An Article regarding Electricity Prices in the USA I found interesting

[solar pete]

Hi All,

I read this article on solarreviews.com and thought I would post it up, in the interests of full disclosure it was written by my bro who is the guy who pays to keep the light on here, cheers

https://www.solarreviews.com/blog/whats-driving-your-rising-electric-bill

[sdold]

That was really good, Pete, please tell Andy thanks. We live in the mountains in California and for the last three years straight there has been power lines coming down and underground going in all around us. I knew a huge amount of money was being spent, but the article explains some of the other factors I never thought of like natural gas prices. Our costs are about the same as Hawaii now, around (US) 40 cents/kWh where according the article the average is around 17.

[bcroe]

OK, the price of home energy is constantly rising. I realized things were
getting worse in the previous century, and used solar to end my purchases
when technology made it practical. The Cos that supply it are constantly
telling us why they have to raise prices, and then pretend to be our friends.
Like it is consumers fault, we are supposed to replace every piece of equipment
with something more efficient, except that will not reduce consumption that
much, or reduce rates at all. Payment plans are supposed to help us, actually
just making sure they get their money. All sorts of new appliances are offered
with possible discounts. In reality I can and have privately bought equivalent
stuff with no discount, for far less than they offered, They profit on those too.

The usual commercial scam is figure out what you want to do, then look for
some good sounding justifications to hide the real reasons. One excuse is
data centers will increase consumption 2%. So we all pay for better plant
equipment. First, the original idea was, we pay a rate, and that INCLUDES
the maintenance costs, etc. Now the suppliers are breaking up into
segments which may be unregulated, and we are supposed to pay ongoing
costs separately. If there is another 2 % being supplied, the 2% INCREASED
revenue should be paying, NOT US. What happened to economy of scale?

A more gross version, is where to supplier NOW says they just bid on the market
for unregulated energy. So our past big regulated supplier offers a lower price.
BUT IT IS NOT QUITE ENOUGH ENERGY. So a second source or even a third
offer a bit more energy, AT A MUCH HIGHER PRICE. Then ALL the suppliers
get paid the HIGHEST price of some small, expensive outfit. Some might say
this is fair, I say the system has been rigged so the suppliers are getting far
more than a fair profit. Our legislators need to understand this and find a
better way.

I got off propane in 2013, using solar Net Metering to avoid purchases. What
I saw winter 3013/14, the price of propane in FEB (just when so many will
need to refill their tanks) rose to over 5 times the summer price. The excuse
was, there was a propane shortage. In the first place everyone got propane,
so their was no shortage. MORE IMPORTANTLY, the suppliers had been
DELIBERATELY exporting as much propane as possible, to CREATE the
the high prices. The price was so high, changing to simple electric resistance
heat would be LESS THAN HALF as expensive, as buying winter propane. I
did not push this idea, because some people would no doubt burn down
their houses with inadequate wiring.

One more thing, I am tired of hearing, the old equipment needs replacement.
That should have been regular maintenance all along, instead equipment
was allowed to get too old while money was taken instead for profits. If
some years required little service, money should have been put into a
dedicated fund for when replacements should be done.

If you doubt the above, just FOLLOW THE MONEY. Some of these companies
are showing record profits and dividends.

[DanS26]

The average American spends more for their daily Starbucks latte than they do for their daily electricity usage. Electricity is an incredibly good deal for what it provides to our way of life.

[solar pete]

You guys are doing pretty good compared to us here in OZ, our peak rate is over 50 cents per kW/hr and most of your states seem to be under 20 cents, no wonder all our industry packed up and went to china

[bcroe]

I do not know what is average, but I have never been in a coffee shop in my life.
I do not pay $10 for something worth 10 cents, no matter what the circumstances.
Bruce Roe

[DanS26]

As of late 2025, the national average cost for a Starbucks standard latte generally ranges from roughly $4.85 for a small up to $6.25 or more for a venti.

The average monthly electricity bill for an American homeowner is approximately $140 to $155 as of late 2025/early 2026, with typical consumption around 850–900 kWh per month. Costs vary significantly by location—ranging from under $100 to over $200—driven by regional energy rates, climate, and home size, with cooling/heating accounting for over 50% of usage.

Let's say $150/mo or $5/day is approximate for electrical power and $5.55 average for a creamed coffee.

[bcroe]

To complete those figures would be the percentage of people that actually spend that
money every single day. I always brought stuff to work from home, used a thermos, or
put it in the work refrigerator which was always provided and well used.

But none of that applies to my original ideas, fraud is fraud no matter the scale (which
motivated me to go solar in the first place), and some people are very seriously hurt,
probably a lot more if outside the (rich) USA. Watch some of the videos from down under.
Bruce Roe

[DanS26]

What is not presented is household (husband, wife, etc.) spending on coffee vs their spending on electrical usage. Probably not even close.

What would be even more interesting if they would give up their addiction to caffeine rather than a cold house or warm food in the fridge.