PSA: Changes to how you will get billed for electricity starting next summer...

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by stevek64

There's always the energy support program/discounts for lower income people APS offers. I read somewhere in the proposed literature they are still keeping that. Sometimes it pays to make less money I guess.

And there's a bunch of "paycheck to paycheck" people out there who are far from poor and just don't know how to manage money so there is that aspect of course.

I think the reference is to the fact that our largest employer is Walmart for example. You might be the first person to be okay with a utility hike because people "might qualify for some nameless program" or should allocate their resources better. . .

I don't think people in the position of barely affording as is, would enjoy a $10-20/month hike so APS can record profits.

[AzScorpion12]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

I think the reference is to the fact that our largest employer is Walmart for example. You might be the first person to be okay with a utility hike because people "might qualify for some nameless program" or should allocate their resources better. . .

I don't think people in the position of barely affording as is, would enjoy a $10-20/month hike so APS can record profits.

Profits are a bad thing? I hate all utility companies just as much as the next guy but I think a lot of this has to do with the ACC mandating APS maintaining the grid to certain specs. If I read this right and I've only read part of it, some of the reasoning for the proposed hike is even though solar owners aren't using electricity from the grid during peak hours but APS still has to make sure they can provide electricity to everyone including solar owners during these peak times. Just because a certain percent have solar,they still have to fire up more generators to potentially meet that demand and maintain that during peak times. This is why they're adding in demand charges trying to deter people from all coming home and turning everything on. I'm not saying it right,and I don't think they'll get the full 20% increase maybe more like 7-10%.

[AZ Manager]

Originally Posted by AZ Manager

I took my May data off APS, from the 1st through the 31st not the meter cycle, and plugged it into an excel sheet. I actually came out lower for May on the new plans compared to both the Time Advantage and the Combo Advantage, the current Time Advantage plan with a demand charge, on both R-1 and R-2. R-3 came out lower than Time Advantage and $0.30 more than the combo. I'm going to do last years June, July, and August into my excel and see what I come up with.

May 2016
R-1: $253.13
R-2: $256.90
R-3: $261.23

June 2015
R-1: $354.16
R-2: $360.26
R-3: $339.60

July 2015
R-1: $374.85
R-2: $381.34
R-3: $358.28

August 2015
R-1: $395.78
R-2: $402.42
R-3: $372.58

First I need to note that the R plans I didn't take the new peak times I just used what on/off info they already had which was from noon-7 pm so the R plans should actually be a tad bit high though not enough for me to sift through the info and dig it out myself. Also, I should say some days we run the dryer during peak hours (which will end now that there is a peak demand coming) and we certainly don't try to reduce what we are using in the slightest, I open the garage door to check the mail for example.

This info was very easy for me to slap together with the way you can download the info right off the APS website. I did include the daily rate too just to make sure I added everything.

I edited June because I made a small error on the Basic Service Charge, I had it at 31 days and it is 30 days (selected the wrong column to use) and I added the picture of my excel.

Just updating the information from this post comparing rates, I found the current rates on the APS website.

The Time Advantage and Combined Advantage numbers are going to be using the current rates, unlike in post #66 where I used the new rates. The R plan data is quoted above, and in post #66, so I won't add that again here but what I did include is the % increase from current rates Time Advantage first and Combined Advantage second. Everything else I said remains the same regarding the R rates being a little high because of the peak time change that I didn't pull the data for, way too much data for me to add up.

May 2016
Time Advantage: $225.22
Combined Advantage: $218.71
R-1: 12.393% | 15.740%
R-2: 14.066% | 17.462%
R-3: 15.989% | 19.443%

June 2015
Time Advantage: $326.83
Combined Advantage: $285.89
R-1: 08.364% | 23.880%
R-2: 10.229% | 26.013%
R-3: 03.908% | 18.786%

July 2015
Time Advantage: $342.05
Combined Advantage: $301.16
R-1: 09.588% | 24.468%
R-2: 11.485% | 26.623%
R-3: 04.744% | 18.967%

August 2015
Time Advantage: $366.76
Combined Advantage: $313.81
R-1: 7.911% | 26.120%
R-2: 9.722% | 28.237%
R-3: 1.587% | 18.728%

The % increases on some of that seems high but is anyone actually on a Combined Advantage plan right now? I am actually very curios to know if anyone is on the Combined Advantage plan which appears to be cheaper than the current Time Advantage plan even with the demand charge. I know we are on Time Advantage, which I will be switching off of as soon as I post this. If I were to watch my daytime usage at all I could see some of those increases being pretty major though.

I attached the update spreadsheet too if anyone cares to see the numbers.

[HX_Guy]

Nice work AZ Manager. Did you mean "If I weren't to watch my daytime usage at all I could see some of those increases being pretty major though."?

Nice analysis though. So with the Time Advantage, you're looking at anywhere from 8% - 12% increase on the R-1 & R-2 (which on your bills comes out to ~$30.00 more per month) which is what APS is kind of pitching to non-solar customers...but compared to the current Combined Advantage the increase is quite high.

To answer your question, yes, I do see some customers currently on the Combined Advantage and yes, a lot of them do have lower than average bills, but that is because they are carefully managing their usage. Those customers will see the biggest increase though it seem like and they won't be happy.

[ambrozia]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Anyone that goes solar after July of next week will only have one plan to choose from, the R-3, which has a $16.40/kW fee on-peak during the summer. The actual kWh rate is $0.09. So then does that not mean that APS has put a value on what they think a kW is worth and what they think a kWh is worth? Why is a kW and a kWh worth differently to a non-solar customer? The R-1 for example only charges $6.40/kW but the kWh rate is higher. .

Do you mean next week or next year? I thought we had until July 1, 2017 to be grandfathered in.

[AzScorpion12]

Originally Posted by ambrozia

Do you mean next week or next year? I thought we had until July 1, 2017 to be grandfathered in.

It's July of 2017 but it could be anytime before that too.