New Hampshire Electricity
 

Alternate Electricity Supplier may be barred from Power Grid:

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/busin...ate-power.html

I wish someone would have the spine to shut down NH Electric Coop. They are not even regulated by NH Public Utilities Commission. A complete monopoly and a total ripoff.

Ok......so basically not knowing anything about NH electric rates except that electricity in NH is expensive.....you know.....you get a bill once/month.....u-no-pay ...... & your 'lectricity gets shut off after 90-days or so! .......so how does www.lowelectricrate.com fit into this puzzle?

Resident Power
 

Resident Power was banned. I was with them and bot a letter yesterday saying they are no longer my supplier in Nashua. "Somehow" the Resident Power accounts were transferred over to Fairpoint Power. No further information at this time.

We signed up with Resident power for the house and condo.

I too got a couple of letters yesterday, I think from PNE with little explanation, just saying that we would be served by PNE now.

In the end, I really don't care. The savings are barely even measurable and I'd say our house is probably on the higher end for overall power consumption. If that can't add up to more than a couple of bucks per month, lower usage customers are not going to notice any change one way or the other.

I'd honestly switch back to PSNH if they made it "one click" simple.

I don't see how this "alternate power provider" thing has much life in it, not unless we get some real competition and real companies, not just middle-man resellers.

It is a cooperative owned by all users.

Electric rates are higher here because of Governor Mel Thompson pushed the construction of a double nuclear power plant in Seabrook. One was half constructed and still sits as a rusted hulk.

There was a bankruptcy someplace and someone (you) have to pay the bond holders and creditors.

It is a real shame that the Lowe's Home Improvement Store in Gilford does not sell a three-month electricity package, maybe something called a Kilowatt Kard that's similar to a minutes card for a prepaid cell phone. Hopefully, it would get some coal or natural gas to electricity utilities like Southern Energy or Montana Power into the local utility market and maybe lead to more competitive pricing than what we get with through the New Hampshire-Public Utilities Commission. Where do the big chain stores like Walmart and Hannafords go for their electricity? It is not to the NH Electric Coop.

And on the 89th day, one could return it to Lowe's for a no-questions asked, refund!::laugh::D

Seabrook Nuclear
 

I remember when Mel Thompson was pushing the approval for Seabrook Station. One of his comments was something like....when Seabrook comes on line, power will be so cheap that it won't be worth the cost of sending somebody out to read the meters.
We pay around $22/month for power in Meredith and my power is OFF at the panel. What are the benefits of the Co-Op again?

Enh
 

We switched over to Electricity NH when they first came out and are now grandfathered at the lower rate (6.99 cents). It's saving us over $10 a month and we have a small house. It's a great savings of at least $120 a year in our pocket and we have the benefit of knowing that their company is helping local businesses and non-profits. Great little company!

http://www.electricitynh.com/


Right now their rate is 7.28 cents while PSNH is 9.54 cents. They also give away free power for a year to one customer per month.

Mel Thompson
 

In the eyes of true NH natives was probably the best governor for NH. If he was running today I bet we would not be in the mess we are in now.

Seabrook 1 and 2 was suppose to eliminate the coal burning plants. The head of the Clam Shell Alliance told the news a couple of years ago, they should have not shut down #2. The Bow plant did a lot more harm to the environment since the 70's than #2. He was hoping everyone would go 'green' and there would be no need for the Bow plant.

The National Grid in the Northeast is more dependent on natural gas today than they were a decade ago when they were dependent on oil and coal. Coal today comes from the west coast where there is plenty to be had. A decade ago they were from the Appalacian Mtns.

Let see what another decade will bring up.

Resident Power
 

I just spoke with them. PNE, their primary supplier was barred from doing business in NH, for whatever reason. My rate was .069. Though the letter I got on Tuesday said I was switched to Fairpoint, I was told that all the PNE customers were actually switched back to PSNH.
They are looking in to making a contract with a different supplier, when they do, I will be notified of the new rate and will have the opportunity to either accept or reject a new agreement with them. On their website, their current rate is .071 which is considerably less than the rate from PSNH.
She also said that they are "negotiating" with NHEC but one of the issues is that NHEC is nit agreeable to providing just one bill to include the supply charge from somebody other than NHEC. That means a customer would get 2 separate bills, one from NHEC for all their bogus charges and another from the supplier for avtual electricity used.

so which would be better
Resident Power
or
Electriccity NH

Which means absolutely nothing. I'm paying over $66.00 per month in "MEMBER FEES" alone, without even using a dollar's worth of electricity. I have 3 meters with them and have argued that I should only pay one MEMBER FEE. As soon as you mention this, they immediately change the description of a MEMBER FEE to a METER FEE. They are the biggest crooks going. Being an owner/member/slave to NH Electric Coop has zero benefit to the consumer; it only has benefit to the Coop. Anyone that attempts to get on the Board of Directors and make beneficial changes is shut down and kicked off the Board. Research it for yourself.

The cooperative has a board of directors comprised of members.
Run for office and propose the changes that you think are necessary and prudent.

Or.

Just go here:

LINK


"Off-Grid reports on the people, technologies, events and influences throughout the global off-grid community."

Rates
 

Current rates per their sites

Resident power .071
ENH .072
Fairpoint .0859
PSNH .0954
NHEC...don't have a current bill in front of me and a very complex rate grid on their website,

most current residential rate from NHEC is $0.0688

Nhec
 

Factor in the $22 "Member/Meter" fee and how does that turn out? Even when you're not there and power is off at the panel.

I am not possitive but I would believe that all the companies that own the lines, poles and do the service work have those separate portions of their bills that everyone pays. When talking strickly about power/energy supply the comparison rate is $0.06888. No way to get around those other expenses.

Physical Infrastucture
 

Is a complicated mess. Poles can be owned by any of the utilities, and can be owned by the home owners. The poles have to be maintained by the owners or they can hire independent contractors. It is so complicated, billing to the consumer can be frustrating. There was a proposal once that the state takes over the maintaining of the poles and the ownership. Then the local townships were in uproar about losing their revenue from 'pole' tax.

So there you have it! Another political circle, we eventually pay the 'pole' tax. :rolleye1:

You have to love electric coop !!! This month my delivery charge is 102.32 plus a member charge of 24 .17 then of course the regional access charge of 53.02 and a benefit charge of 9.18 dont forget the tax 2.28 and then the actual cost of the electricity for 190 bucks and this is for my house ! At my friends shop where its commercially zoned he uses a lot more electricity than i do and his bill is a third of mine. When i called and complained they said i had an old house and the electricity was evaporating through the old wiring ! I had the house re wired and brought up to code and BEHOLD THE BILL WENT UP.......

Electricity does not evaporate through the wiring. Someone in their office needs to take a couse in electricty. It may lose voltage due to resistance, but that's about it.

I think Verizon owned most of the poles. So I assume that means that since they sold to Fairpoint, Fairpoint now owns them. I could be wrong, that is from memory without checking.

Railroad Joe Thats what i had told them but they knew better than I....:laugh:

sluggo I have run into a lot of those really inteligent folks who claim they know it all. Like they said in I Robot (the movie) How can someone so smart be so stupid.

Every month you pay a "member", "regional access", and "benefit" charge that totals out to be @ $86 ?

How mamy kilowatt-hours did you use that made your delivery/energy charge $102.32?

www.nhec.com is their website, and it is a pretty good and informative website .... just google New Hampshire Electric Coop and you can see some of the other NH electricity deals available ... whatddoyaknow?:rolleye2:

I jumped from FairPoint for phone and 'net because I anticipated their problems due to the finances of that change.

I am sticking with PSNH for related reasons. If they lose enough 'supply' customers they may need to restructure again. I can envision several scenarios that could lead to higher 'delivery' charges that may bring the over-all electric costs above current rates.

Rusty I use 2782 kwh at my high and 1600 for my low over the year for a five bedroom home. I also have three sons and that accounts for a lot use to.:emb:

Wow, that's almost 5x what I use a month! Does your family leave everything on all hours of the day? How about the use of LED bulbs?

Hellrazo I keep almost eveything off during the day and the house is shut down at night like any other normal family would do. It dosent make sense for what they claim i use. So now i am looking into solar and i also have a great fast running stream that runs through my property and i am building a low torqe drive unit for a generator so i can have hydro power. I will get off the grid one of these days !

For the general NH area, assuming you don't have excess trees blocking the sun, you could offset 1/2 of your electric bill with a $50,000 solar system. You'd need about 1,000 sqft of panels, and a LOT of batteries. That is based on also cutting your average monthly bill down to 2,000Kwh.

Thanks for the reply.

If I used 2782 kwh in a month and used Wolfeboro's rate for electricity, it would cost me $436.

I would shut the main circuit breaker off and see if the meter is still moving.
If that was OK then I would shut everything off in the house which includes unplugging some things because they draw a small amount of current when plugged in even if they are off. Then look at the meter and see if it is still turning. If that is OK then you might consider putting your three sons up for adoption...just kidding.:D

Thanks for the advice everyone. Rusty i will perform that diagnostic procedure and let you know how it turns out. I wouldnt doubt it if i found a draw off the system. And on adopting the kids they would eat ya out of house and home.:laugh: