Here in Maryalnd the price caps on electricity are set to expire soon, and rates will rise from 40% to 70% depending on your provider. Consumers have the option of phasing in these hikes over a few years, (and paying a higher final price to offset the earlier losses) or absorbing the cost increase all at once. I’m curious what route my fellow dopers are choosing. Are any of you looking at ways to decrease your electricty use to compensate for the higher cost?
I’m not doing the “phase in” thing. From what I’ve heard, if you can eat the increase now, it works out better in the long run.
I doubt I’ll be doing anything additional to conserve energy.
That said, I have been toying with the idea of getting solar panels on my roof. But, I’ve been thinking about that before any word of this rate hike came out. I haven’t really started looking into at all, though.
Not much can be done about the “phase-in” plan until the courts get through with the issue, and we can tell what the final form of the plan is. If it offers a reduced rate for a time, without interest on the individual account, you’d be a fool not to take it. The last version I read about was just that. Still, wait and see, and keep an eye on the news.
As for reduction, this has got me to switch over to compact fluorescent lights. And I will soon get switches for those appliances that are continually drawing power while not in use (except for the clock radio, of course). Other than that, there’s not much I can do, except try to steel myself to put up with more of the moist, hot Baltimore summer than I previoously have.
Yes, that’s the impression I’m getting. Just suck it up and pay the higher rates now.
As for the OP, I’ve turned into my father. I walk around the house turning off lights, yelling, “Turn off the lights! No one’s in this room! The lights don’t need to be on! Who’s in the living room watching TV … no one! Turn it off!”
Not necessarily. Even in the face of the time-value benefit you receive, if your cash reserves are at a certain level, it’s better to pay the full bit from the get-go so you don’t end up having to scrimp when the hammer comes. That’s especially true, I think, of those in lower income groups who do not typically have the kind of cash-in-hand that allows them to invest, but who are also going to be the folks most likely to opt for the phase in.
Anyways, we’re sucking it up, although the redoubtable Mrs. Cliffy has also begun to turn into BiblioCat’s father.
–Cliffy
IIRC, there are no interest charges, but there are little extra monthly charges for those who opt to go for the extended-time reduced rate.
Ugh, not gonna be a fun summer. Let’s hope for an unseasonably cool August.
We plan to just suck it up and pay the full fare when the ugliness kicks in. We can afford it, and the “fees” that BGE tacks on to the phase in plan will cost you more in the long run.
I think it’ll be a real political hot potato since this is an election year. Look for more posturing, maybe even an emergency legislative session. And absolutely nothing will come of it. This horse left the barn back when they agreed to deregulate. I say vote all the incumbents out that you can this year.
I too am starting to enter “old man” mode with regard to lights left on etc… . We’ve converted to about 50% compact fluorescents already, and will do even more in the coming months. However with 2 teenagers, the heat pump, hot water heater, dishwasher and laundry will still send me to the poor house, I think!
A) I am going to suck it up now and take the hit.
and
B) if at all possible remind those responsible who they work for in November.
As a Maryland resident and member of a regional economic development organization, at our last meeting the rise in rates was explained by a PHI rep as the staggered expiration of fixed priced “locked in” contracts, and a big spike in energy costs which is reflected in the new contracts. Assuming both these things are true (and they appear to be) how are lawmakers in any way responsible for this market driven increase in costs?
Because this is IMHO and not GD and I try not to be overtly political on the SD I left it vague … but PSC certainly , the Senate and possibly Ehrlich could possibly have a finger pointed at ‘them’ regarding how they planned to mitigate and handle this - and that would be legit IMHO.
I think, astro, you think I was saying politicans are responsible for the increase (even though I pretty clearly didn’t say that - but like I said I left it vague) I don’t.
Probably going to run the dishwasher less. Apart from that, i guess we’ll just suck it up like everyone else. It’s not like we actually have any choice in the matter.
My wife and i are grad students, on a limited income, so it might be a bit tough, but at least we have the promise of higher incomes in the future. I really don’t know how actual poor people even get by nowdays. When i moved to the US from Australia, the utility rates already seemed really high compared to what i was used to; now they’re going to be astronomical.
As i said in another thread on the subject, if there’s one amusing aspect of this whole thing it’s watching the politicians running round like chickens with their heads cut off trying to both appease the energy corporation and, at the same time, express horror and concern at the rising prices so they look sympathetic for the voters.
And half of the fuckers who are now making damning pronouncements about the price rises are the same people who voted for deregulation in the first place. Sorry, morons, but you reap what you sow. If you felt, six years ago, that deregulation was the way to go, then at least have the balls to stand up and admit it, rather than expressing faux shock and outrage at rising energy costs.
Well, several of them voted for deregulation, which turns out not to have been as great a scheme as they said it would be. We’re finding out the answer to the question “What if competition fails to materialize?”
(The link’s to a chart I made when I was curious who from my district voted for it and who didn’t.)
Are the compact flourescents those funky twirly-shaped bulbs that fit in regular light sockets? Do they really save money in the long run?
I’ve stood and looked at them, but they seem insanely expensive.
More on the OP: We bought a woodstove two years ago and are able to get a pretty steady supply of free wood, so we’re covered for winter. We live in a ranch house, so it’s just one floor to heat. We have ceiling fans and make good use of them for circulating the air around.
We also just replaced our roof and insulation in the attic.
I don’t know about the summer. We have central air, and a relatively new unit, so it should run efficiently, but my husband likes it set on “Arctic Chill” all the time.