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Here in Pennsylvania I've been hearing about electric/utility costs shooting up at least 30%...Is this also happening where you are? I'm wondering if there are still good cost of living places to be...
Our electricity just went up about 23%, supposedly because of fuel costs but all our power comes from a nuclear plant. I suppose the increases are averaged across the TVA district.
Seattle electricity and water are government-run. Prices are reasonable (I think) and don't rise much.
A 1" residential water line is 19.60/mo + between $5.56 and $11.80 per 100 cubic feet (748 gallons), with the higher rates for people who use a lot.
Residential power is $0.1974 per day plus $0.1056 or $0.1307 per KwH, with higher rates when you exceed 10 KwH per day in the summer or 16 KwH per day in the winter.
This is all designed to encourage conservation, with good results iirc.
Here in Pennsylvania I've been hearing about electric/utility costs shooting up at least 30%...Is this also happening where you are? I'm wondering if there are still good cost of living places to be...
Seems that a lot of folks in Western PA were caught off guard by the increases in electricity costs that started around June first, although it was pretty well publicized.
I was able to lock in a lower rate for a year and my bill has actually gone down around $20 a month.
I believe all of these utility costs are due to lack of previous investment (aka keeping bills artificially low to appease the masses and not doing proper maintenance and upgrades), tight energy markets, and also in some cases remediating systems overburdened by changing weather.
Seattle electricity and water are government-run. Prices are reasonable (I think) and don't rise much.
A 1" residential water line is 19.60/mo + between $5.56 and $11.80 per 100 cubic feet (748 gallons), with the higher rates for people who use a lot.
Residential power is $0.1974 per day plus $0.1056 or $0.1307 per KwH, with higher rates when you exceed 10 KwH per day in the summer or 16 KwH per day in the winter.
This is all designed to encourage conservation, with good results iirc.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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All of ours go up nearly every year, but in the past not more than 5-6% each year. This year, our provider is going up 12.9% for electricity and 11.9% for natural gas. Thanks to our replacing windows with triple-pane, our winter bills went from $350 to under $300. Our lowest gas/electric bill ever (28 years here) was the last one, despite the heat and 3 window AC units running just $95 for combined gas and electric (3 people, 3,000 sf house.
All of ours go up nearly every year, but in the past not more than 5-6% each year. This year, our provider is going up 12.9% for electricity and 11.9% for natural gas. Thanks to our replacing windows with triple-pane, our winter bills went from $350 to under $300. Our lowest gas/electric bill ever (28 years here) was the last one, despite the heat and 3 window AC units running just $95 for combined gas and electric (3 people, 3,000 sf house.
WHAT?
My electric/water bill for my 800sqft apartment with WINDOW unit A/C was $225 last month....
What do they charge per kWh there, it must be really high? Here the rate is two tiers, $0.09-0.11/kWh.
The Massachusetts rate I'm paying is 24.66 cents per kWh. It will likely continue to go up. Something more than half of Massachusetts electricity generation is natural gas and the pipeline companies are holding the state hostage. My most recent bill was $84.19 for 313 kWh. That includes a $7 customer charge that has nothing to do with usage.
That's close to the highest in the lower 48. Connecticut is often a bit higher.
I have a DC-inverter mini split, Energy Star windows & doors, and good insulation. I can believe a window AC in a poorly insulated apartment would be much more expensive. I have a spare DC-inverter window AC sitting in a box in the garage to run off my generator if I lose power from a hurricane. Those are much more efficient than an old AC.
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