OG&E Winter 2013/2014 Bills

[s00nr1]

I received my Dec 5 - Jan 7 OG&E bill this past week and was taken back by the very unusual cost so I decided to do a little research on usage and pricing through myogepower.com. My wife and I own a 5 year old Energy-Star-rated 1800 sqft home in Moore that is 100% electric and utilizes a high efficiency heat pump for heating/cooling. The HVAC system was checked and tuned by Brad's Heating and Air here in Moore in November.

Usage Dec. 5 - Jan. 7 2012/2013 = 2025 kWh = $142.

Usage Dec. 5 - Jan. 7 2013/2014 = 3827 kWh = $266.

Being understandably startled by this number, I decided to dive into the bills a bit deeper by comparing similar temperature range days from last year to this year. Two such days that were decidedly similar were Jan. 20, 2013 and Jan. 12, 2014 (with today being a bit warmer on the high end). Our usage patterns/habits have not changed from last year.

Jan. 20, 2013 -> High Temp = 65, Low Temp = 37, Total Usage = 40.9 kWh, Total Cost = $2.54
Jan. 12, 2014 -> High Temp = 74, Low Temp = 42, Usage (as of 5pm) = 40.6 kWh, Total Cost = $4.49 (!!)

This shows the rate being charged this year is nearly double what last year's was.

I emailed OG&E customer service this past week requesting a smart meter check and was told there is a $50 up front charge for a test. If, after testing, it is revealed the smart meter is malfunctioning, the $50 will be refunded. If they decide it is working to standard, the $50 is forfeited. I still plan on having the test conducted just so I can troubleshoot any other issue that might be going on but am not hopeful I will receive my $50 back.

I will concede that this particular billing period was much colder for 2013/2014 than 2012/2013 but I wanted to see if other OKCTalk'ers had similar drastic increases in usage and cost.

[Garin]

Don't u remember when Obama said electric cost will necessarily skyrocket?

[kevinpate]

My ONG was up for that period, but not out of whack for a period a couple years back of cold that was more comparable to recent weeks than the cold of a year ago. I didn't think we had turned things up that much but apparently we tinkered more than either of us recalled. Still, when comparing to a couple years back, it was a lot more consistent.

As for OGE, I put it on a flat rate billing a couple summers back. Probably ought to look at it closer than I do though.

[Martin]

this particular billing period was much colder for 2013/2014 than 2012/2013

i'm pretty sure there's your answer right there... i remember last year's winter as being rather mild. -M

[Martin]

Don't u remember when Obama said electric cost will necessarily skyrocket?

the guy's just asking about his bill... let's try not to politicize everything. -M

[s00nr1]

i'm pretty sure there's your answer right there... i remember last year's winter as being rather mild. -M

Understandable -- but still doesn't tell me why the applicable per kWh rate has nearly doubled.

[Garin]

Understandable -- but still doesn't tell me why the applicable per kWh rate has nearly doubled.

I answered that question ,not turning it political but that's the reason for it. You need to have natural gas in Oklahoma anyway, all electric homes are crazy expensive to operate.

[s00nr1]

I answered that question ,not turning it political but that's the reason for it. You need to have natural gas in Oklahoma anyway, all electric homes are crazy expensive to operate.

Obviously I would prefer to have NG but the house was built all electric (save for the gas fireplace we have never used).

[Martin]

Understandable -- but still doesn't tell me why the applicable per kWh rate has nearly doubled.

i guess i'm not seeing it....

2012/13: $142 / 2025 kwh = $.0701 per kwh
2013/14: $266 / 3827 kwh = $.0695 per kwh

-M

[s00nr1]

Sorry about that - I was referring to the daily comparison notes:

Jan. 20, 2013 -> High Temp = 65, Low Temp = 37, Total Usage = 40.9 kWh, Total Cost = $2.54
Jan. 12, 2014 -> High Temp = 74, Low Temp = 42, Usage (as of 5pm) = 40.6 kWh, Total Cost = $4.49 (!!)

[Martin]

hard to say on that... given that electricity isn't billed at a flat rate with a premium for peak hour usage, you may have just used more energy during peak hours on that particular day in 2014. or maybe the daily calculations are a bit off. in my opinion, that variability is reduced by looking at monthly consumption instead of daily... it's your money and your peace of mind but i think the $50 wouldn't be well spent on a meter test. -M

[s00nr1]

Thanks Martin.

[ljbab728]

There is a new thread under politics about electric bills. This was my post there.

I just compared my last electric bill to the one I had from one year ago for the same time period. My current bill showed a cost of $139.93 for 1918 kilowatt hours. The one from a year ago showed a cost of $99.45 for 1030 kilowatt hours. My cost went up about $40.00 for almost twice the amount used. I haven't made any changes to my plan so that certainly doesn't sound like an increase to me.

[Midtowner]

[ou48A]

You need to have natural gas in Oklahoma anyway, all electric homes are crazy expensive to operate.

I'm 100% all electric.
My electric bill was about $110 last month. Witch is pretty close to what it averages per month.
I have cut my utility bills by about ½ since I installed a Geo Thermal heat and air system.
It's a better way to go in most new construction than NG IMHO.

[Servicetech571]

The $50 for the smartmeter test is money down the drain, I've never seen one wrong. Old analog meters could be off but typically read SLOW due to dirt build up inside. People who had thier slow analog meters swapped for smartmeters freaked once they had an accurate meter installed.

[Servicetech571]

hard to say on that... given that electricity isn't billed at a flat rate with a premium for peak hour usage, you may have just used more energy during peak hours on that particular day in 2014. or maybe the daily calculations are a bit off. in my opinion, that variability is reduced by looking at monthly consumption instead of daily... it's your money and your peace of mind but i think the $50 wouldn't be well spent on a meter test. -M

There are no peak/off peak rates during winter. Peak/off rates peak only apply to smarthours customers from June 1 to September 30.