Pepco increasing rates again?

[Anonymous]

Just got an e-mail from them saying that rates will increase in June due to changes in energy supply and delivery costs. My bill has doubled this year already. Should I expect it to double again?

Time to look again at rooftop solar.

[Anonymous]

PEPCO rates will increase 17.7% on June 1st. Despite PEPCO's record profits.

But in fairness our DC regulators approved this with a 2-1 vote.

[Anonymous]

Omg what?!?

[Anonymous]

Ffs.

[Anonymous]

WJLA has an article which notes that part of the reason for the rate increase is increased demand for electricity caused by “energy-intensive data centers”. Why the hell are the costs of powering massively profitable data centers being passed along to residential consumers across the region?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WJLA has an article which notes that part of the reason for the rate increase is increased demand for electricity caused by “energy-intensive data centers”. Why the hell are the costs of powering massively profitable data centers being passed along to residential consumers across the region?

Amazon and Google have lobbyists. Rate payers do not.

[Anonymous]

The ema I received from PEPCO today states:

The transition from winter to summer rates in June may also impact your bill. As a result, the average residential customer bill may increase from about $118 per month to $138 per month.*

This change is primarily from:

A $17 increase in your electric supply cost (based on the average bill). This is a pass-through cost for electricity that Pepco purchases on your behalf, assuming you haven’t chosen a third-party supplier.** The increase is due to a higher demand for energy in our region compared to the available supply.

$3 electric delivery cost increase (based on the average bill), reflecting necessary investments we make to help ensure reliable energy service.

[Anonymous]

What else is PEPCO supposed to do besides raise rates? They don’t have any choice.

More fossil fuel power plants are closing each year. There’s not enough solar and wind generating coming on line to replace the electrical capacity that the closing plants provided.

So the only option utilities have is to make power more expensive so people will use less of it. Otherwise we get into a situation where there not enough power to go around. Then we get blackouts. Is that what you want?


Maybe one day there might be enough wind and solar to replace the electrical capacity of the closing fossil fuel plants. But there isn’t today. Or tomorrow or next year. So the only option is to make electricity so expensive that everyone uses less of it


This isn’t hard to process

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WJLA has an article which notes that part of the reason for the rate increase is increased demand for electricity caused by “energy-intensive data centers”. Why the hell are the costs of powering massively profitable data centers being passed along to residential consumers across the region?

Where are there data centers in DC? I thought they were all near Dulles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What else is PEPCO supposed to do besides raise rates? They don’t have any choice.

More fossil fuel power plants are closing each year. There’s not enough solar and wind generating coming on line to replace the electrical capacity that the closing plants provided.

So the only option utilities have is to make power more expensive so people will use less of it. Otherwise we get into a situation where there not enough power to go around. Then we get blackouts. Is that what you want?


Maybe one day there might be enough wind and solar to replace the electrical capacity of the closing fossil fuel plants. But there isn’t today. Or tomorrow or next year. So the only option is to make electricity so expensive that everyone uses less of it


This isn’t hard to process

This isn't remotely true and shame on you for trying to justify and rationalize it.

I'm guessing you are the same person that demands increased traffic congestion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got an e-mail from them saying that rates will increase in June due to changes in energy supply and delivery costs. My bill has doubled this year already. Should I expect it to double again?

Time to look again at rooftop solar.

My bill hasn't gone up at all from last year. There was no rate increase, as far as I'm aware, so you may want to look into why yours doubled. And the email lays out that the average bill will go up about $20; I guess you didn't read it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got an e-mail from them saying that rates will increase in June due to changes in energy supply and delivery costs. My bill has doubled this year already. Should I expect it to double again?

Time to look again at rooftop solar.

My bill hasn't gone up at all from last year. There was no rate increase, as far as I'm aware, so you may want to look into why yours doubled. And the email lays out that the average bill will go up about $20; I guess you didn't read it.

Cute attempt at gaslighting, but this is the second increase this year for most of us in DC:

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/some-pepco-customers-see-5-bill-increase-starting-january

[Anonymous]

This has to due with data centers in VA. The infrastructure costs for grid reliability and enhancement end up being partly passed on to ratepayers in nearby states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What else is PEPCO supposed to do besides raise rates? They don’t have any choice.

More fossil fuel power plants are closing each year. There’s not enough solar and wind generating coming on line to replace the electrical capacity that the closing plants provided.

So the only option utilities have is to make power more expensive so people will use less of it. Otherwise we get into a situation where there not enough power to go around. Then we get blackouts. Is that what you want?


Maybe one day there might be enough wind and solar to replace the electrical capacity of the closing fossil fuel plants. But there isn’t today. Or tomorrow or next year. So the only option is to make electricity so expensive that everyone uses less of it


This isn’t hard to process

This isn't remotely true and shame on you for trying to justify and rationalize it.

I'm guessing you are the same person that demands increased traffic congestion.

WTH? What’s not untrue? Fossil fuel plants are shutting down all over the country. Brandon Shores Power Plant (coal fired) in Anne Arundel county MD will be shutting down soon. It’s one of dozens of plants that will be closing soon, taking tens of thousands of megawatts out of the grid. There’s not enough solar and wind in the construction pipeline to make up the difference, especially at night and in the winter. The only way to protect against blackouts is to use less electricity. The way you force people to use less electricity is to make it more expensive.

What part of what I just said isn’t true?


And as for increased traffic congestion (weird tangent, btw), I would basically eliminate traffic altogether. Because if I were in charge, I would outlaw privately owned vehicles. Boom. No more traffic jams. The buses you’d be riding on would own the road. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

I think cryptocurrency is supposed to be a MASSIVE energy hog. I wonder how much of this increase is from crypto? Are we subsidizing any bitcoins, whether it’s Trump or some other version?

https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/power-hungry-cryptominers-push-up-electricity-costs-for-locals/