Electricity (Kalispell, Hot Springs, Power: how much, houses, live)

[Stephan_K]

Here, all said and done with all the fees and delivery charges and bullsh*t added to the electric bill, we are paying 11.9 cents per KW/HR.

What is the rate all said and done in the Kalispell area per KW/HR? Does it change the farther you get out in the mountain areas like Kila where service is currently available?

[rickers]

It makes a big difference where you live and how much you use. Businesses that use large amounts of electricity pay less per KWH than small consumers such as a residence but the basic fees are higher. I don't know what the rates are near Kalispell but down here on the rez the rates are pretty low.
For residential service there is a base charge of $7.50 per month.
The rate for usage is $0.0496 per KWH. and there is a minimum charge of $12.50 per month. These rates were lower but they just got bumped up a bit as they all have to do periodicaly. The rate for irrigation pumps is $0.0374 per KWH and large industrial users pay $0.0329 per KWH. I'm sure the rates are higher off the rez. These rates are the ones listed on Mission Valley Power's website and are effective December 1 2007.
Kila is served by Flathead elect. co. op. (I think), It looks like the basic is $16.00 with a charge of $0.057 per KWH. www.flatheadelect.com (broken link)

[Stephan_K]

Bottom line after reviewing flathead elec's web site, I'm getting raped for electric from First Energy (current service in OH). You guys have great rates. Our kw rate is over 8 cents to start with and then they fee the hell out of us. Delivery fee, Access fee, F*** U fee, one day of the week is Tuesday fee.........And there are actually more!!! Like I said, all said and done we pay twice what you guys do. Amazing!

With new/newer and updated homes in NW MT, what type of energy and heating systems are most commonly being used? Hot water too?

[rickers]

Here in western Mt. a lot of people use wood. We don't have gas in our town except for propane and then you have to store it in a large tank right outside your house. Most people cook and heat with electricity. We have a 18x80 wooden trailer and it has a central forced air electric heater but we keep a fire going in our fireplace every day from mid October to mid may. Our electric bill is usually about $100.00 in winter to about $80.00 in summer. We have a window AC unit. The summers are hotter than snake snot in our valley. How are our towns water rates compared to yours? Ours is $28.00 monthly base charge and then $2.01 for every 1000 gallons.

[Stephan_K]

Water.....haven't been on city water for 10 years at the house. My business is in town and has water service. It is minimal so I can't give a true comparison. The water we use in my building is for flushing toilets. Other than that we don't use any water and believe it or not I never really look at the breakdown of the bill. It is insignificant as far as I am concerned and never changes. We get billed every quarter and it has been $62 every quarter for the last couple few years.

All in all I think yours and our residential monthly water bills would probably be within $10 of each other if I had to give an answer. We don't have water issues ever.

[rickers]

Our town's water comes from three wells and one is a mineral well with a strong sulfur smell and a light fizz. Our towns name of Hot Springs kind of explains our towns odd tap water. Sometimes our water is fresh and fizz free and at other times especially in the summer the odd taste and smell starts to be noticed. It's nice only being three blocks from the hot mineral soaking tubs. My water bill goes way up in the summer because I like to keep lots of green lawn around my house.

[Stephan_K]

slight fizz...... and you drink it? I got the sulfer water too, tastes and smells goooood. But no fizz. I feel slighted........

Is your water treated at all?

[rickers]

It seems like in the spring when all the snow is melting they dose the tank and lines with chlorine. I think the total coliform count goes up as all the deer and elk poop gets rinsed into the water table. I really don't know but it just seems that way. Every year in the spring we get a big dose of chlorine. I would like to have our towns water tested for lead and mercury, I know our town won't do it. We are surrounded with a bunch of so called gold mines, old abandoned ones. It's easy to access the data that still exists about the history of these mines in regards to the quantities of the metals extracted. Many of the so called gold mines were actually lead mines ! I am afraid there may be lead in the road dust that ends up in the air we breath.

That would explain a lot about some of the bizzarre behavoir I have seen arround here !

[rickers]

Hey Stephan_K I thought you were headed to Kila ? Did the deal get jinxed ? !!!

[rickers]

Talk about bad water, We looked at a property in Dayton , right on Flathead lake. Many of the houses draw tap water directly from Flathead lake with no treatment whatsoever.
People drink it all the time and apparently do fine with it. The house We looked at had a well but the wells in that area are either shallow and lake water is what you get or they are deep and the water is yellow with a strong iron taste. We rented a bungalow up Batavia Lane near Kila about ten years ago and the well water seemed to make us feel like we were buzzing. Not that kind of buzzing, ! but a weird vibrating tingle. When we moved the symptoms vanished ! I think the water was a bit off or something. Maybe the septic tank was too close to the well.