High Electricity Bills!!!

[jjbaer]

Rick,

To see why bills have risen so high, we have to separate three things 1) electric consumption, 2) cost per kilowatt hour and 3 ) meter errors.

1) For Consumption: you stated your electric consumption was previously 210 KW hours per month. How many kilowatt hours do you consume now per month compared to what it was in previous years?

2) For cost per Kilowatt hour: What was your total monthly bill (give Kilowatt hours consumed and total bill cost) for each of the last 2 months compared to these same months last year and the year before that?

3) For meter errors: You say you have no meter.......how can they bill you if you don't have a meter?


Jim

 

[Rick Snyder]

Jim,

I am and have been, for the last two years, billed a flat RD$500 pesos a month. This is due to my living in a very poor barrio in my town. Other residents are charged 100 to 300 pesos a month, depending on the size of their house and electrical components owned, but as I am American I am charged 500 pesos even though the law says they can't charge more then 300.

I do in fact use more electricity now because of the installation of a converter which uses 12 batteries. With these batteries, due to blackouts and very low brownouts at times, I use more electricity for the recharging of said batteries. As I'm on a fixed billing I am in 7th heaven.

My questions were for those that have a meter and may be failing to understand why their bills are so high. I don't know if this is still the case as I have read no threads lately on the mater.

As I have read from time to time in the news about faulty meters my question is and was can a meter be built that would indicate a usage of double or triple the electricity actually consumed?

Rick

Edited for grammar

 

[jjbaer]

Rick,

I live in the US (Ohio) and my average monthly bill is about $50 for about 580 Kilowatt hrs (about 8.3 US cents per Kilowatt hour). My $50 bill converts to about $1696 DR per month using a conversion rate of about 32 DR per US dollar. Believe it or not my consumption is less than the average US household and the cost per Kilowatt hour is about average for the US.

If I understand you, you're billed 500 DR per month (about $15 US dollars) per month and is this for unlimited use? If not, how many Kilowatt hours can you use p[er month and only get charged 500 DR?

As for the meter question, we here in the US have steady frequency and only occasionally will the voltage drop but only by about 5%. You said yours could drop as low as 60 up to 120 volts which is a tremendous variation! There is one sure-fire way to determine if your meter reads incorrectly under these circumstances: get the manufacturers name and the make/model of the meter and write them for the specifications. Since all meters have a range in which they can accurately read energy consumption, ask them what the error is when the voltage is 80, 90, 100 and 110 volts. Then go to the power company and ask for a rebate.

 

[Rick Snyder]

Jim,

Thank you for the explanation. As you are not familiar with the Dominican Republic I can understand your statements and can assure you that a lot of board members are laughing at what you said. Please understand they are not laughing at you per se only at what you said. You would have to live here to understand that joke. The DR is in no way like the US and I mean IN NO WAY.

My 500 peso a month bill entitles me to use as much electricity as I want but I fail to use my A/C and only rely on fans. I use energy saving bulbs and all this to try to make things more efficient as I figure the less I use the more for others. At the same time I insure that my family doesn't suffer so we have electricity 24/7 with my converter and if the power is off too long I have a 3.5 Honda gas generator for backup.

The average house bill for electricity in my town is anywhere from 600 to 2,500 pesos a month. My friend with his calmado pays 14,000 or more a month and he too has a converter but unlike me he has a meter so he is charged for the electricity used to recharge the 8 batteries he has for his system.

In the 10 years I've lived here I have never been supplied with 120 volts. On average it is 99 to 108 volts and at times drops to 58 volts. That's life in the DR and you learn to live with it, correct it or curse a lot. The electricity law here states that for every hour that they fail to supply power to you you are entitled to one hour of free power. This law has never been applied and in reality doesn't exist except on paper.

I think, not positive, that the meters are made here but regardless as to where they are made there are no standards followed in this country and therefore no possibility of enforcement of same.

Once again I wish to insure you that I am not laughing at you as a person but your statement, "Then go to the power company and ask for a rebate" still has me in a fit of laughter and therefore difficult to type this message. Take care and thank you for your input.

Rick

 

[jjbaer]

laughing

I can hear you laughing all the way here in Ohio.....LOL

Anyway, what I said about voltage drops applies especially to resistive loads like heating elements in water heaters, coffee pots, etc and it applies everywhere, even in the DR where voltages drop to 80 volts! A resistive element doesn't care how low the voltage drops because it has no moving parts and it turns everything into heat no matter what the voltage or frequency. So, low voltages don't hurt resistive loads and while it may take longer to heat water or brew a pot of coffee using a resistive load, you consume no more electricity doing it with 80 volts versus 120 volts.

As for your meters, I can see you laughing at the thought of talking to your power company as I take it they aren't responsive to complaints.....

Americans would LOVE to get unlimited power at 500 DR ($16 US dollars).......

I take it you are from the US originally and now live in the DR, is that correct? Also, why don't you use air conditioning especially if you're on a fixed billing regardless of how much energy you use?

If we had unlimited power in the US at 500 DR equivalent, people would be charging all the batteries they could get and hoarding it for times like you describe......LOL.

 

[Rick Snyder]

Yes I am American and it is because of that, I was raised under the old school of thought, that I fail to take full advantage of that which has been passed my way. It is also due to the way the Dominican people, my neighbors, live that I feel ashamed to use something like my A/C when so many families fail to even have a fan. As I have 5 fans, 3 tv's, a fridge, a freezer, 2 computers a VCR and a number of other items I even feel guilt in using them but once again it is primarily for the comfort of my family. After 22 years in the military I myself can live under some horrific conditions but I don't want to place my family in that sphere. As neither my wife nor my son are accustomed to A/C I feel no need to introduce them to that luxury.

Rick

 

[jjbaer]

I too spent over 20 years in the military and I understand about your not wanting to use A/C when your neighbors don't even have fans. Sometimes we take these items for granted while not realizing others aren't as fortunate....