Electricity rates in NH - how do you save?

[Kelmn07]

I'm a fairly new Tesla owner (since July) and I'm finding our electric bill quite a bit higher than I would have thought, I think we are spending nearly even to what we were on gas. I think is in part due to the thrill of a new car, a Tesla, and just wanting to drive it everywhere

The first two months I thought was just due to increasing the days I worked from home and being the summer months, but comparing September-to-September with very minimal A/C usage we're using 3x the electricity (from 408 to 1157 kWh), consistent with the last 3 months.

So if this is now my energy usage, I want to try to find an energy provider that offers off-peak rates and I'm wondering if anyone else is subscribed to an off peak plan, or if anyone has any tips?

 

[Kelmn07]

Also, would this be a good use case for the wall connector? The faster charge rate should require less energy I would think?

 

[yousexy]

Solar panel, get a big one if you can.

 

[tga]

@Kelmn07, who is your electric company? If Liberty, call customer service and ask to be put on the waiting list for the Powerwall pilot, which should include good TOU rates -
Liberty Utilities files for Tesla battery pilot in NH

Solar panel, get a big one if you can.

Not as good under net metering 2.0 as it was under the old net metering rules, unfortunately. Now you only get 25% of the distribution component. That means you buy the for 4-5 cents more than you sell.

 

[Kelmn07]

In a perfect world, yes but not worth it when we'll be out of this house in a year.

 

[Kelmn07]

@Kelmn07, who is your electric company? If Liberty, call customer service and ask to be put on the waiting list for the Powerwall pilot, which should include good TOU rates -
Liberty Utilities files for Tesla battery pilot in NH


Not as good under net metering 2.0 as it was under the old net metering rules, unfortunately. Now you only get 25% of the distribution component. That means you buy the for 4-5 cents more than you sell.

Thanks, I'm going to look into this! I'm currently with Eversource but will change for a better plan. Was just reading Electric Co-Op's On/Off peak rates. The on peak rate is $.10 while the off peak is as low as $.04! But their reviews look terrible. Eversource only goes down to $.07 from the regular rate of $.09, and up to $.13 for peak. I have more shopping to do.

 

[tga]

Thanks, I'm going to look into this! I'm currently with Eversource but will change for a better plan. Was just reading Electric Co-Op's On/Off peak rates. The on peak rate is $.10 while the off peak is as low as $.04! But their reviews look terrible. Eversource only goes down to $.07 from the regular rate of $.09, and up to $.13 for peak. I have more shopping to do.

Make sure you're looking at the entire rate - transmission + distribution + generation (aka "energy service"). You only get to pick the supplier for generation. Transmission and distribution ("T&D") is your local "poles and wires" company; you're stuck with the monopoly company in your area.

I don't know of anyone doing TOU rates for generation in NH (probably because few TOU meters are in use). If you're in Eversource turf, your choices in NH are rates R (standard residential, no TOU) and R-OTOD (residential TOU).

For R, T&D totals $0.087/kWh. For R-OTOD, off-peak T&D is $0.038, on-peak T&D is $0.175/kWh. Add $0.094/kWh for generation (default service) to get your total $/kWh (R - $0.181, R-OTOD off-peak - $0.132, R-OTOD on-peak - $0.269).

R-OTOD off-peak saves you $0.049/kWh over rate R, but the monthly charge increases to $29.47 from $12.69. You need to use 350kWh off peak, with no peak usage to break even. For every peak kWh, you need 1.5-2 off-peak to compensate.

Because of the limited off-peak savings and high on-peak charge, It's tough to make R-OTOD work unless you can really restrict peak usage and shift a lot to off-peak.

Eversource tariff - https://www.eversource.com/content/...riffs/electric-delivery-service-tariff-nh.pdf

 

[tga]

Oh, and Eversource requires a 1 year commitment to the TOU rate if you switch to R-OTOD.

 

[mociaf9]

I'm a fairly new Tesla owner (since July) and I'm finding our electric bill quite a bit higher than I would have thought, I think we are spending nearly even to what we were on gas. I think is in part due to the thrill of a new car, a Tesla, and just wanting to drive it everywhere

The first two months I thought was just due to increasing the days I worked from home and being the summer months, but comparing September-to-September with very minimal A/C usage we're using 3x the electricity (from 408 to 1157 kWh), consistent with the last 3 months.

So if this is now my energy usage, I want to try to find an energy provider that offers off-peak rates and I'm wondering if anyone else is subscribed to an off peak plan, or if anyone has any tips?

About how many miles did you drive in September? And what is your average Wh/mi efficiency in your car (based on other posts, I'm assuming it's a Model 3)? Tesla's rated mileage for Model 3 is baselined on an average of 242 Wh/mi, but many report getting a better number in average driving. Assuming all of your electricity usage increases are from charging the car, taking a round-trip charging efficiency of 85%, and accounting for up to 3%/day of vampire drain. Then you should have driven more than 2,350 miles in the month of September. A 35mpg car would need ~67 gallons of gas to drive that far. Average price for NH mid-grade gas in September was $3.067/gal. Meaning it would have cost you ~$206 for gas. Your added electricity usage was 749 kWh. According to @tga your electricity rate is $0.181/kWh, so your added cost of charging, assuming all increased usage was from the car, was ~$136.

Of course the above calculations could be wrong on a few different fronts. Most notably the average Wh/mi. of driving and that all the added electricity usage was from charging the car. Nor does it account for any miles you've driven that came from charging away from home (e.g. Supercharger or workplace charging, etc.). So, after taking into consideration miles gained through charging away from home, if you didn't drive close to or more than 2,300 miles in September you should really look at your efficiency or consider other reasons why your electricity usage increased.

 

[Kelmn07]

Yes, model 3 @mociaf9. I'm not sure my start/stop odometer for September, but from July 7 - now, but we are at 7,769 currently. Subtracting ~2.5 weeks we were without the car, 2,350 might be a bit low, could be closer to 2,500. Or a straight average over the 3 months is 2,589. We have only charged at home so far, no external charging.

We just dropped it off at the body shop yesterday so I can't check our average Wh/mi but 242 doesn't sound inaccurate. To be honest, I am still having a hard time grasping how to calculate the equivalent to gas as you've done :/ however that calculation makes me feel a bit better.

I can't 100% attribute the increase to the Tesla YoY because working from home more often means running the A/C more often, but September experienced almost no/minimal A/C during the weekday so that should the closest of the last 3 months to an exact YoY. But the increase is nearly consistent through the three months. October's usage should be pretty evident as well. I had been considering getting one of those power monitors that tracks devices' consumption in the home so I can say definitively, but not sure if I want it yet.

Make sure you're looking at the entire rate - transmission + distribution + generation (aka "energy service"). You only get to pick the supplier for generation. Transmission and distribution ("T&D") is your local "poles and wires" company; you're stuck with the monopoly company in your area.

I don't know of anyone doing TOU rates for generation in NH (probably because few TOU meters are in use). If you're in Eversource turf, your choices in NH are rates R (standard residential, no TOU) and R-OTOD (residential TOU).

For R, T&D totals $0.087/kWh. For R-OTOD, off-peak T&D is $0.038, on-peak T&D is $0.175/kWh. Add $0.094/kWh for generation (default service) to get your total $/kWh (R - $0.181, R-OTOD off-peak - $0.132, R-OTOD on-peak - $0.269).

R-OTOD off-peak saves you $0.049/kWh over rate R, but the monthly charge increases to $29.47 from $12.69. You need to use 350kWh off peak, with no peak usage to break even. For every peak kWh, you need 1.5-2 off-peak to compensate.

Because of the limited off-peak savings and high on-peak charge, It's tough to make R-OTOD work unless you can really restrict peak usage and shift a lot to off-peak.

Eversource tariff - https://www.eversource.com/content/...riffs/electric-delivery-service-tariff-nh.pdf

Thanks, I had been taking into account and comparing the entire rate but after looking at the different supplier rates on puc.nh.gov, their rates were higher than Eversource or required contracts and, to your point, would still be paying for the distribution through Eversource. The switch didn't seem worth it.

Let's 1157 (Sep '18) - 408 (Sep '17) on the assumption that the increase is due to the Tesla which can just be charged evenings/weekends. Using your rates, I get $98.87 + $109.75 + $29.47 = $238.09. Current rates listed here indicate R - OTOD on is .123 (.22 total) and R-OTOD off - .081 (.175 total) = $89.76+$131.08+$29.47= $250.31, I'm not sure if my calculations are correct but at either rate, it would 100% not be worth it considering our regular rate bill was $223. This is very surprising that 2/3 of my energy use occurring during off-peak hours would not be enough to justify the switch, and also very surprising that there is not more of a push by electric providers to move to off-peak :/


^Did this/leaving in case any else searches for/is interested in this.

I guess someday down the road solar, or an energy provider that utilizes solar, is the only meaningful way to lower both my bill and my demand.