Bio-mass probably wouldn't be approved today (Dallas, Austin: crime, homes, transfer to)

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Parksider

According to the Austin Energy website, it 3.55 cents per kwh (through 500kwh) and 7.82 cents after that.

Enjoy it until October. Starting then, it will be 8¢ in the summer starting at the 501st kwh and going up dramatically from there. And yes, PEC does offer an incentive to cut your use. If you use 2500 kwh, your bill will be twice as big as if you used 1250.

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by scm53

And yes, PEC does offer an incentive to cut your use. If you use 2500 kwh, your bill will be twice as big as if you used 1250.

Smart alec!

[Parksider]

Originally Posted by scm53

Enjoy it until October. Starting then, it will be 8¢ in the summer starting at the 501st kwh and going up dramatically from there.

I will enjoy it - because starting in October, I should once again be a net producer of electricity until about June 2013 thanks to the 6.5KV photo-voltaic system on my roof that AE gave me $15,000 to install.

[CarnivalGal]

Just another reason that I am infuriated about the proposed rate increases at Austin Energy. Even more infuriating is that because I live in an unincorporated area, I do not get to vote for (or against) the clowns that make these decisions and in turn vote to raise my rates.

[Trainwreck20]

Just another reason that I am infuriated about the proposed rate increases at Austin Energy. Even more infuriating is that because I live in an unincorporated area, I do not get to vote for (or against) the clowns that make these decisions and in turn vote to raise my rates.

Yes, yes, we have heard that before, I think...

Anyway, you are infuriated at some of the (still) cheapest energy rates in the state? Even after they increase? And did the voting situation change since you moved into your home? I mean, when you bought your house, you were still in the AE zone and could not vote for city council then?

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Yes, yes, we have heard that before, I think...

Anyway, you are infuriated at some of the (still) cheapest energy rates in the state? Even after they increase? And did the voting situation change since you moved into your home? I mean, when you bought your house, you were still in the AE zone and could not vote for city council then?

When I bought my house, I didn't know that the money I paid for my electric bill was being used to find things that had absolutely nothing to do with energy or electric power. I wouldn't even mind the rate increase if they weren't spending money on things like the project mentioned in the original post or using a boatload of the money on things not even related to electricity or energy whatsoever.

[Trainwreck20]

using a boatload of the money on things not even related to electricity or energy whatsoever.

I have not looked at their budget, what are these things?

Edit:
Okay, I found a budget from a few years ago, and it seems there is an economic development line item that was geared toward encouraging energy-wise development, yada yada. The total was a few hundred thousand from a budget of 1.2 billion. It also seems that COA occasionally has to fund shortfalls at AE when there are shortfalls in actual revenue vs projected revenue. Wait, you aren't COA so you don't send any tax money for those occasions. You are right, it isn't fair, you are getting energy subsidized by COA residents!

Ah, found more...they pay for new street lights. The AAS talks about 'not related to energy', but the low-energy lights lower the load on the system, reducing the need for new power sources. A green living expo....also energy related, albeit indirectly. Sickle cell anemia, that is a hard one to tie in to energy, I will grant you that . Note that the article most likely listed the ones they thought was least related to energy, and fails to mention how much any of those individually are.

[Austinite101]

I think that all of the suburban customers who are so upset at the increase should just do the logical thing and decrease consumption. It's not hard to do. If you pay attention to the energy that you waste, you will cut down and who knows, you may even see a net decrease on your electric bill! And if you are upset still, you didn't have to move there in the first place if you knew that you could not vote in city elections. And if you didn't know, that is not Austin's fault that you didn't do the research. We can not all continue to use 200kwH per month and not expect cause massive strain on the power grid.

[OpenD]

For perspective, the DOE says the average residential electricity rate in the US is 12 cents/kWh. Even with the coming increases Austin still enjoys very low rates.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Austinite101

I think that all of the suburban customers who are so upset at the increase should just do the logical thing and decrease consumption. It's not hard to do. If you pay attention to the energy that you waste, you will cut down and who knows, you may even see a net decrease on your electric bill! And if you are upset still, you didn't have to move there in the first place if you knew that you could not vote in city elections. And if you didn't know, that is not Austin's fault that you didn't do the research. We can not all continue to use 200kwH per month and not expect cause massive strain on the power grid.

Funny, I think that all the myopic central Austinites should lose their "my Allandale/Bouldin/Hyde Park lifestyle is the only correct lifestyle" attitude and open their eyes up to the fact that there are folks tied to AE's monopoly that don't live like them. Your "waste" is my pool pump. Your "waste" is my neighbors 4,000 sq. ft. five BR house for them and their five kids. "It's not hard to do"? OK, which kid should they put up for adoption?

And this "screw them if they were stupid enough to move there" 'tude, while it may play well at the Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse, is just begging for intervention by the Legislature. There is nothing to prevent AE's monopoly from being opened up to competition. The law that blocks mandatory competition for cooperatives and city owned utilities allows them to do so - and in fact, one co-op has done so. Wouldn't take much to extend that law just a bit further. Americans hate monopolies.

And finally, this "grid" argument is a huge red herring. Kwh's are destination neutral. The investment required to service four homes at 500 kwh is actually greater than one house at 2,000. In fact, AE's steeply progressive rate structure makes that 2,000 kwh house a preferred customer as their revenue generation is higher than the combined 500 kwh houses. We have a 100 year supply of natural gas in this country. What is driving your coercive Utopianism?

Again, just happy that I have PEC and can watch this game from the cheap seats.