[Brian26]

Originally Posted by synchem

Going solar last year was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made. I no longer have to worry about Eversource's crap.

Yep. I have had panel's for 5 years and they will be paid off this April and I recieved my ROI. I converted my entire house to electric and use cold climate heat pumps for heat. Here is my electric bill every month. Eversource even thanks me for having panel's. After this April my panels will produce $2500+ a year in free electricity.

[East of the River]

Originally Posted by Brian26

Both Rhode Island and Massachusetts actually have higher rates than CT according to the EIA. All of New England has high electricity rates.

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/mont...p?t=epmt_5_6_a

Interesting, I don't remember where I found the numbers but they listed RI and MA as slightly less then us when I was looking they should MA and RI at about .20 a KWH

[East of the River]

Just looked it up again it looks like EIA number is off for CT Pura lists residential at .24 a KWH which is indeed higher then Everyone else. I have tried to dig into it a little and most of the reasons NE is screwed up is laws that allow the utilities to make alot more profit then they are allowed in other areas and some crazyness with ISO new England that the rest of the country doesn't deal with. There is no practical reason our power should be twice as expensive as the DC region for example. They do have more coal generation but natural gas is cheaper then coal last I looked.

[Brian26]

Originally Posted by East of the River

Just looked it up again it looks like EIA number is off for CT Pura lists residential at .24 a KWH which is indeed higher then Everyone else. I have tried to dig into it a little and most of the reasons NE is screwed up is laws that allow the utilities to make alot more profit then they are allowed in other areas and some crazyness with ISO new England that the rest of the country doesn't deal with. There is no practical reason our power should be twice as expensive as the DC region for example. They do have more coal generation but natural gas is cheaper then coal last I looked.

Its a statewide average. CT has a couple municipal utilities and there is United Illuminating that serves like 10 towns around the New Haven area.

Electricity is expensive here mainly because most of our power plants run off natural gas. There is not enough pipeline capacity bringing gas into New England. When it gets cold natural gas heating gets priority on the pipelines. We then have oil fired peaker power plants that get fired up and the electricity cost 10 times the normal rate. That power plant in New Haven Harbor for example sits idle about 95% of the year. Its only fired up during severe cold and heat.

We also lack any energy sources in CT like gas/oil or hydroelectric. We do have a ton of wind potential here but the nimby people and the permitting process makes installing wind difficult and expensive.

The 2 states with the cheapest power are Louisiana (massive natural gas reserves) and Washington state ( dirt cheap hydroelectric).

Quebec to our North has an obscene amount of cheap hydro and the cheapest electricity in North America at .05 kwh delivered. The Northern Pass connection planned to bring in more power has been fought for years to stop it.

[East of the River]

I know our power will never be the cheapest but over the last 10 years the distribution charges and fees (not the actual power) have pretty much doubled. My total cost per KwH is near .24 buy I think last I checked the actual power was only .083. That means are distribution is costing .15 a KWH which is double and even triple what it costs in most states. That's my real issue not how much the power costs but how much eversource charges to poorly maintain a system that 100 years old. That also has more customers per square mile then almost any other state.

[Speegleagle]

Look, when the lights go out like in California, Texas and elsewhere , $ 12 a month increases will look like peanuts . Instead of beating up on Eversource, which actually provides terrific service the vast majority of time, light a fire under the Legislators. See if you can get their attention away from worrying about hairstyles , to address our energy needs.

[Brian26]

Originally Posted by East of the River

I know our power will never be the cheapest but over the last 10 years the distribution charges and fees (not the actual power) have pretty much doubled. My total cost per KwH is near .24 buy I think last I checked the actual power was only .083. That means are distribution is costing .15 a KWH which is double and even triple what it costs in most states. That's my real issue not how much the power costs but how much eversource charges to poorly maintain a system that 100 years old. That also has more customers per square mile then almost any other state.

Its expensive to maintain power lines. Lineman are well paid and its up there as one of the most dangerous jobs. The current Eversource union lineman rate is $52/hr. My neighbor is lineman for Eversource and he made 180k last year.

When they call in crews from out of state they are on the clock the second they get in the truck. They are even paid when they are sleeping in the hotel. Storm duty they get double overtime so $100+ an hour and they do 16 hours straight with 8 for rest. My neighbor is in Maine right now and said he will probably take home 10k for the 5 days he is there.

Another issue is trees. The majority of trees that fall on wires are from private business and homes from neglected trees.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by Brian26

Its a statewide average. CT has a couple municipal utilities and there is United Illuminating that serves like 10 towns around the New Haven area.

Electricity is expensive here mainly because most of our power plants run off natural gas. There is not enough pipeline capacity bringing gas into New England. When it gets cold natural gas heating gets priority on the pipelines. We then have oil fired peaker power plants that get fired up and the electricity cost 10 times the normal rate. That power plant in New Haven Harbor for example sits idle about 95% of the year. Its only fired up during severe cold and heat.

We also lack any energy sources in CT like gas/oil or hydroelectric. We do have a ton of wind potential here but the nimby people and the permitting process makes installing wind difficult and expensive.

The 2 states with the cheapest power are Louisiana (massive natural gas reserves) and Washington state ( dirt cheap hydroelectric).

Quebec to our North has an obscene amount of cheap hydro and the cheapest electricity in North America at .05 kwh delivered. The Northern Pass connection planned to bring in more power has been fought for years to stop it.

My understanding is that we have plenty of pipeline capacity in the Northeast. We don't have enough storage capacity to keep the gas flowing all summer into giant tanks.

You can't fault NH residents resistance to The Northern Pass. It would require a giant slash through the length of NH from the Canadian border to close to the MA border. Towers up to 180' tall would sit in a 2-300' wide easement up and over the White Mountains.

For some reason, Eversource didn't want to follow I93. I'm guessing the annual lease payments to the state for an easement wasn't planned for.

[Brian26]

Connecticut reached an agreement with United Illuminating to provide rebates to the electric utility's customers as part of the state's COVID-19 relief efforts.

The state's second-largest electricity distributer agreed to offer credits totaling $46.5 million and to keep base distribution rates unchanged until at least 2023, the governor's office announced Wednesday.

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/...elief/2441476/

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by Speegleagle

Look, when the lights go out like in California, Texas and elsewhere , $ 12 a month increases will look like peanuts . Instead of beating up on Eversource, which actually provides terrific service the vast majority of time, light a fire under the Legislators. See if you can get their attention away from worrying about hairstyles , to address our energy needs.

Is this Stockholm syndrome?

Terrific service the vast majority of the time? Like how homes should expect a week long power outage every 1-2 years? In 2021?

I'm sorry, but I have to question how many other places you have lived if you think Eversource is affordable or does a good job.