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Old 02-04-2026, 08:02 PM   #1
steve-on-mark
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Default Island / NHEC Electric bills

Anyone else shocked about the last couple of electric bills we've received? 223.00 for last month to run a dock circulator and a septic pump seems high to me. I reached out to our island neighbor...his January bill was 269.00!! Is it time to convert to solar??

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Old 02-05-2026, 05:02 AM   #2
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That bill is for around 1000 kwh which is a lot of power... If you are not out there, your septic pump shouldn't be running. It looks like a typical dock circulator uses around 19 kwh/day, so you're looking at ~570 kwh for the month. At current rates that's about $0.22 x 570 or around $125/mo to run it full time, 24 hours a day (is it on a timer?). If this doesn't make sense to you, something might be wrong. A friend of mine on Sebago had his septic pump stay stuck running and he ran up a big bill. NHEC did raise the rates (again)...
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Old 02-05-2026, 12:16 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by steve-on-mark View Post
Anyone else shocked about the last couple of electric bills we've received? 223.00 for last month to run a dock circulator and a septic pump seems high to me. I reached out to our island neighbor...his January bill was 269.00!! Is it time to convert to solar??

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Who is using your septic when you aren't there? Bears or Deer? I always unplugged mine at the end of the season so there isn't a chance of it sticking on and burning out. It should not be running unless there is flow.

Is the circ running nonstop or are you using a timer or thermostat?

Seems very high to me.
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Old 02-05-2026, 12:44 PM   #4
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Timer and thermostat on the circulator

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Old 02-05-2026, 01:04 PM   #5
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Timer and thermostat on the circulator

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The dock is way overdue for replacement. I would suggest doing a pair of 40' crank ups, this way you don't have to worry about it going forward. With no circulators, cameras, or anything else going, you really could just shut the main off and have no usage at all other than the basic service.
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Old 02-05-2026, 01:27 PM   #6
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Just paid mine. $29.00 - and the main breaker is turned off!
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Old 02-05-2026, 01:55 PM   #7
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We had that happen with our septic pump. The elec. co told us we were using a lot of power so we checked it. After a lot of time figuring it out it WAS the septic pump that was gone so we had to replace it. I was pretty surprised they let us know we were using so much power but certainly did appreciate it.
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Old 02-05-2026, 04:14 PM   #8
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Default Ewesource

Our Eversource bill gets paid on the 2nd of each month. Dec 2:$35; January 2: $95 Feb 2 :$5o. That doesn't seem to follow coid weather in January. Nothing running except bubbler as far as I know (Welch Is)
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Old 04-05-2026, 07:51 PM   #9
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Just paid mine. $29.00 - and the main breaker is turned off!


NHEC has a $29 minimum charge. We pay $30 for a garage. No lights. Nothing. Every. Single. Month.


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Old 02-05-2026, 04:57 PM   #10
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Any chance they used an estimated bill rather than actual. That happens occasionally
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Old 02-06-2026, 07:27 AM   #11
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Any chance they used an estimated bill rather than actual. That happens occasionally
Especially on an island property during the winter. The newer meters don't need to be "read" but if something is interfering with the reporting process ...

From an AI search"
"NHEC estimates electric bills based on a rolling average of your last 12 months of usage when actual meter readings are unavailable, using a technique similar to budget billing to normalize seasonal fluctuations."

If you average you last 12 months of NHEC bills and it comes out to about $223, that is likely what happened. Or call NHEC.
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