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BlameThePeacock ,

Most residents aren’t on these types of plans. The ones that are turn shit off, or pay through the nose.

TexasDrunk ,

Generally the ones that are on those plans are the most vulnerable. I’ve got a fixed TXU plan. The up front cost of being on it was a couple of hundred bucks because I had bad credit at the time. The pay as you go variable rate places don’t have that up front cost and when it’s not peak times they’re significantly cheaper.

Unfortunately they don’t always let people know in time when the rates spike. So these vulnerable people don’t even realize they should be turning shit off or they’re not home to do it or it’s a heat wave/ice storm where they could just fucking die if they turn off climate control.

It’s been a fucking mess down here in Houston. My electricity came up pretty quickly and I was able to head west and grab a hotel for a night so I didn’t get heat stroke. I’m lucky. I was able to come back and eat the brisket I smoked before Beryl came through (I’m a stereotype, sue me). But there are people who still don’t have electricity in this fucking weather and there are others who have to decide between their fridge and their AC.

I’m drunk, bitter, and pissed off tonight. So I’m gonna ramble.

TunaLobster ,

Toss these guys a few bucks the next time your plan is up for renewal and see what rate you can get. Usually TXU is on the high side. www.texaspowerguide.com

TexasDrunk ,

It is, but it wasn’t when I got on the plan. I happened to hit it at just the right time. I’ve been too lazy to shop around since then.

I’m gonna take that advice. I’m up again in either November or December I think. I need to go look.

Today ,

Drunk, bitter, and pissed off. That should be our state motto. Cheers!

Today , (edited )

Maybe it depends on your energy provider and whether you have a fixed rate or variable rate plan? I don’t know if other places have those options or not. Check out powertochoes.org if you don’t know what I mean. Mine just went up from $200 to $300 this month with the heat. My highest is usually 1-2 months of ~$350.

pugsnroses77 ,

$350? 😭 ive never had an electric bill above $150

SOMETHINGSWRONG ,

They just make a lot of money or lived outside their means. When people mention big AC bills, they’re cooling 2000sqft homes to under 70F 24/7. No idea why American culture does this insanity.

I get by just fine with 78F during the day and a little lower at night, it even gets a bit cold when the compressor runs. Low low bills even when it’s 110 (not hyperbole, that’s the literal temp) outside.

Additionally every degree higher it gets outside, the less efficient your AC/heat pump gets so you need more power to hit the same temp even after accounting for the higher heat differential.

sunzu ,

I had 300 dollar bills peak season in one bed apt before due to poor insulation. Being poor sucks. I thought it was a good deal until the bills came in lol

doughless ,

My average bill is $350, with summer months reaching ~$650. But, I have 3100 sq feet with 7 people at home and 2 EVs. Including monthly service fees, my per kWh cost works out to 11.9 cents.

Today ,

Who’s your provider? My plan is about to expire. I’m looking at Octopus for 13.4 cents.

doughless ,

SRP, but they only operate in Phoenix, AZ.

Confused_Emus ,

What’s your dew temp?

Today ,

2400 sq ft. Just two of us now, but I’m home in the day during the summer and we have frequent guests. In past years we had elderly mom and nursing care here so we had to keep it comfortable all day. We heat/cool upstairs only at night, downstairs only in the day and close vents in unused rooms. Our mid-90’s HVAC can’t get to 70°. We did get an electric pellet grill last year and we’ve been using it a lot to keep from heating the house. I wonder how much that adds.

Trainguyrom ,

We did get an electric pellet grill last year and we’ve been using it a lot to keep from heating the house. I wonder how much that adds.

A rule of thumb I heard from datacenters is to count every watt of power consumption as 3 to account for the additional demand on the cooling systems and battery backup, so an electric grill probably saves a ton of energy over the oven given it isn’t heating up the house

Today ,

In Texas? It’s 600 degrees here today. Friend refers to it as Satan’s asshole.

InternetCitizen2 ,

His name is Dan Patrick.

Today ,

Took me a day to realize that abbot was Satan and Patrick was his asshole.

dandroid ,

What part of Texas are you in? Here in the Austin area, it was like 85°F. It was super nice. Looks like it’s gonna be nice tomorrow as well.

Today ,

Dallas. We’re 97-101 the next few days, then it drops to 90 with a chance of rain Thursday and Friday. Glad I’m not in Houston sweating without electricity!

Tower ,

Arizona here. My August service bill is the highest of the year, usually ends up around $425 or so with the thermostat set to ~76. January is usually the lowest, and I can get that down to about $75. Averages out to about $220/mo over the year. It’s ridiculous.

vrek ,

In the apartment I just moved out of, even after several complaints I had summer electric bills $600+ and it was still hot…night before I moved it was 91 outside and 89 inside. So far my new apartment is better but haven’t seen any electric bills yet

Trainguyrom ,

I live in Wisconsin where it can get down to -20 before wind-chill in the winter and the heat index pushes 100 in the summer, plus our summers are basically always 100% humidity for months at a time. My house was built before the turn of the century (the 19th century specifically) and both my furnace and AC are on their last legs. With all that said, I get $250 bills in the summer months and it pushes close to that in the winter, but during the spring and fall when it’s a lot more reasonable they can get under $100

Brokewood ,

That’s some next level owning the libs.

altima_neo ,
@altima_neo@lemmy.zip avatar

I’m certainly feeling owned right now. Ouch!

remotelove ,
@remotelove@lemmy.ca avatar

More questions here than answers, unfortunately.

It’s my understanding that there is a cap at $5000/MwH ($5/kwH). That is still hella expensive, but would only be for a day or two at maximum?

For the headlines of +$16000 power bills, that is probably a one-off for heavy power consumers, like businesses that have massive freezers and such, correct?

Kalkaline ,
@Kalkaline@leminal.space avatar

I have a friend from high school that got hit with a something like $20,000 bill because he signed up for some discount program on his electric bill. The freeze a couple years ago did similar things to demand and he got hit with a massive bill.

AlecSadler ,

I presume he couldn’t pay it? What happens after that? Do you get blacklisted from power companies?

Burn_The_Right ,

You get tossed to collections and your credit is ruined. It makes it very hard to rent, finance anything or get certain jobs.

AlternatePersonMan ,

Not correct.

I have coworkers in Texas that got hit with multi thousand dollar bills during brown outs.

Deregulating critical services never ends well for the consumer.

meco03211 ,

A properly insulated industrial freezer should consume less electricity than a house with AC, even if it’s set at a reasonable temp.

remotelove ,
@remotelove@lemmy.ca avatar

TIL. It makes sense that they can be more efficient now that you pointed that out.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

I’m curious as to how this would compare to a properly insulated home?

most the houses in texas are uninsulated to keep construction costs down. (despite the fact that even a minimal amount of insulation would pay for itself inside of a year or two.) (Why would you want to insulate against heat, right? global warming is a woke-ist hoax! /s)

bitchkat ,

New houses or ones built in the 1960’s? If its new houses, how does code not specify a minimum R value? Its not just about keeping heat in in the winter, its needed to keep the heat out in the summer.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

texas doesn’t require a specific r-value for walls in the southern third of the state. (the rest it’s r-5). They do require some insulation in an attic.

Most (cheap) homes don’t slap up insulation if they don’t have to. and r-5 is an extremely low value.

and further, that’s only on new houses. There’s plenty of old houses still in circulation and the vast majority of the old houses are entirely uninsulated. a properly insulated house, you can keep rooms warm just by being in them. we saw that’s not true of homes in texas during the big freeze a while back.

Its not just about keeping heat in in the winter, its needed to keep the heat out in the summer.

that’s this sarcastic comment was about:

(Why would you want to insulate against heat, right? global warming is a woke-ist hoax! /s)

bitchkat ,

When I was growing up the people across the street had an uninsulated houses – in NW Wisconsin.

I guess Texas is going to do Texas things but with the heat and the grid falling apart every couple of years, they really should mandate the same level of insulation that we do up north.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah… I’m in MN.

It’s not like we don’t get triple digits ourselves in recent years. And it really does come down to shaving down those construction costs. The insulation would pay for itself in like 2 years, though.

MelodiousFunk ,

they really should mandate

That sound you hear is Texas loudly pushing back on any sort of gubmint infetterance.

bitchkat ,

Did you mean interfetterance?

rand_alpha19 ,

there is a cap at $5000/MwH

It's MWh (megawatt hours). That's only for wholesale electricity, which is available to retail electrical providers, not consumers. So your utility company can charge you whatever they want, but their price is capped. Funny how that works.

More info about the cap specifically available here. (PDF)

remotelove ,
@remotelove@lemmy.ca avatar

Ok, that clears up my misunderstanding then. I was thinking that the cap applied across the board. (That does change things a bit, don’t it?)

sunzu ,

Get a hotel room like any adult man does when he is hot and bothered...

BippinThatBop ,

🤣

Curious_Canid ,
@Curious_Canid@lemmy.ca avatar

Energy pricing in Texas is managed for the benefit of the utilities, not their customers. Some of the people on non-fixed plans who got charged insane amounts just went bankrupt.

Texas is a nearly perfect example of how the Republicans think everything should work.

remotelove ,
@remotelove@lemmy.ca avatar

I can just pray my bills away? Neat!

sartalon ,

Close but not correct.

It’s an established marketplace, where legislated “middlemen” buy from the utilities and then sell to the consumer.

You can’t actually buy directly from the utility generating the power without going through the marketplace.

It is sold as a “free market” that would drive competition and keep prices down. In actuality, it just allows leaches, who don’t actually produce anything, to sit in the middle and suck money out of the economy.

Sure some of them will lose money, while others will make a billion, but the system works just fine as a regulated controlled monopoly.

Texas is a perfect example of Republican hypocrisy. The Governor, Lt Governor, State AG, etc… are quite literally the worst kind of politicians.

I seriously dislike Sheila Jackson Lee, but I feel bad about her situation.

I would laugh if that wheel chaired, piece of shit rolled off a cliff.

I would laugh if Dan Patrick caught on fire.

On second thought, I might use Ken Paxton to put out the fire, by that I mean, push him onto Dan, hoping he would catch on fire too.

Shit, that went a lot darker than I intended.

trolololol ,

Oh right I see here the old fallacy that economic agents have a full thorough understanding of all the choices and make fully rational decisions based on all the facts that exist, because why would you have facts not accessible to everyone?

sartalon ,

Umm, what?

rekorse ,

If you have a point to make, say it.

trolololol ,

Free market is a lie

Economics is not a science

Let the down votes come

Mango ,

Texas; where people with power make extra money for specifically not doing good enough.

nothacking ,

Power companies average things out.

Now some customers specifically ask to pay the instantaneous price, and those people just turn things off. This has the advantage that you end up paying less during times if low demand.

NegentropicBoy ,

Wholesale or Retail? I couldn’t read the article.

Supermariofan67 ,

Those are the wholesale prices to the utility company itself from the grid operators, not the prices to end users from the utility company. End users pay a flat amount per kWh that does not change by demand.

scoobford ,

Most of us do. A few people do sign up for variable rate plans, and they did get astronomical bills during the snowpocalypse. IIRC they didn’t get any aid or anything, it was a small enough number of people that they just got hung out to dry.

some_guy ,

They pay their savings directly into the pockets of bought politicians and corrupt energy execs.

blazera ,
@blazera@lemmy.world avatar

Hopefully getting their own solar panels

Burn_The_Right ,

I hear you, but a solar set up with batteries for a house in TX is often well over $100K. It’s not easy for most of us to pull that off, even with financing. And it’s not an option at all for renters.

thr0w4w4y2 ,

$100k

that’s ten times what it costs to install domestic solar, battery storage across all of Europe including major cities. Why is it so expensive? Panels are ~$200 each online and an inverter is $5k for a really good one.

A quick google search shows prices more in line with my expectations (sources: www.forbes.com/…/solar-panel-costs-texas/ and www.energysage.com/local-data/…/tx/)

Burn_The_Right , (edited )

In Texas, you must also have enough battery power to run your HVAC for at least 12 hours, which is extremely expensive here (~$80k est. for my moderately-sized home), given how hot it is. Without a substantial battery system, you will lose power when everyone else loses power.

My $100k approximation is what I was quoted by multiple solar and battery installers here and is also in line with what my local friends, family and colleagues have paid for their systems.

As an anecdote of what happens if you don’t have enough battery storage: One of my close friends who has a whole-home system (2300 sqft home) actually still had to keep his HVAC turned off on day 2 of the recent derecho outage a few months ago because his $125k battery system could not store enough power due to cloud cover. They took out a second mortgage for that solar/battery system in 2023. He still loves the system and it mostly works fine, but it’s not perfect and it was still $100k more expensive than a 24kw Generac natural gas generator.

So, if you can find a vendor that can install solar and battery storage for a system that can keep our HVAC going in one of our multi-day outages here, please send me their information! I will definitely call them and get an estimate!

blazera ,
@blazera@lemmy.world avatar

Thats not gonna be the minimum, its a sliding scale of how much solar you can afford.

Burn_The_Right ,

When you include enough battery storage to keep your HVAC working without interruption, the price becomes extremely high. I was not able to find anything less than about $100k installed here that could cool a 1500-2000 sqft house for a half day.

blazera ,
@blazera@lemmy.world avatar

Crazy thing about AC, its power draw lines up perfectly with solar production, you dont need much storage to run it.

Burn_The_Right , (edited )

That is simply not accurate in south Texas. It’s 90 degrees at midnight with 80% humidity. You need a great deal of storage.

Also, the system needs to over-produce and store that excess energy during the day so you can continue to run all night. If there is heavy cloud cover, you will also be relying on that storage during the day as well.

blazera ,
@blazera@lemmy.world avatar

Im seeing lows in the 70s. If theres heavy cloud cover you wont need as much AC. Texas summers are ideal solar scenario

Burn_The_Right , (edited )

Where?! Austin?! Haha. Just stop. Our lows are in the high 80’s on a good day in the summer! Usually, that low happens at 4 am and is only that temp for an hour or two. At midnight, the temp is usually about 90. Also, humidity is extremely high, making our temps much more deadly. So, just stop. You definitely, definitely do not know what you are talking about.

Also, you can’t just turn off your AC when there’s cloud cover and easily get your house cooled back down when the sun comes back out, as you are implying. It takes a great deal of energy and an over-powered HVAC system (which no one has) to cool a house quickly when the sun is out.

I’m not sure what you are doing right now. Is your goal to try to convince me, a resident of this place who has tried for years to afford a solar system, to embrace a solar solution? I already want one. If you know of a vendor in south Texas that can install what’s needed to keep me and my family alive when the power goes out for the low prices you claim, please let me know who they are and I will call them!

Until then, I will just have to make do with my Generac natural gas generator that can run everything when the power goes out. That solution only costs $15k installed. There’s a reason people get whole-home generators instead of off-grid solar here. That reason is very obviously price. One day I hope to afford a solar solution (panels/batteries/installation) that can keep everything running when we lose power for several days at a time, but as of today, that is at least a $100k investment for a 1500-2000 sqft home.

blazera ,
@blazera@lemmy.world avatar

Our lows are in the high 80’s on a good day in the summer!

You know i can look up weather online right? Im in Mississippi, im all too familiar with humidity and muggy nights, ive lived without AC in the summer, i know its not comfortable temps at night, or during cloud cover. But its much lower temps than midday sun and the AC has to run a lot less to maintain desired temps.

Burn_The_Right ,

Neat.

ramble81 ,

Just like to point out that Jerry Jones (the owner of the Dallas Cowboys) made almost $1 Billion, with a B, during the big freeze because he owns the natural gas fields and his good budy Governor Abbot said that wholesalers must sell for the max amount as allowed by law during that time, basically legalizing price gouging.

FenrirIII ,
@FenrirIII@lemmy.world avatar

If it’s Republicans, it’s legal.

independantiste ,
@independantiste@sh.itjust.works avatar

The article and comments here make me very happy to live in Quebec where the electricity is 0,067CAD per kWh for the first 40, then after it is 0,103CAD per kWh, and most of the time, that electricity is 100% renewable. In Québec we have many problems but the electricity is one big point to be proud of as a nation

Grimy ,

A big part of that is it’s all state owned. Having private companies in charge of something as vital and important as energy infrastructure is just pure folly imo.

independantiste ,
@independantiste@sh.itjust.works avatar

Yeah 100%. the current government here has a tendency to do bad stuff and a big fear here is they will slowly make it more private owned. But I think that every essential service should be state owned. electricity, groceries, clothing, internet etc. We have too few companies here that share too much of the market

Grimy ,

But I think that every essential service should be state owned. electricity, groceries, clothing, internet etc.

I’m right there with you. To think our food security hinges on a bunch of fat cats and the stock market makes me nauseous. If I start talking about the telecom industry, I might just throw my phone. Change is long overdue.

independantiste ,
@independantiste@sh.itjust.works avatar

Telecom industry is so corrupt here it’s unbelievable they get away with it

Semi_Hemi_Demigod ,
@Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world avatar

I like how my state does it. The grid is managed by a public utility, but we can shop around for providers. The utility handles the billing, and switching providers is super easy. I’m paying 9.5¢/kWh for 100% renewable energy, which is about 10% cheaper than the base rate I’d pay if I just used the utility.

AlecSadler ,

$0.058 / kWh here in rural Oregon, it’s pretty awesome.

GreyEyedGhost ,

Now do the exchange rate.

WhyFlip ,

How much is your income taxed? ~60%, like the rest of Canada?

independantiste , (edited )
@independantiste@sh.itjust.works avatar

The last bracket which starts at 235k is about 58% (but there are many ways to put money aside to lower your income bracket). But don’t lose our hair worrying if we will have to file for bankruptcy to get basic healthcare. In Montreal we have a top 10 world university that costs less than 1000$ per semester for citizens. We also don’t have to worry about people carrying guns around. But go on I guess

Hugh_Jeggs ,

Holy propaganda-muncher 😂

Triasha ,

Bullshit.

Thorny_Insight ,

According to ChatGPT:

15% on the first $49,275 of taxable income.

20% on the next $49,275 of taxable income (over $49,275 up to $98,550).

24% on the next $19,170 of taxable income (over $98,550 up to $117,720).

25.75% on the taxable income over $117,720.

GreyEyedGhost ,

If you want to talk about taxes, include cost of your healthcare. Because that’s included in our taxes.

Fun fact, America pays as much per capita for healthcare through taxes as Canadians, but that only gets you Medicare and Medicaid. Americans sure get angry about a lot of things, but I never see them get angry about that.

John_McMurray ,

deleted_by_moderator

    •
    independantiste ,
    @independantiste@sh.itjust.works avatar

    Thanks for getting to our level on your own 😘

    Nothingwise ,

    Vote. Shit won’t change if you don’t make yourself heard.

    Burn_The_Right ,

    True! But Texan dems do vote, despite knowing that as long as a conservative is governor, the election actually will be rigged. In Texas, state elections are under the complete control of a conservative governor, as he appoints a loyal Secretary of State to handle his elections.

    Are elections in Texas handled with transparency and honesty? Awwe heeelllllll no. They are handled the way you’d expect a conservative to run an election. With secrecy and a creepy little conservative grin. “Oh, you were so close y’all! Oh, well. Better luck next time!”

    While I agree that Texans need to continue voting, it seems pretty obvious to me that pacifist methods cannot yield change against conservatism. Voting in Texas is like voting under Putin. Voting is good, but it’s not what is going to cause a regime change. Only severe and widespread action can have any effect against the deadly cancer of conservatism.

    GlendatheGayWitch ,

    We were only 600,000 votes away from a Biden victory in 2020 because we didn’t have enough voters. TX has pitiful voter turnout, even with 2 weeks if open polls, with polls required to be open at least 12 hours a day on the weekday.

    In 2020, even with what’s called amazing turnout, with a voting age population of 21.5 million, 17 million were registered, and 11.3 million cast a vote. Then in 2022, when we had the entire legislative branch, almost all of the executive branch, and a good chunk of the judicial branch up for election, only 8.1 million people voted.

    Even with these numbers, Biden still received more votes in TX than he did in NY! There’s potential for us to get some better representation, if we can just get more people to get to a polling station (usually open 7AM-7PM during the second week of voting).

    We need more people to turnout this year, not only to keep Trump from our electoral college votes, but to kick Ted Cruz to the curb. There is a lot in the news pushing people away from the pills and making people mad at the DNC just like in 2016 and its really scary because those tactics helped keep people from casting their vote.

    Turnout number source www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/…/70-92.shtml

    Burn_The_Right , (edited )

    Your source is not reliable at all. Your source is the Texas Secretary of State who is appointed directly by Gov. Abbott. He and his minions are notoriously dishonest and are not reliable sources of any information.

    Your source is one of the many places Gov. Abbott tells TX Dems “ohhh… So close, y’all! Better luck next time.”

    GlendatheGayWitch ,

    If you don’t believe the official counts, than where would you go for a source?

    Burn_The_Right ,

    Anywhere but the scene of the crime! Are you kidding? Why on earth would you ask Abbott why election results are so inconsitent with polling data? Abbott, a known serial liar, is responsible for all the secrecy, shady vendor dealings and lack of transparency in our state elections. You should not just take his word for it.

    KingThrillgore ,
    @KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml avatar

    If you think your vote doesn’t count, you have to accept the state is lost and move somewhere else. Sorry.

    Burn_The_Right ,

    I agree 100% and I’m working on that.

    Bridger ,

    By eliminating nonessentials like food.

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