Day in and day out we go to work and come home to play. We work hard to have our weekends or tours off. These days, are when we get to spend that hard earned money for our enjoyment! We only get so many of these precious days a month!
Then BAM in the mail comes the infamous utility bill. You never know what it's going to say. Expensive. More Expensive. Holy Cow, how is this affordable!
The long enduring home and business energy dilemma has been going on for some time now. We are here to help lead you to a better place when it comes to your energy expenses.
- It is broken down into -
What we have no control over directly, and What we do have control over.
WHAT YOU CONTROL
- Use less
- Shop Around
- Microgenerator
WHAT YOU Cannot CONTROL
- Distribution Charges
- Generator Power Pool Cost (wholesale price)
Use Less
Pretty straight forward and I know this has been preached to you before, many times. This really does have merit though. Heres the equation.
amount of energy used X cost of electricity X cost to get it to you = Gets expensive fast.
This is by no means an actual calculation but a great representation. We have no control over the price of power and we have no control over the price to get the energy to our homes (distribution/transmission).
What we do have a say in however is how much energy we use! They cant charge you for energy that you don't use (in some cases that actually does happen if you have bought into the "equal billing" or "pay the same every month" plans, more on that here).
The biggest area you will see a savings on is the distribution. This adds upwards of more than 5 cents per kWh on electricity. Thats on top of the price of the electricity which at the time of writing this was 4.25 cents per kWh thus bringing you to an average grand total of more than 9 cents.
Now how do you use less energy?
- LED bulbs
- Efficient A/C
- Use that BBQ
- Stop the Power leaks
Shop Around
One of the great notes about our economy is that we have plenty of choices of what we want to buy and where we want to buy it. Groceries, building supplies, gym memberships and restaurants. There is such a variety and each fits a certain person. Energy is the same. You have a choice! (most of us).
First things first. If you never chose your energy provider, and received a bill from one randomly, you are most likely with a regulated provider. Now pay attention. You can choose to go with a competitive retailer! But no one is going to do it for you. hint: competitive retailers have averaged up to 30% savings compared to the regulated providers. Now you know you have a choice to use a different energy provider.
Some companies offer an equibilling or easy budgeting option. Buyer Beware! This has a nice ring to it I have to admit. The idea makes sense, to have the same amount billed to you each month, would make budgeting pretty simple. Until the last month. this month could be a rude surprise. The final month is the settlement time, meaning, whatever error the retailer made in predicting your usage (which lets be honest, is near impossible given all the variables), you must pay up and bring your balance to zero. Some get lucky and may not owe. The other is a "Predict-a-bill" (Just Energy). In this realm a retailer guarantees you will only pay a set amount for your energy cost (make note, they do not talk about distribution). The company must way over charge in order to protect themselves from price fluctuations. But hey, at least you will have a somewhat consist bill, at the cost of your wallet.
If you want to have similar priced bills each month, use the same amount of energy each month (not going to happen in the summer with your natural gas) and go with a fixed price. This price is usually reasonable and you can have the peace of mind you can see more consistency in your bills, without being absolutely gouged.
Final tip to shopping around, be open to bundled billing! Bundled billing, when used properly is more efficient of your time and ours, so logically it should also help your bank account. Just be aware, some do it better than others and some see that they are giving you a convenience and you should pay more for that
Micro-Generation
Here is where we enter the "unknown". Did you know you can generate your own electricity to offset what you are already using! This is a bundle of fun and works in your favour in more ways than one. Lets diffuse a few myths first.
You do not need batteries. The style of system is called a "grid tie" and the concept is easy. You are tied to the grid the same as you are now, hence no need to store any energy. Whatever your generation system cannot provide, you simply pull off of the grid. When it is dark outside and no breeze, you pull off the grid. When the sun is shinning brightly and the wind going full tilt, this is where the real magic happens.
Now, by not pulling energy off of the grid, we can avoid the charge that can be 80% of our bill. Distribution! That is the real joy. Oh yeah and if you did not know already, that distribution charge does not change when you use a different energy company. Microgeneration is a fantastic way to minimize that charge then!
Another myth is that this route is not affordable. That may have been preached 10 years ago on a battery system. We have come a long ways since then and this can be much more affordable than originally thought.