NJ Electricity provider alternatives

[Bednarz42]

Has anyone had any luck finding a good provider outside of PSEG/JCP&L?

I'm in an area that has PSEG, and they no longer have time of use deals. It's one flat rate around the clock.

I recently signed up with Clearview Energy from Texas at 11.5 cents a kw through the end the year. At which point I'm sure i'll go back to the same rate range where PSEG was (13.7 cents a kw).

 

[Pilot1226]

Hi, I'm not very far from you. Keep in mind that you'll still be paying PSEG the delivery portion of your electricity as well. I believe Clearview had a plan that offered you free EV charging on the weekends but had an overall higher rate for the non-weekend days. Sounds like it wouldn't save much if anything in the long run.

Unfortunately the only thing that seems to be an option for us is to install solar panels, which would feed excess energy back into the grid and with the net meter, you'd be able to earn credits with the excess energy produced. It wouldn't eliminate your electric bill, but it would significantly reduce it.

I'm considering panels from both a Tesla and non-Tesla provider. I need some roof and electrical work done also, and Tesla doesn't do that. The benefit of the Tesla install would be I could get a single Powerwall unit installed, and it sounds like at some point in the future you may be able to send energy from your Tesla EV into the powerwall to keep your home powered as needed.

I don't know if you can do the net metering where you feed the grid your excess energy production if you have a third party energy provider.

Until then, I'm just hanging with PSEG for everything as they allow me to do a 12 month equal payment plan with both supply and delivery. It's nice to not have the big spikes in heating costs in the winter and helps me plan expected expenses.

 

[Bednarz42]

Hi, I'm not very far from you. Keep in mind that you'll still be paying PSEG the delivery portion of your electricity as well. I believe Clearview had a plan that offered you free EV charging on the weekends but had an overall higher rate for the non-weekend days. Sounds like it wouldn't save much if anything in the long run.

Unfortunately the only thing that seems to be an option for us is to install solar panels, which would feed excess energy back into the grid and with the net meter, you'd be able to earn credits with the excess energy produced. It wouldn't eliminate your electric bill, but it would significantly reduce it.

I'm considering panels from both a Tesla and non-Tesla provider. I need some roof and electrical work done also, and Tesla doesn't do that. The benefit of the Tesla install would be I could get a single Powerwall unit installed, and it sounds like at some point in the future you may be able to send energy from your Tesla EV into the powerwall to keep your home powered as needed.

I don't know if you can do the net metering where you feed the grid your excess energy production if you have a third party energy provider.

Until then, I'm just hanging with PSEG for everything as they allow me to do a 12 month equal payment plan with both supply and delivery. It's nice to not have the big spikes in heating costs in the winter and helps me plan expected expenses.

Yea, I saw the Clearview plan with the weekend free charging and came to the same conclusion based on the over all rate. I've also been looking at Tesla Solar with the single powerwall, and it does seem like the best option. I think the kw rate from PSEG will continue to rise pretty substantially.

I imagine I'll switch back to PSEG at the end of this promotion and eventually go with the Solar.

 

[Pilot1226]

I've had PSEG for a long time in my town, have been living there since 2007. I'm pretty sure the rate has only gone up a few cents per kWh, maybe 2 or 3. While that does add up over time (our home uses about 30 kW per day according to my bill last month in August, probably higher than normal because of air conditioning), so that would end up being around $1 per day.

The big question is going to be going forward in 10-20-30 years when we're hopefully using 100% renewables. That should, in theory, cost less than the cost of production of traditional means of energy production...

Just trying to think of the big picture here, if my energy bill goes up about $1 per day every 15 years, I don't know that the extra $2 per day in 30 years in the summer months is anything to get riled up about. Sure, it adds up, no denying that... But I'm just saying I'm still not convinced that it's worth it to drop $30k on solar panels.

 

[Bednarz42]

I've had PSEG for a long time in my town, have been living there since 2007. I'm pretty sure the rate has only gone up a few cents per kWh, maybe 2 or 3. While that does add up over time (our home uses about 30 kW per day according to my bill last month in August, probably higher than normal because of air conditioning), so that would end up being around $1 per day.

The big question is going to be going forward in 10-20-30 years when we're hopefully using 100% renewables. That should, in theory, cost less than the cost of production of traditional means of energy production...

Just trying to think of the big picture here, if my energy bill goes up about $1 per day every 15 years, I don't know that the extra $2 per day in 30 years in the summer months is anything to get riled up about. Sure, it adds up, no denying that... But I'm just saying I'm still not convinced that it's worth it to drop $30k on solar panels.

Odd, my per kw charge last year was .115 - .12 before delivery. This year for the same month it was .137 on avg.

 

[DanDi58]

Just a note that with solar panels, in a typical installation with no battery back-up, you're not sending your 'excess' energy to the grid, but ALL of your energy, and your monthly bill is decreased by the difference between the power generated by the panels and your usage. That's why you still lose power during a general black-out (again, unless you have a battery backup). I think everyone here understands that but as recently as last week I had a client (I'm a Realtor) tell me they would prefer a home with solar panels 'so they would have power during a black-out'... If I was doing solar, I would definitely consider a back-up system.

 

[Bednarz42]

Just a note that with solar panels, in a typical installation with no battery back-up, you're not sending your 'excess' energy to the grid, but ALL of your energy, and your monthly bill is decreased by the difference between the power generated by the panels and your usage. That's why you still lose power during a general black-out (again, unless you have a battery backup). I think everyone here understands that but as recently as last week I had a client (I'm a Realtor) tell me they would prefer a home with solar panels 'so they would have power during a black-out'... If I was doing solar, I would definitely consider a back-up system.

Yea, I think people who haven't looked into solar go into it assuming you can self power during an outage. I lost power for the first time during the last tropical storm, first time since we've been in the house for almost 6 years. If I'm getting solar, I'd prefer to also solve the power outage issues with a powerwall at the same time.

 

[Pilot1226]

Yes, a single Powerwall provides around 13 kW of power. I don’t need to run everything but I do want to run heat and keep the food in the fridge cold. It would replenish the next day. I suppose it wouldnt work during snow storm type outages as there would be snow on the panels, but I think as a quasi-meteorologist that the tropical storms and thunderstorms associated with zonal flow tend to bring “fair weather” after a major event. Meaning, clear skies the next day or two to recharge the Powerwall.

I’m almost certain that over time Tesla will allow the Powerwall to siphon power from a Tesla vehicle if configured as such in the settings. Makes sense. Can charge up car from a Supercharger and bring it home if needed.

The only problem I have with Tesla solar is that I have to do the electrical panel upgrade and roof replacement myself ahead of time. I can have it “lumped in” and done with a single job with a third party solar provider but then I don’t get the cool Powerwall.

 

[DanDi58]

Yes, a single Powerwall provides around 13 kW of power. I don’t need to run everything but I do want to run heat and keep the food in the fridge cold. It would replenish the next day. I suppose it wouldnt work during snow storm type outages as there would be snow on the panels, but I think as a quasi-meteorologist that the tropical storms and thunderstorms associated with zonal flow tend to bring “fair weather” after a major event. Meaning, clear skies the next day or two to recharge the Powerwall.

I’m almost certain that over time Tesla will allow the Powerwall to siphon power from a Tesla vehicle if configured as such in the settings. Makes sense. Can charge up car from a Supercharger and bring it home if needed.

The only problem I have with Tesla solar is that I have to do the electrical panel upgrade and roof replacement myself ahead of time. I can have it “lumped in” and done with a single job with a third party solar provider but then I don’t get the cool Powerwall.

So the Powerwall will only work with Tesla solar panels or roof tiles?

 

[Pilot1226]

I don’t know if it’s a solar panel thing but it’s a gateway thing for sure. Something has to control how the devices talk to each other. I think there are third party providers that will install a genuine Powerwall but I don’t know if they are in my area. There are other options for battery backups but I don’t have experience with them.