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Anyone using this plan? Here is the description from their website:
Quote:
The Equal Payment Plan (EPP) helps you plan ahead and ease the impact of higher seasonal electric bills by paying a fixed, averaged amount each month on your electric bill.
How the Equal Payment Plan works:
With the EPP, the amount of your monthly bill is based on your previous year’s electricity usage. Here's how the program works:
Your average power usage from the last 12 months is divided into 12 equal monthly payments
Duke Energy Progress does not lower or raise your annual electric bill
EPP is available to you at no charge
At the end of 12 months, Duke Energy Progress will review the account to determine if the EPP amount needs to be re-calculated. The year-end balance (debit or credit) will be included in the calculation to determine the EPP amount for the next 12 months
Sounds like a good deal, i.e. you are going to pay the same amount either way but this just smooths it out. However I am always weary of stuff like this, I feel like the only reason most companies offer stuff like this is to get MORE money from you in the end. When a friend described the plan to me I was worried it was going to be something like if you use less than the amount you are paying for you don't get a credit, but if you use more then they are going to charge you. But from the description above it doesn't sound like that, it actually sounds like a fair plan.
I did this in NY, mainly because I could have a $500-$600 gas bill in the winter months if I didn't. It makes it much easier to budget. I haven't used it down here because my electric bill is really only high for 2-3 months of the year, and even then it's not terrible. If you like to have a fixed monthly amount for budgeting it's a good way to go.
I have used it in the past but am not currently using it. The first year we used it, they underestimated how much we would pay and the balance was prorated over the course of the 2nd year. So the first year it was lower, then pretty high on the second, then lower on the third. I think it was $129/mo then $185/mo. then $158/mo. for the third year. This was a 1900SF house, new construction in 2006 when we used this plan. I haven't used it since just because, like Twingles said, the extra money in the winter/summer isn't really that much.
^ Wow. Our ~2200 sq/ft average is about $100/mo. We keep it cool in the summer (73 day, 69 night) and cool in the winter (70 day, 65 night). $130 or $185 seems very high for your square footage.
I never trust offers like this. I don't do the "let us control your thermostat" offer either.
^ Wow. Our ~2200 sq/ft average is about $100/mo. We keep it cool in the summer (73 day, 69 night) and cool in the winter (70 day, 65 night). $130 or $185 seems very high for your square footage.
I never trust offers like this. I don't do the "let us control your thermostat" offer either.
How many kids do you have? How many loads of laundry do you do per day? Do you have tree cover providing shade to your house or a cleared lot? Do you have some gas appliances or is everything electric? There are really so many variables to this...no way to make a blanket statement without more information than you have. I haven't seen $100/mo. since I lived in an apartment.
I don't trust offers like this either. We have gas heat and several gas appliances, so our electric bill is practically non-existent from Oct. through March, even with 2900 sq. ft.
We've got 4 kids and two big-screen TVs, as well as 5 computers. But we also have two new a/c units, window film on all the windows, and 40-foot tall trees in the back yard, as well as a well-placed 25 foot tree in the front yard. Last month's electric bill for us was $133.
How many kids do you have? How many loads of laundry do you do per day? Do you have tree cover providing shade to your house or a cleared lot? Do you have some gas appliances or is everything electric? There are really so many variables to this...no way to make a blanket statement without more information than you have. I haven't seen $100/mo. since I lived in an apartment.
2 kids, 5-7 loads of laundry, face east w/o shade, backyard shaded, gas stove, energy star appliances. So, yeah...I feel somewhat qualified to make a statement. I assume that you have old hvac systems. We don't.
Regardless, those offers are to provide cash flow to the utility company during lower use periods. Not necessarily to help the homeowner.
2 kids, 5-7 loads of laundry, face east w/o shade, backyard shaded, gas stove, energy star appliances. So, yeah...I feel qualified to make a blanket statement. I assume that you have old hvac systems. We don't.
You have a gas stove but not a furnace? How come? What make you decide on 100% electric for heating/cooling?
That is why your electric bill is quite a bit less...
I would think those posting here have heat pumps, not gas heat (like us).
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