Friday, May 11, 2018

Pacific Power Hourly Energy Savings

On the North West coast of the United States is a company called Pacific Power.  They are the government approved power provider.

There is a special program they have that purports to incentivize people to shift their power usage to off peak periods.  This is a very good idea to help balance out the power grid, and I am a huge fan of the idea.  However, it does cause a great deal of work for those who shift their usage and they do deserve to be incentivized to do so.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the program Pacific Power runs is a scam.  Their documentation, and their representatives who try and explain the documentation, claims that the normal household is charged 3 cents per kilowatt hour.  Once switched to the new program the household will be charged 6 cents per kilowatt hour for on peak usage, and only 1 cent per kilowatt hour for off peak usage.  This seems reasonable, and a hard working person should be able to save some money by changing their habits fairly drastically.
( One of the documents actually says it will be a negative 1 cent, the reps just seem to explain it poorly )

The reality of this program is far different from what is advertised.

In reality, Pacific Power does not stop charging the household for anything, they continue charging the standard electrical fees, and then they tack on an ADDITIONAL 6 cents per kilowatt hour for peak usage, and a -1 cent per kilowatt hour for off peak usage.

So, by completely revamping your lifestyle, you might save $1-2 a month if you are lucky, if you slip then you will suddenly be paying a massively inflated bill on top of the normal electrical bill you were already paying.

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