I got my Power Bill in the mail. Holy Smokes. Can I deduct that from my Capital Gains Taxes?**
OT- Power Bill
- Thread starter Leeshouldveflanked
- Start date
You better check w/ Goat, he's the authority on Capital Gains. He'll be along here any minute to fill you in I'm sure
Goat says don't complain, you're just a pampered rich American. BTW, you should see my ATMOS gas bill, that's crazy high.
Their website says mine was read yesterday so I'll see it soon. I'm on levelized billing w/ them though and it should only be about $48. Power (4 County Electric) was just paid a day or 2 ago and it was $153 also on levelized billing. $201 total for both wasn't too bad I didn't think but I didn't look at the dates it covered so there may be some carryover onto next bill
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There have been several posts in "Let's talk Flowood" of excessive bills received by Entergy customers.
What the heck did people expect after the month we've had? Your winter power or gas bill is going to be historically high this month unless you chose to set the thermostat at 60 and keep a fire going.
I’m pleasantly surprised my bill wasn’t significantly higher than what it was.
#expectedmorethandoublewhatipaidlastmonth
#notevendouble
#thatsnottoobad
#expectedmorethandoublewhatipaidlastmonth
#notevendouble
#thatsnottoobad
Electricity prices have gone up like 30% over the last 2 years and then we have 9° weather. My last 2 bills have been high. Freeze or pay it.
Getting read to take advantage of the EVs when they come online!
Gas yes, but power? Most folks around here have a gas furnace, not a heat pump. Power should be a little higher as the furnace is running more, but folks are complaining their bills have doubled.
Keep the heater at 67 then hand out blankets and sweaters. If they don't like it move somewhere else.************
The way I understand levelized billing, it is for the purpose of cash flow and not cost savings. You pay the same whether levelized or actual use billing. My electric for January was also about $150 but my gas (water & heat) was $300 and last February's gas was over $400. We keep the house at 65 - 67 degrees. Hope the rest of winter is mild because I can't afford the Atmos bills. BTW, my electric last summer peaked at less than $400.
Interesting. My usage was virtually flat this month compared to last year with gas heat.
My wife and I have this battle every year. No matter whether people are running gas or electric, the vast majority of systems throughout our region weren't designed to deal with 6 degree temps. In our case, we could run everything we've got all night long, and it still wouldn't get too far above 68 or so with those temps, so you may as well turn it down a couples degrees and pull out the blankets and space heaters.
Our bill came in around $270, but it easily would've hit $400 if I hadn't guarded our thermostats like Heimdall from Thor
I have two heat pumps (gas not available in my neighborhood). One of them was installed this past October because the previous one was destroyed by a tree during a storm. Long ago, I decided not to freeze during cold weather, so I keep the temp set on 72. A couple of mornings during this past cold spell, the temp dropped to 66. Long story short, the installers didn't do something right and the heat strips weren't coming on. So the heat pump was keeping a reasonable temperature when it was 5 degrees outside, and in the teens during the day. That's pretty good for a heat pump without aux heat, even though it was running constantly. My house is insulated to the max though - R60 in the attic, 13 in the walls, and 25 in the crawlspace. The crawlspace is also encapsulated, and the lowest temp under the house was 55.
If you'll recall, just over a year ago it was even colder around Christmas. Low near zero, high one day only about 10, but we didn't have the ice and sleet then. I think much of Mississippi did though,
You're correct, it doesn't save you anything, it just averages it out over 12 months instead of having higher bills certain times of the year.
I've got natural gas heat, gas on demand water heater, and gas oven/stove. That was $48 on the levelized bill this month which is exactly what it was last December when we had 6' & 7' at Christmas. The biggest user of electricity this time of year would have been to run the fan on the central heat, everything else is just LED lights, tvs, and charging phones, tablets, and laptops and that was $153. We've got about 2,300ft I believe
One thing that I did not enjoy about living in Huntsville. No natural gas to my house and a stupid heat pump that had no prayer of heating the home in any cold temps. Then the heat strips would stay on and increase the power bill while also drying out you sinuses to Sahara Desert levels.
I would certainly have gas had it been available when the house was built. Gas heat feels warmer - maybe it doesn't lower the humidity as much as a heat pump. I don't know of anybody who has a whole-house humidifier but that might help.
Hmm…sounds like some of them folks might have been using a heat source other than that gas furnace!
Whoaaa…do not pull out them electric space heaters! Pull the plug. Them things will burn a hole in your pocketbook.
I’ve seen a lot of complaints on Nextdoor about people having huge bills in DFW. Makes me wonder if they have drafty windows or bad insulation…. Some people reported over $900 for their bill.
Of course, energy is deregulated here. So, if you don’t keep on top of your contract you’re gonna pay the huge rate. I’ve seen some paying as much as $0.22 per kw/h, which is about triple what you’d pay on a contract. Having this problem with a single energy provider is puzzling, though.
Of course, energy is deregulated here. So, if you don’t keep on top of your contract you’re gonna pay the huge rate. I’ve seen some paying as much as $0.22 per kw/h, which is about triple what you’d pay on a contract. Having this problem with a single energy provider is puzzling, though.
Electric with heat pumps, but I live in central Ark where the only gas I have in the house is our oven and a fire place.
Because of rising electrical utility costs, I bought new hvac units over the last year, replacing the previous ones with very high efficient units. Replaced old windows with new double pane insulated type. Then as an effort of prepping, installed solar. The electric bill is barely over required minimum now. Have natural gas for instantaneous water heater and generator. Based on data to date, pay back is a little over six years for everything.
Merely curious, how do you calculate payback on a generator? Or was that more for the other things you listed? I'm kicking around getting a generator installed.
Sorry for the confusion, I already had the generator. Those are first priority when living in FL.
Edited to further add: The payback only refers to hvac and solar. There is no payback on windows, or I don't have the right software to show it; however, I did get a tax benefit that year for a portion of the costs. The original windows were 1984, so there is certainly some benefit in insulation.
Wait till they are having rolling blackouts in Texas, AZ, etc because of high summer A/C demand and all of those EV's are pulled into Buckees lined up at the charging stations and they can't be used. They'll have to go in and buy some of Poop Pops favorite brisket to pass the time
My house was built in 1906 and has the classic 12 ft ceilings. We learned about budget billing many years ago, when first bill after cold weather was like $400 for electricity and $500 for gas now they both run about 150 a month.
During this last cold, furnace ran for 4 days straight without cutting off, and that’s with gas logs on.
During this last cold, furnace ran for 4 days straight without cutting off, and that’s with gas logs on.
the amount of hate over a new product is astounding to me. There are so few EV's on the road in this part of the world and that includes Texas and Az that they will not be the problem.
My cousin got so tired of the blackouts in Texas years ago that he put in a Solar Panel system as did many in Texas. Texas does a terrible job of managing it's grid.
I am considering my options and I live in MS where we have started to have issues now. I am considering a propane generator as I already use propane for fire place, cooking and hot water (on demand). I am not sold on the solar panels just yet. I have a buddy that installs them. I give him a call every now and then to discuss but I am leaning toward generator for backup. Solar panels take so long to get a pay back.
Lots of free money being handed out if there are "so few EV's on the road"
$623 Million for Charging Stations
50% New Cars EV by 2030
As for generators I agree, much more reliable than solar in an emergency. Who knows if its going to be sunny for a few days, especially in winter when ice/snow drag the lines down and its cold and cloudy for several days at a time. I've got a Honda 5500 watt and a Bluetti 1500watt power station that I can charge from generator, wall plug, solar, or 12 volt car charger. I use it to charge phones, tablets, run fans and tv, etc. Be sure and factor in cost of adding a generator interlock switch and possibly electrician to install so you can shut the panel off and not cause electircity to backflow into the power lines
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1st: I do not think it will be 50% new cars by any time soon. I own one and love it but they are not for everyone. Lots has to improve before even one third the people consider buying one. Price, safety, sustainability, ease of use, 500 or 1000 mile range would be a game changer. Will it happen? I don't know but I am good with mine as is but I doubt most would be OK having to plan every trip.
2nd: $600 million is nothing compared to how much the Oil Industry gets every year. Last year alone it was over 7 trillion.
Are you old enough to remember the gas shortages of 1970's. I do and very well. You could only buy gas based on even or odd days based on your car tag # and then you could only purchase a half tank. The US declared a state of emergency and WE HAD TO PUT A PRICE FREEEZE on everything to slow inflation. Gas Shortage was a lie because there was plenty of oil to be had but OPEC controlled so much of the supply worldwide that they could increase production or decrease it to create whatever they wanted. Why in the hell everyone is still against alternative energy sources is crazy to me. If we didn't subsidize the oil industry, OPEC would control us all.
I say do your damn part, find something besides oil that doesn't have to be subsidized in the long run. Some of those bastards from OPEC funded 9-11 and many other things that will curl your toes that we funded by buying oil from them. Screw them, I hope OPEC goes broke after the oil becomes nothing more than one energy source out there.
I think we are going to need oil, solar, propane, EV's, hydro power, hydrogen power, wind and anything else that we can find. I just don't get why anyone has a problem with electric cars to see if we can get one step closer to not caring what OPEC says or does.
Just to add a counter opinion, I lived in Texas for more than 40 years and I could count on one hand the number of blackouts that occurred. Texas has a grid problem because of its culture of fierce independence, which manifest itself in Texas separating its power grid from the rest of the country. The separation put a limit on the power available in its grid during high stress events such as the freeze of Feb 2021. On the other hand, deregulation of the energy market was great, allowing the consumer to pick his own power provider at highly competitive pricing.
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