Massuchetts Raises Electric Rates by 37%

[Cypress]

Our Pubic Utility Regulatory Board raised the rates on household users by 37% on Thursday of this week. I am not certain of the new rates for business. This calculates out to about $33 per month, per household. I find this stunning. I believe the new rate takes affect October 1.

My monthly electric bill in summer is $15 - 20 dollars. I use electricity for the refrigerator, lights, cooking and that's all. From time to time, I use the dryer if the sun cannot dry the clothes. My washer needs to be replaced so I've been using a local laundromat for several months while I save up for a new washer.

This is stunning rate increase. Yet, it was voted on just before the heating season. My winter bill rises somewhat due to the use of a space heater in a crawl space on wicked cold nights. This helps prevent a frozen pipe in the bathroom. Some people heat with electric. I imagine National Grid will have a lot more problems with people being unable to pay their bills very soon.

[razz]

Wow is all I can say. Ontario has seen increases due to the greater use of solar and wind power and necessary heavy subsidies. Over the past few years it has gone up close to 40% according to some reports.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I worry when I hear of rates being hiked that far that fast. Realistically, with wages not budging and basic costs going up up up, how many people will cold bloodedly do the math and realize they are better off leaving the US or possibly even other developed countries? Why the assumption that a breaking point will not be soon reached when people just throw up their hands and say Enough, I'm outta here? I get the feeling that whoever in Massachusetts that passed this hike didn't even take my point into account - given how close so many are to the economic edge, I see that as being arrogant beyond belief. Just my two cents. And I'm sorry to the people of Massachusetts that this happened. Rob

[razz]

Gimme, we have been living an illusion based on cheap fossil fuels. It cannot go on forever. There are no guarantees of income, etc., despite our hopes. Deal with that reality.

[Cypress]

I had the brief thought to move out too. But, the Northeast in general, I believe is a more costly area of the country to live in. I have a modest income and keep trying to step up one notch on the wage scale but jobs in the middle seem to be fewer and harder to find. I don't mind my income but the costs don't allow for me to get a little ahead to fix my siding, or plan for the new shed. Not on one income. Finding the second job is one answer. I don't have room for a tenant. My house is tiny and designed as two rooms upstairs two rooms down. At 750 square feet a tenant would be hard to live with.

I fear that this winter will be difficult for many who rely on electric for their sole source of heating. I constantly fail to understand why as a nation, we don't make sure our standard of living for all is at a level were all have the safety of a warm, clean, safe home. Enough to eat and access to health care. That's a bigger issue I think but if we are all comfortable, employed and can take care of ourselves and families, a lot of social ills are less taxing on society.

[awakenedsoul]

Cypress, Sorry to hear about your rate increase. That's a big hike! My bill is very low, too. It's about the same as yours. I've always been surprised that I am charged so little, but I conserve and have a lot of natural light due to lots of windows. I also have shade trees that help keep my cottage cool in the summer. I used to follow a forum where most of the women were in Australia. Their electric bills were astronomical, and they conserved! Some people were paying $400. a month! I'm sure you already have replaced your lightbulbs, etc. I got some LED's on sale at Costco. They've lasted for years.
What I've done to stay in budget is to cut back in other areas. I canceled cable and switched from driving to taking the bus and bike. I know that doesn't work for everyone, though. I also knit some warm alpaca blankets, socks, and sweaters. That way I can stay comfortable without having to turn on the heat. Wool seems so really regulate the body temperature. I'm in California, though. (Easy for me to say...)

[larknm]

Cypress, a nightmare--and we can all expect it I bet. We have solar modules, but in the winter our bills go up to as high as $85 because they only work when the sun is actually shining. We got these about 10 years ago--I hope solar is better now for cutting energy costs.

[jp1]

I agree that that's certainly a huge increase. I'd be curious what the justification is. Natural gas prices are quite low right now. And coal hasn't gone through the roof either.

Although your bill is already pretty low, and you didn't ask for suggestions, I'm going to offer one anyway. (and I admit it's potentially not a great one since I have limited experience in this area but...) Have you looked into buying electric heating tape for the crawl space pipe? A quick look at home depot's website and I found a 18 foot one for $34 that has a thermostat to come on automatically when it gets cold enough. I have no idea how much electricity they use but I'd be confident that it's a fraction of what an electric space heater would use.

[rosarugosa]

Cypress: I live in MA too, and this is not good news!

[Teacher Terry]

That is totally awful!

[Cypress]

What good idea about the heat tape! I'm not terribly handy but it's worth a try. It always freezes in one particular spot. I've learned to keep a stream of water going when it's really low temps. My coworker claimed, and she might be cynical, that the ice storms and other natural events cost a lot of money to National Grid and they are passing on costs to users. When a tornado went through my area in 2011, my home owners insurance went up by $50 a year. My insurance agent said it was due to tornado damage. All I know is it's too big a leap in one go and timing seems ornery.

[awakenedsoul]

That sounds true. We have a lot of wildfires in our area, and in the past few years have been charged an extra fee of $100. (maybe more, I can't remember,) a year for fire service. This is in addition to our property taxes. (I pay $1,400. a year.) It's been very dry, too.

My electric bill is my cheapest expense. Hope you can find a way to make it up in your budget. It sounds like you are already very frugal...

[Tradd]

Cypress, you're not the only one. ComEd in the Chicago area had a increase of something like 35% in June. There's supposed to be another 20% increase in January.

[Cypress]

The problem is monopoly on service. National Grid maintains the lines and infrastructure in Massachusetts, but do I have to buy my electricity from them? I am not aware of alternative purchase of electricity. I checked out solar at my house and I do not have enough sunlight exposure to generate the wattage to juice even my little house. I see bigger problems ahead for a lot of consumers. There's no way around refrigeration, and cooking. I just cannot reduce anymore usage and maintain a quality of life. It's crazy.

[Alan]

Thirty Seven percent is a significant increase, although we shouldn't be surprised. When the President warned us 6 years ago that under his Cap & Trade plan, electricity rates would "necessarily skyrocket", he meant it. Even though Cap & Trade never came about, the same outcome was achieved through EPA regulations.

Closing down power plants that can't meet newer requirements and retro-fitting others create scarcity and additional business expense. We learned in Econ 101 what effect those two factors have on prices.

[rosarugosa]

Cypress: You can definitely buy your electricity from someone else. We were buying it from Dominion for a few years, then switched back when National Grid became the cheaper option. Check this out (it's from the NG site):
http://www.nationalgridus.com/masselectric/home/energychoice/4_supplier_list.asp

[Gardenarian]

That is quite an abrupt hike, but I do think raising rates makes people more conscientious of their energy usage.
I think people take energy for granted. We wouldn't be in all these crazy wars if we weren't so dependent on fossil fuels. We're all paying for it, one way or another.
My water rate has gone up 250% in the past 3 years, but it was done somewhat gradually.

[miradoblackwarrior]

I'm in the Commonwealth as well. Around here, National Grid got the okay to raise electric rates. I also get my natural gas for my stove from NStar. Now that National Grid got the okay to raise rates, NStar also wants to raise rates. I'm hoping that the increase only goes to electricity, but I'm not holding my breath. It's all about the big squeeze--let's see how much more we can get out of the customers. Sure, many of us on these forums use energy efficient lights and curl up under our woolen cozies. But the fact is, it is an enormous rate increase, and we are only just learning about it, now that winter is nigh. My budget has been crunched and shaved. Cable and cars are a thing of the past. There are few places left to squeeze a penny from, let alone a 37% hike. It's funny, I bought a kerosene lantern to use during emergencies. Maybe I should start using that to see!
Susan

[awakenedsoul]

Yeah, people used to go to bed when it got dark. I remember reading in the Little House books that they would save kerosene that way. I've cut the cable and car, too. I know what you mean...

[bae]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n29c-q3_8Q

[jp1]

I'm in the Commonwealth as well. Around here, National Grid got the okay to raise electric rates. I also get my natural gas for my stove from NStar. Now that National Grid got the okay to raise rates, NStar also wants to raise rates.

Alan's comment about polluting electric generators being shut down has merit as to why there might be a crunch for electric providers to raise rates, at least in certain situations. nothing similar exists for gas utilities. Natural gas is currently abundant and cheap in the US so I'd be curious to see the rational for a big rate increase for them.

[Cypress]

There was the first of several debates last night aired as we have a Governor's election in November. This question about the rate hike came up. One of the candidates for office offered that 3 coal fired generation plants had been closed due to age if I heard him right. He said this was well known several years in advance that these plants going off line would raise electric rates. So, the powers that be were aware of the long term implication for the consumer but had no plan of action to address the loss of generation of electricity from coal fired plants. He could not offer any idea on how to go about addressing this now or in the future. No answers. I am afraid of fires and such from people trying to heat the house in alternative ways. Also, if the house is kept at too cold a temperature, it affects personal health but pipes freeze too. I have an oil burner that heats my water and also heats my basement if I want it too. It gives off enough passive heat to dry my laundry in the basement without running the dryer. I have some options due to being a frugal consumer. Lots of folks don't

[Bunkie]

I couldn't help but think when I first heard of the increase that this was done in an effort to garner support for the new pipelines they're trying to push through in some parts of the state. And sure enough - more than one candidate in the debate yesterday mentioned the pipelines yesterday when talking about the price increase.

It's certainly made me think more about my electric use - my National Grid bill is already far too high - despite making the switch to the "green" (and cheaper) provider last year.

[SteveinMN]

First, welcome, Bunkie, to the forums!


A price hike like that certainly is a surprise. Without having checked out news articles about it, I don't know if it's an across-the-board 37% or if it hits a particular segment of customer disproportionately. But that's almost academic.

Powerplants are robust things, but they do have a lifespan. In the decades many have been operating, pollution standards have become stricter. Some of these plants have been grandfathered in or may face sunset laws created to clear the air and water. Building new powerplants is hugely expensive. And no one wants a powerplant built near their house, making siting one even harder. Some utilities here have taken to offering incentives for customers to lower their energy use because it's cheaper to pay for more-efficient bulbs or appliances than it is to build another powerplant.

Unfortunately, it seems the only way to really get people's attention is through their wallets. When gasoline went over $4 a gallon here, people suddenly started thinking how badly they needed that Suburban or their "little slice of heaven" home 40 miles from where they worked. Now that gas has been around $3 and change for a few years, all those notions are becoming popular again. A 37% hike may have been deemed enough to get people to insulate more, switch off lights and TVs, install setback thermostats, etc. But that hike also shortens the payback period for buying insulation and LED bulbs instead of incandescents, etc.

I feel badly for the people who've already cut back on their energy use and will get hit with a serious price increase. But there are so many who don't give it a moment's thought. And that costs all of us.

[razz]

Thought that you might find this interesting.

"Electricity prices in Ontario have now gone up 51 per cent in off-peak usage, 41 per cent in mid-peak usage and 41 per cent in peak usage in the last four years."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/hydro-bills-set-to-increase-for-winter-1.2801150

[jp1]

Thought that you might find this interesting.

"Electricity prices in Ontario have now gone up 51 per cent in off-peak usage, 41 per cent in mid-peak usage and 41 per cent in peak usage in the last four years."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/hydro-bills-set-to-increase-for-winter-1.2801150

Since the overall increase is so small I guess what they're saying is that off peak rates are going up much more than peak rates? If that's the case it would seem to indicate that too many people have time shifted their usage like us. (Our dishwasher has a time delay setting so I always make it start at about midnight.)