Have your electricity rates gone up recently?

Submitted by bravestatevt t3_107ovly in vermont

Have your electricity rates gone up recently? Have you made any changes to the way you heat your home as a result?

Vermont Public’s climate reporter, Abagael Giles, is interested in hearing from you as part of her reporting on the latest winning question for Brave Little State. If interested, send us a DM or email us at hello@bravelittlestate.org.

\"As electricity rates rise with gas and oil costs, to what degree does Vermont's power grid depend on the burning of these fossil fuels?\"

We also have a new voting round live right now. Which question should we tackle in an upcoming episode? Click here to cast your vote.

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  • "The constitutional amendment to end slavery passed with 90% of the vote. Who are the 10% of people who voted against it, and why?"
  • "Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" has folks all over singing about VT. What else has put VT on the cultural radar across the country/world?"
  • "Where can one connect with LGBTQ+ communities in Vermont, specifically in the Upper Valley, but also in other rural areas?"

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scattered_mountain t1_j3ok56t wrote

Yes, 14.2%:

https://www.washingtonelectric.coop/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-Rate-Increase-NOTICE-TO-WASHINGTON-ELECTRIC-CO.final_.2022.9.16.pdf

This will make my monthly charge $30.25 and my per kWh charge around $0.212 (Assuming ~500 kWh a month). And the marginal kWh (which is what is important for thinking about climate-aiding electrification) is $0.24150

WEC offers no electric vehicle rates, no climate friendly time of use rates, no powerwall incentives, and has had trouble recently keeping the lights on.

Oh, and if you want to get an electric car or heat pump right now? WEC says you can't because they cut corners on transformers and most of their customers are undersized.

Let's not even get into the weird/concerning details about how they actually sell their renewable energy credits from their coventry methane burning plant and buy shitty RECs that most other states wouldn't consider renewable... It's bordering on a scam.

When I first moved into WEC territory, I loved the idea of being part of a Cooperative. But the honest reality is that my neighbors 1/4 mile down the road get a much better deal and service from investor owned GMP.

I'd be in favor of the PUC forcing GMP to assume WEC. WEC has very little interest in doing the actual work needed to aid the fight against climate change. Instead preferring performative 70's style environmentalism. (they were enthusiastic campaigners against vermont yankee)

It is really sad, because it has never been a better time to be a progressive and creative electric utility. Electrification of home heating and transportation is an enormous opportunity to fight climate change and build a healthy demand for their product. But WEC is stuck in the past, and the PUC will let them get away with it time and time again.

Ask me how I really feel!

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Outrageous-Outside61 t1_j3pk4n6 wrote

100% I have thought about selling our house simply because we are WEC. I wish GMP would buy them out.

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Loudergood t1_j3ywocz wrote

As a VEC customer, it sounds like even a coop merger would be a benefit for you.

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1T-Nerd t1_j3nzily wrote

I noticed about 1.5 years ago my energy costs seemed to have doubled. Since then I've taken up unplugging unused appliances when possible (also end of night). Still higher than I'd like but it has made a dent.

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CalicoFlannel t1_j3osrpd wrote

I'm an unplugger too, but my partner argued that unplugging and replugging electronics daily shortens the life of said electronic because of the small surge in power that occurs each time it's plugged back in, and that this life shortening and extra energy flow is more wasteful than just leaving the item plugged in when not in use. I haven't put much effort into determining if this is true or not.

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df33702021 t1_j3s1ial wrote

On the flip side of that, the appliance isn't subjected to normally occurring fluctuations in power that happen all the time since it's not plugged in.

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Outrageous-Outside61 t1_j3pkbjn wrote

While WEC rates went up 14.2% atleast my electric bill went down 25% as I had no power for a total of 8 days last month.

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Twombls t1_j3p9117 wrote

Yes. Significantly. It lead to me weatherizing my apartment.

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df33702021 t1_j3s1rpb wrote

It would be interesting to hear if connection fees have increased relative to kwh usage costs. There are places where connection fees have increased substantially due to people essentially moving to self sufficiency akin to being "off-grid" while still maintaining a grid connection. The power company is not making money from usage, so they increase fees. I don't know if that has happened in VT, but definitely Europe, and I've heard of it in Texas and California.

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todd_ted t1_j3tdbrk wrote

The connectivity charge from Green Mountain Power has gone up more percentage wise since I bought my home mid 2018. 15.10% vs 14.63% for $/kWh

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_j3npq6j wrote

It’s the combo I’d like most:

How about a story about the 10% who voted against the amendment singing about stick season in a LGTBQ+ hangout.

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