Electric Bill

While I'm glad that the cost of electric seems to be much cheaper for you than Arizona, coming from Michigan, I was absolutely shocked the first time I received my WAPA bill.

I can't remember the actual numbers, but the first bill I received (I was on a shared meter with another apartment) we used the same kilowatt hours as my parents living in Northern Michigan for the month. Their bill was in the $90 range while my bill was around $330. That is for very close to the same hours of electricity.

Hello there. I don't quite get it. I use practically no electricity except for fans, unplug the water heater when not in use, shut down the computers, etc. and my bill is almost always near $200 per month.

Coming from my last stint in SC, there were 3 choices for electric, which drove the prices down. I used tons of electric power for an A/C pump, window A/C units etc. and I never paid over $90 per month.

Just and FYI based on experience. In addition, if anyone can think of anything else I can unplug, please let me know :).

Warm regards to everybody,

Dan

Good news for you and your WAPA bill. I have rented a 4 bedroom house since moving here and have avg between $650 and $1050 per month on WAPA.

Don't know much about the subject, but @ 1000/month - would it be a good idea to check out solar? Would like to know the answer to my own question, as we plan on migrating sometime soon.

terry,

It's possible that your bill was based on "estimated" usage and in a couple of months you'll get a bill based on "actual" usage. They only read meters here sporadically.

Asemove,
If it was up to me yes I would go solar, but I was just a renter. I just purchased a place and one of the first things I did was review their WAPA bills for the last year. The highest they had in 05 was $350, with most months under $200 so I am very excited to be moving.
If you have a large home and have AC pool etc.. you are going to have to pay for those luxuries. Not a good measuring stick but the mega nice house built near me has a WAPA bill of close to $2500 per month. I guess for them it is no big deal but I too thought they would put in solar but they didnt.

a solar system to run the whole house is expensive. In the states a 3KW system can easily cost $22,000, and that won't run your whole house. A 10KW can cost $80,000. The VI does not require WAPA to have net metering, so you can't sell your excess electric, one way for the system to pay its way to a degree,and then you still need WAPA for nights and rain and such. There are some rebates, but still costly. A system to just do hot water can cost 3 to 4 thousand or more after rebates, and I don't use that much power to heat water at my house, so payback would be a lot of years.It's a nice idea but prices need to come down alot before it will be practical for most folks.

It might be possible that it an estimated rate. Our normal bill with no one there just fridge and water heater plugged it is $24.
I was suprised that the current one was only $46.