Off grid but still receive a utility bill

[ksmithaz1]

Around $32 total out of pocket which is equivalent to 200 kWh per month for "free" use it or lose it. I am OK with it but they better not raise it .

Florida? is a a really mixed state, and still has a lot of very poor rural areas and a very aged population. In most places, part of that $32/$whatever helps to pay for people in the state that cannot afford it. This would be true almost across the board with most state regulated service. Now personally I'd let them do without, but the better angels of society deem this worthy, and frankly I'm not going to get too excited about it, as the alternative might actually create more issues than it solves. YMMV. Further, Florida power infrastructure has a tendency to take a real beating from time to time.

Here in Phoenix they've (APS,SRP) managed to move a large chunk of the power distribution underground. It's expensive, but the folks here have repeatedly voiced and voted for it, even with the rate and fee increases. I think it's much better and really improves grid reliability, but you gotta pay for it. Anything new here goes underground.

 

[zanydroid]

What’s the cost to keep a service company on call to fix your solar setup if it breaks, at the same level of reliability as grid power?

Both in terms of the service contract and per call costs.

Probably quite difficult to even find a vendor willing to talk to you about that.

 

[Hedges]

San Jose, CA $12.68/month
Looks like a one time per year credit of ($38.51)
Leaving a net of $10 bucks.

That's on a NEM 1.0 account.
Not only does it provide a reliable and silent backup generator, it also provides an unlimited capacity (annual reset) "battery", 100% efficient +/- TOU rates.

(the deals would get worse under NEM 2.0, still worse under 3.0 yet worth being on.)

Proposal is to jack that monthly cost as high as $95 ~ $135, although some say it will likely end up around $40.

 

[Tulex]

I think our connection fee is around $20, they are even nice enough to charge us 95 cents for sending the bill.

 

[zanydroid]

Proposal is to jack that monthly cost as high as $95 ~ $135, although some say it will likely end up around $40.

They could charge a lot and get a way with it on value pricing terms combined with their monopoly to prohibit you from shopping around. If the alternative is installing a generator, fuel tank, getting fuel service, getting permits inside a city for it all, servicing plan, ...

 

[McKravitts]

It could be a lot worse. Around here, we not only have to pay a connection fee, but if we export to the grid, there is a fee for using their lines to sell them power for a small fraction of the cost they charge us to buy it back.
But they give a lot more money to the politicians then I do, so it all makes prefect sense.

 

[mlhagema]

My part of Iowa is about the same as you. "Basic Service Charge" is $0.4274 per day, so about $13-14 per month to be connected to the grid.

 

[42OhmsPA]

$0.47 per day with PP&L in PA.

 

[MarkSolar]

It's $14.50/month here in Chicago metro.

 

[Eber]

Mine in Pa is aprox 12 bucks and has some kind of solar charge on it that i have no idea what is.
My system is off grid

 

[Ampster]

I am posting this to see if this is customary across the country

My fixed fee in California is about $12 a month.

 

[Crowz]

Something no ones mentioned that I think kind of makes there being a minimum charge completely fair and even common sense is that this is no different than you having cable tv.

Cable company could care less if you watch it or not. They have to provide it being there if you want to watch it. If you want it sitting there aka connected in case you need it then its no different than paying for cable tv. Think of any actual kwh you use as being the "pay per view" part of the cable experience

Where I draw the line is requiring a monthly fee on top of the base charge for homes with solar to be connected. That has no justification.

 

[superchachi]

we pay around $25/mo for the connection. That is far less than I pay for just about anything on a monthly basis...and living without electricity is not I am interested in doing. I see it as a $300/yr insurance policy

 

[BKY2003]

Mine, if you have 15 kw system, base fee is $87.83 a month.

 

[Hedges]

Is that for a grid tie net metering system?
Or do they charge same if it only powers loads, doesn't feed the grid?

 

[BKY2003]

On a coop, so many people started putting solar in they are trying to put a stop to it. Net metering .052 cent a kWh. 17.61 per every 5000 watts fee. $35 connect fee. No net metering only $35 a month.

 

[pollenface]

Most electric utilities have a base charge for being hoked up to the grid.

$400aud/year in my part of the world

 

[GXMnow]

I am on Southern California Edison, and on my NEM 2.0 plan, I have a $12 minimum monthly fee. But we also had a $50 "Climate Credit" which went towards those charges, and my year end "True Up" also went as a credit, so I have not had to pay even the $12 for about 11 months now.

I could use up to about 25 KWH's a month and the minimum charge would stay about the same $12. After that, the charges for the energy, delivery, and taxes would start going over the $12.

There are other plans that have much high fixed fees to get a lower energy rate. If you use a lot of energy, it can save you money. They recommend that for EV owners as it gives a low overnight rate for charging the car. I think the monthly fee goes up to something like $35 minimum though. Total yearly cost without using any grid power would then be around $400 USD. My brother has a small grid tied PV solar power system as well as a Chevy Bolt EV. He went to the other plan as he uses about 100 to 200 KWHs a month from the grid. His PV system is only 3,000 watts, and he uses a minimum of 13 KWHs every day, just to drive to work and back. That is nearly 300 KWHs a month, just for the car. His solar panels cover most of his house load, but can't help much for the car. He needs more panels and a battery system. On the flip side, I did spend over $150 USD on gasoline this past month. And I drive a 42 MPG hybrid.

The fixed charge for just having solar panels was voted down here. So now they are trying to add a charge based on household income. They claim it is to allow them to make it cheaper for low income families who couldn't afford to install solar.

 

[crossy]

Yeah, some form of network connection charge is pretty standard globally, its magnitude however, is not.

For a normal domestic connection here in sunny Thailand it's 24.62Baht (about USD 0.71) per month.

Cheap as chips for a reliable (except when it rains) backup/solar top-up power source.

 

[Wakintx]

Think about it. It cost money for the utility or the power distribution people to put in all of those poles all of that wire all over the neighborhoods.

They're going to need to recoup that infrastructure cost