Lawrence "The Dreamer" Chen's Blog

Now I understand why the amount keeps going up every month on my Average Pay Plan...it is computed every month based on the previous 12 months. It confused me because a while back there was a sharp jump in monthly charge and then it keeps increasing incrementally each month. And, it doesn't work like Average Pay Plan that I had with AEP or Gas service. Where the average is only computed once a year.

I suppose I like this, especially for an electric bill. I should expect that there won't be any future sharp increase in the future to reflect a cumulative error in year over year consumption, or from rate increases introduced along the way.

With Gas bill, my average pay has stayed fixed, but I know there's going to be many months where I won't have to pay coming up...because I've amassed a huge credit. Last winter wasn't as cold as the previous winter (no icepocalypse for one), and there were more opportunities to lower thermostat, and generally keep it lower all the time. Plus I suspect they had assumed gas prices were going to be higher than they actually turned out.

With Electric, thermostat is ranging from 78 - 82F. And, that's pretty much the limit. Takes too longer to recover if the temperature range is any higher (makes me think I might need to investigate if A/C unit that came with condo is undersized, and if there is any benefit of a newer, more efficient?, unit....perhaps something to look at after my tax refund next year....assuming I don't pre-spend it on anything else). Plus there's the added cost of from CPAP, and not just the machine... the added cost of things to help me tolerate the machine and related devices. The water distiller is likely consuming more than just the power it consumes directly...

With Electric there was for a short time where I had a credit balance, but now summer is in full swing and last month a new record in monthly charge (though not new peak in usage.) And, summer has hardly begun.

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