Building Reserve and Using KWH

[bcroe]

I thought half a century ago it was worked out, utilities were regulated monopolies which were
allowed to collect rates for a reasonable return. My electric was simple, there was a fixed charge
to cover keeping equipment maintained in place, and a variable charge directly tied to the
amount of energy I was taking. I am still following that, but with Net Metering the Po Co is
receiving some extra benefits. One is I am helping level there load by delivering my peak
power when my neighbors are running the AC. Another is keeping my surplus generation,
collecting for it from my neighbors EVEN INCLUDING the transmission charge, even though
there was no transmission cost past my street. We can also claim to be a bit more green.

Now we just put one of our IL politicians is prison for bribes from the utilities, but we have not
undone the improper regs he got passed. Not long ago the gas co was convicted of big time
fraud. I would like to see ALL of those found promoting fraud in prison, no more settlements
with cash payoffs coming from us the public, no saying no admission of guilt.

Currently I am doing my best to do OK while staying within the rules. I also have a security
light at the street transformer pole, get billed for that every month. I certainly feel they are
getting all they deserve, no feeling that I owe them anything. Meantime there is this shell
game which obscures who is doing what, I see it killed our regulated monopoly concept.

Last year a surge affecting many of us knocked out the TV, some GFIs, and the control
board of a door opener. I got the TV working again, but had to buy another control
board (the other door controls I designed decades ago are still fine). Po Co policy says
they will compensate for line fault caused damage. But when I submitted it, they refused
to pay, because THEY had not recorder the fault. Bruce Roe

[scrambler]

Ultimately, it is just a game of label, if they consider they need more money from us, they will take it and we have little ways to be able to review their math as we do not have access to all the business-related data and costs...

So the way I make peace with it is that as long as I am using the grid as my battery to send my surplus away when it suits me, and so I get credited for when I actually use some from the grid, then it is fair game I pay something for using the grid that way

[bcroe]

I see my connect fee as taking care of maintenance, and the energy fee as
proportional to the cost of buying energy. Fixed costs and variable costs.

If this is not true, the deal was already wrong when I just kept my bill total
under $20 (3 decades ago). Nobody ever said being frugal was wrong.
Bruce Roe

[Mike 134]

I think paying a fee for transmission is not so much about the physical transport of your power from point A to point B, but more about contributing to the maintenance and development of the grid, which you do depend on.....

YEP!!!! My thoughts too!!! Illinois did change the solar business model it is no longer one for one with new installations. They only pay for the energy generated. They did grandfather those of us who installed prior to the change.

[scrambler]

I think paying a fee for transmission is not so much about the physical transport of your power from point A to point B, but more about contributing to the maintenance and development of the grid, which you / we do depend on.....

[bcroe]

Not being part of the supplier bidding system, I am swapping kWh 1 for 1 between seasons,
no money is exchanged, paying the usual connect fee to keep facilities in place. Lately the
Po Co has said this is unfair, because I am not paying the cost of transporting energy from
the plant to my location. I say yes there is a cost, but it was paid in advance when
my neighbors used my power, but were billed for it including transport by the Po Co.
Bruce Roe

[Mike 134]

I never said any such thing. Go read it again. Bruce Roe

I saw this All the excuses for not allowing this are just a smokescreen to the truth. Bruce Roe" . Though is was about dropping the credit for distribution from your system.

What were you trying to say?

[bcroe]

?? So, you saying you should be paid for your transmission portion of the power also? Are you a standby volunteer lineman to repair/replace that 7000-volt wire between your house and the neighbors if something happens to it?

I never said any such thing. Go read it again. Bruce Roe

[Mike 134]

Before I moved my bill was often less than $20. That was mostly paying for the connect
costs, nobody said being frugal was bad. Now there is no money exchanged for my Net
Metering credits. My generation does not go to the power station and back out, it is made
when sun is hottest so it just goes down the street to run neighbors air conditioning. It
helps Po Co efficiency with some load leveling. My neighbors PAY FOR IT JUST AS THOUGH
THE PO CO HAD GENERATED IT. Months later at times of lower demand, I take back the kWh
credit THAT MY NEIGHBORS ALREADY PAID FOR IN FULL. This is actually beneficial to the
Po Co. I am not buying a lot of kWh, same as the OK situation in my previous house.

All the excuses for not allowing this are just a smokescreen to the truth. Bruce Roe

?? So, you saying you should be paid for your transmission portion of the power also? Are you a standby volunteer lineman to repair/replace that 7000-volt wire between your house and the neighbors if something happens to it?

[bcroe]

Today even not using any kWh my bill to connect is over $20, I am not complaining
about that. The previous owner left me a darkness security light the Po Co maintains
on their pole, which was about $10 a month. Lately it is up to almost $20, but I do not
want to erect a pole and have to mow around it to do it myself. Without Net Metering
there would be even less advantage to doing it myself, as I would still be buying the
power or need batteries to run it (one of those).

My operation would change if everyone on the street had solar on my scale, because
I would no longer be just sending energy down the street. Then our energy would need
to travel some distance to a user. Bruce Roe

[azdave]

That net metering deal you got from the local REMC was too good to be true from the get go. I guess those good old boys finally woke up.

A business model I never did understand why pay me for distribution when all I furnish is the supply?

In 2014, our utility was not reaching their mandated renewable energy goals so they offered generous Net Metering contracts, practically begging homeowners to go solar before the end of the year. I was lucky to have been one who signed up at the right time and got a 20-year net metering contract. At about 4 years into my agreement, they tried to cancel all their customer's net metering agreements and force all RE customers into a much worse deal. Fortunately for me, a judge ruled they could not legally void the contracts so they backed down. We still pay a monthly base fee that just increased by 33% in January (that base fee is higher for RE customers of course).

My utility will very certainly force me into the current, less beneficial RE plans that have incentives to steer you into self-consumption and home energy storage but assign heavy penalties, including new demand fees, if you pull from the grid during peak hours.

[bcroe]

Before I moved my bill was often less than $20. That was mostly paying for the connect
costs, nobody said being frugal was bad. Now there is no money exchanged for my Net
Metering credits. My generation does not go to the power station and back out, it is made
when sun is hottest so it just goes down the street to run neighbors air conditioning. It
helps Po Co efficiency with some load leveling. My neighbors PAY FOR IT JUST AS THOUGH
THE PO CO HAD GENERATED IT. Months later at times of lower demand, I take back the kWh
credit THAT MY NEIGHBORS ALREADY PAID FOR IN FULL. This is actually beneficial to the
Po Co. I am not buying a lot of kWh, same as the OK situation in my previous house.

All the excuses for not allowing this are just a smokescreen to the truth. Bruce Roe

[Mike 134]

I have to check and see what the expiration date is for my agreement with Com Ed. Like you I'm grandfathered for one to one on the KWH price. A business model I never did understand why pay me for distribution when all I furnish is the supply?

[bcroe]

It's Com Ed, the deal is exactly what I think it ought to be. It is entirely justified IF the total
users does not grow too big to overwhelm the grid. Of course now they realize this could
be more than a SUPPORTING GREEN stunt, they want to get rid of it. I can show this is
justified and degrading changes ARE NOT, they are playing a shell game with stuff that
sounds good but wrong. Bruce Roe

[Mike 134]

I
The other thing is anticipation of the Po Co refusing to renew my Net Metering contract in
2033,

Do you have ComEd?