Nickeled and Dimed to Death

[captpackrat]

Latest SDG&E bill:

Electric Energy: $39.55
DWR Bond Charge: 3.36
Transmission: 5.01
Distribution: 46.51
Public Purpose Programs: 4.59
Nuclear Decommissioning: .41
Trust Transfer Amount: 5.99
Competition Transition Charge: 5.95
Reliability Services: 7.99

Total Electric Costs: $119.36

WTF??? $40 worth of electricity, and $79 worth of fees? What the hell?

(And that's not counting "franchise fees" and taxes.)

Comments

[alohawolf.livejournal.com]

86 bucks in power, the rest are fee's, before deregulation, distribution wouldnt have been a seperate charge

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

That's one thing my dad hated about things -- he worked for Con Ed, and he would get so annoyed when people would complain about the electric, when so much of it was out of the control of the electic company.

Same with phone bills, one of the reasons I use VOIP. I don't feel like paying an MTA surcharge because I use a phone!

[mortonfox.livejournal.com]

Time to install the solar panels.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Phone bills are even worse. Full of mysterious mumbo-jumbo that even their customer service department can't explain. "We don't know exactly what it is, but it's on everyone's bill so it must be normal."

Reliability Services?

[whiffert.livejournal.com]

You have to PAY them to be reliable?

I say don't pay that part and trust to luck!

Or buy lots of batteries.

For the purposes of making you jealous, my current electric bill came to just over $30 inclusive of everything. But as I gloat, I am even now moving back to the realm of NiMo and bills that look a lot6 like yours... such a fool am I to leave Solvay.

[johnnyblanco.livejournal.com]

solar power anyone???