Pro shop power bills?

[Larry Edgerton]

Got my yearly power bill, $3400. Seems a bit high, higher than my old shop for sure but now on a REA.

One man shop, large tools on a converter, small shop with too few lights.

Just curious what yearly power cost/# men is for your shops. I know it is not a direct correlation, but still curious. This bill is about 40% bigger than the ones in a shop that was 10 times bigger.

Larry

[John Hubbs]

Larry,
Wish I could help you out. My shop comes off same meter as house. Would you mind sharing what your heat/cool source is and insulation quality. Both could make a huge difference in utility cost IMHO.
Regards, John...

[Mort Stevens]

Got my yearly power bill, $3400. Seems a bit high, higher than my old shop for sure but now on a REA.

Don't look at the amount, look at the kilowatt hour (kWh) used.

Also look at how they are charging, is it residential or commercial rate? My place used to be a commercial dairy farm.... my first couple of electric bills were about 5x higher until I convinced them it was now single family residence.

And what's an REA?

[Martin Wasner]

Two man shop, but not always working, my bill is about $150-200 month. Electric off peak heat is usually about $150.

Rotary converter? Those babies hammer through the juice.

[Joe Calhoon]

Hi Larry,
We are a REA (rural electric association) I think. Ours is user owned. We are billed monthly. Yearly would be scary.
It depends on a lot of things. Are you on a demand meter? and what is your kWh rate.
I have been all over the board with this.
We ran off a phase converter from about 1978 till 1990 Bill was about $120 per month with largest machine 10HP and a lot in the 5HP range
In 1990 we put in a 40HP WBS and had 3 phase run in for about 6K (scary to think what that costs now)
After that bill went to $150 to $200 if real busy. Had 2 or 3 guys working then.
Around 2002 or so we added more machines - more HP, 3 head sander and S4S with about 50HP each combined and DC 20HP. Bill went up a little and depended on how busy we were.

About the time the big slowdown started they decided to put me on a demand meter. The bill jumped up to over $1000 per month. This was bad and really hurt at that time. With a demand meter you could work one day a month and still have about the same bill. The power company worked with me by putting a computer on the system to see where the power was going. We got it down to $800 or so per month by being careful what we ran. No big machines on at the same time. lighting uses more electricity than you would think also. There are different types of demand and mine was not affected by machine startup.
I kept working with these guys and finally they offered to take demand off and raise the kWh charge. That was the best thing for me and now my bill back to $200 per month.
I was paying about 7 cents per kWk with demand and now 13 cents per. Its good and I am only paying for power I use. But I expect the rates to keep going up as all these electric companies are struggling.

I looked around at different utilities when mine went up and there is a lot of variation with all. It might pay to talk to your supplier to see what they can do. Everything is negotiable.

Joe

[Kent A Bathurst]

Joe - somehow in there, you really got screwed by the electric monopoly......glad it came back down, but a 5x increase? That can't be right........

[J.R. Rutter]

So far no demand meter for me. Avg. is about $350 / mo. near capacity with two people, 15 HP DC, and various big motors. When it is slower, more like $250-$300.

[Max Neu]

Larry,
if you use your phase converter alot,you might want to look into a Phase Perfect converter, im sure they are much more efficient than a rotary converter. I replaced a 10hp rotary converter with a digital converter, and it was a nice change.I have also been changing out my old style flourescent lights for T5 high out put's.I guess you have to decide how long you will be working out of that shop before you spend money to save money.

[Phil Thien]

About the time the big slowdown started they decided to put me on a demand meter. The bill jumped up to over $1000 per month. This was bad and really hurt at that time.

I think I'd be making like the Amish and shopping for diesel generators.

Glad they took you off the demand scam.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I think I'd be making like the Amish and shopping for diesel generators.

Glad they took you off the demand scam.

St. Kitts passed a law making it illegal to run generators unless the power is out. The manufacturing companies there had quickly figured out they could run their own diesel generators cheaper than buying power from the government.

[Phil Thien]

St. Kitts passed a law making it illegal to run generators unless the power is out. The manufacturing companies there had quickly figured out they could run their own diesel generators cheaper than buying power from the government.

I'd be willing to convert to Amish and take the religious exemption, to save $800/month.

[Larry Edgerton]

My actual cost is 19.8 cents per KWH, so higher than some of you guys which is part of it. I use 17,000+ KWH, and some of that can be attributed to a Nyle dehumidification unit I was playing with for a couple of weeks. I called today, but there is nothing to be accomplished on that front so I sent out a check. I did schedule to have my meter checked by an independent contractor.

Thanks for the replies, I am high it appears but will be looking at ways to cut that cost in the future. The Nyle kiln is going away for sure, I think I sold it today. I have a 50 hp rotary converter, so I will look into what I can save by going with a smaller Phase Perfect. I doubt it is much, but not having to listen to the rotary would be a bonus.

Thanks, Larry

[peter gagliardi]

Wow, you guys got cheap electric- think I'm gonna move! Mine was up till about 6 months ago in the $7-900 a month range. Now it is easily double!! The electric company got an "approved rate hike" of "approximately 35%" from the state.
I don't know what school they went to, but 35% of $800.00 is not another $800.00!
I see that as a 100% increase. That is for a 1-2 man shop!
It has translated into actual real dollars per hour for electricity!

[Leo Graywacz]

Single man shop, 2300 a ft. 175-300 a month

[Brian W Smith]

Less than 200,not a lot of big HP anymore though.

[Kent Adams]

But I expect the rates to keep going up as all these electric companies are struggling.

I looked around at different utilities when mine went up and there is a lot of variation with all. It might pay to talk to your supplier to see what they can do. Everything is negotiable.

Joe

I'm not aware of many if any utility companies "struggling". That might be their "tune" with your legislature, but if you look at their balance sheet, these guys are flush with cash typically and have very strong and predictable cash flow.

[Leo Graywacz]

Last winter my energy cost went from 10 cents/KWh to 12.2 cents/KWh. They raised my service charge from $38.50/mo to $44.25/mo and my demand charges went from $12/KWh to $18/KWh.

It was a pretty big jump. Another $75 on a $150-$175/mo bill. But we're all cash flush rich businesses according to my state.

[Joe Calhoon]

I'm not aware of many if any utility companies "struggling". That might be their "tune" with your legislature, but if you look at their balance sheet, these guys are flush with cash typically and have very strong and predictable cash flow.

I go the the meetings every so often to see what is coming. We have had a lot of growth here and they claim to be under staffed and cannot provide the services. They buy some power from larger distributers and there is talk of disbanding the REA and letting a larger provider come in. They have a small coal fired plant and as you know several issues there. They also started buying a certain percent of power from solar farms and that makes for higher rates. Not much if you are a homeowner but bad for 3 phase users.
I am enjoying the good rates now but do not look for it to last.
Joe

[Leo Graywacz]

I go the the meetings every so often to see what is coming. We have had a lot of growth here and they claim to be under staffed and cannot provide the services. They buy some power from larger distributers and there is talk of disbanding the REA and letting a larger provider come in. They have a small coal fired plant and as you know several issues there. They also started buying a certain percent of power from solar farms and that makes for higher rates. Not much if you are a homeowner but bad for 3 phase users.
I am enjoying the good rates now but do not look for it to last.
Joe

If you use 3ph power then you must be one of those rich businesses that doesn't pay your fair share. You can afford it.


Unfortunately I am one of those 3ph users and have seen the power company increase all my rates at once.

[Joe Calhoon]

Yea Leo, I guess when they are struggling they can just raise the rates. When we struggle we just have to suck it up. I think running 3 phase in now would be out of sight. If starting over I would run off a converter. and try to stay under the radar.

[Leo Graywacz]

I'm in a commercial building so there is no outta sight for me unfortunately. Thing is, I only have one three phase motor. The rest are single phase. Biggest motor I have is 4HP on my compressor. The rest are 3HP and a couple of 1 1/2's. No idea what the 4 ton A/C motor is for HP. But they required a 40amp breaker.

I am truly upset about this cost increase because it was such an immediate hit on the wallet. I worked all those years trying to save power, putting in efficient lighting, getting a DC with a very efficient motor, taking care to keep the lighting in the unused areas off. And for what? They just trounced on my bill.

Happened when Eversource took over from CL&P WHAM!!

[Kent Adams]

REA, that explains it so yeah, I can possibly see them struggling. I was under an REA once upon a time in WV when I had a cabin there. One of the things I did like was getting a member's bonus at the end of the year. I think it was called Frontier Electric?

[Larry Edgerton]

I am going to take Joe's advise and drive over to the REA office and see what can be done.

I think I can get a better rate by going monthly. I found out I can have then install a datalogger on my meter so I can record actual usage/times.

Wish me luck.......

Ok, just got back. Changed to a monthly bill at a 34% lower rate and got them to split the difference on last years bill. Saved a little over $500 off last years and at the same usage I will save a bit over $1000 a year.

Much better!

Larry

[Phil Thien]

I am going to take Joe's advise and drive over to the REA office and see what can be done.

I think I can get a better rate by going monthly. I found out I can have then install a datalogger on my meter so I can record actual usage/times.

Wish me luck.......

Ok, just got back. Changed to a monthly bill at a 34% lower rate and got them to split the difference on last years bill. Saved a little over $500 off last years and at the same usage I will save a bit over $1000 a year.

Much better!

Larry

Wow, I'd say that is proof positive that "it never hurts to ask."