they said last summer. Last summer we hovered between 750-900, and this summer? The September bill was $495. NO JOKE. And that's even AFTER the rate hike. I can't even imagine if we had the old unit - it would have been well over a thousand dollars. Our new unit will pay for itself very quickly.

Moral of the story - if you are running a builder special AC unit and your bill is high - replace it. It'll be worth it.

To all,
I also live in So. Cal and have 4 pumps on my pool - very expensive to operate as you well know.
The facts are that pumps, after AC are the biggest hog of energy on a given month. The real fact is pumps are really the number one user of energy on a residential home because pumps run every day all year long - AC does not.

California utilities have really gotten behind IntelliFlo's with consumer and dealer rebates being offered due to the energy savings on these products. Depending on the pool and how the pool is run savings can between 30-90% - the average being 35-55%. By the way the whole state is now covered by utility rebates for these products.

Several other utilities nationally have begun rebate including Austin, TX and the state of Nevada with many, many more states and/or utilities in some form of process developing rebate programs.

Please check your utility web page under rebates to see what is offered for a rebate as they all differ.

Deek

After reading the many posts above most can save 50% on the cost of running your pools by only running the filter pump 3 hours a day. This is usually long enough to keep most pools clean. If you have a S.W.G then you are trapped into running you pump long enough to generate enough chlorine, which can be many hours a day.

Cliff s