We got a typically taut and clear email from Management yesterday about our electric bill.
From what I can gather, the part of our electric bill determined by ConEd for delivery is going up 20% and the part of our electric bill determined by contract for the power itself is going up 22%.
Here it is in full … if you know what to make of this, please comment below.
October 28, 2014
Dear East River Cooperators,
You will be receiving your carrying charges bill in the next day or two. Part of the bill shows your electricity usage. The price of electricity is determined by two factors, one is the commodity which is the electricity itself and the second is the delivery cost. Since Con Ed owns the electric lines it is the one who determines what the delivery charge will be. The commodity portion is a fixed cost since we have a contract with Direct Energy/HESS. This contract was bid out with the three lowest bidders being Plymouth Energy, Con Ed Solutions and Direct Energy/HESS which won the bid at 10.51¢/kWh. This was approximately two cents higher than the previous contract of the three years ago which was 8.59¢/kWh.
The problem is that we cannot get a contract from Con Ed to lock in the delivery cost, it fluctuates each month. They have no competition and they can charge what they wish based on the tariffs of the public service commission.
The bill you are receiving now is for the electric usage for the month of September. The delivery cost was 15.5¢/kWh. The previous month of August was 12.9¢/kWh and in July it was 12.25¢/kWh. This is the highest electricity cost that we have ever had. The cost this month will be 26.8¢/kWh including delivery, commodity (electricity) and taxes.
If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail our office at contact@coopvillage.coop, or call me at 212-677-5858.
Thank you.
Harold Jacob
General Manager
Well, according to journalist Bill Sanderson, who specialized in utilities reporting at the Post, the Public Services Commission froze Con Ed’s delivery rates in February 2014 – for two years. He writes about it on his blog:
http://nypowerandlight.com/2014/09/17/cool-weather-eases-con-edison-electric-bills/
“Con Ed’s data tells the story. This graph shows the cost of electricity in July 2014 was lower than in July 2013. Customers who used 300 kilowatt hours of power in both July 2013 and July 2014 paid 5.2 percent less this year than last.
But the good times did not last all summer. Con Ed prices in August 2014 were higher than in August 2013. Customers who used 300 kilowatt hours in both August 2013 and August 2014 paid 10.6 percent more this year.
Generation costs drove the difference. Con Ed’s charges to maintain wires, cables and transformers — labeled as delivery charges on your bill — changed hardly at all this year. In February, the Public Service Commission froze that part of your Con Ed bill for this year and next.” (my emphasis)
ConEd’s tariffs are here:
http://www.coned.com/rates/elec.asp.
I’m unfamiliar with how cooperatives are billed by ConEd, so I can’t figure out which of these tariffs apply to our coop. But our delivery rates should fall somewhere under the section called “Schedule for PASNY Delivery Service, P.S.C. No. 12 – Electricity.” (PASNY = Power Authority of the State of New York”)
Deborah, would you forward this as a question to management? It’s possible that the coop is billed as a business, not a residence, in which case I’m not sure the PSC has any regulatory power over rates. But it would be nice to have some clarification.
Deborah is right about the alleged delivery-rate freeze. And I also can’t figure out the tariff sheets, nor could I find a relatively easy way to look them up. BTW, the electric bill is made up of three charges:
– The Basic Service charge covers costs for meter reading, billing, equipment, etc.
– The Delivery charge is what Con Ed charges for bringing electricity from Hess to the building. It also includes some charges for public policy programs, research, low income programs, etc.
– The Electric supply charge, or what Heshy calls the “commodity portion,” is the charge from Hess for the electricity we actually use during the billing period.
All, of course, subject to state and local taxes.