Submitted
The Oak Ridge Electric Department is warning its customers to expect higher utility bills for the next two months. According to Jack Suggs, Oak Ridge electric director, bills for power used in December are now in the mail, and bills for January will be coming out in a few weeks. He expects these bills will be difficult for many customers.
The National Weather Service calculates an index called “degree days of heating,” which is used as an indication of how cold the weather is over the course of a month. The higher the value of the number, the greater difference between the outside temperature and a properly heated home.
“Higher degree days of heating means that the heating system in a customer’s home has to work harder to keep the home warm,†Suggs said. December 2013 had nearly twice the degree days of heating as November, and January is looking to be significantly higher than that.
In addition to weather, there are several other factors that can contribute to higher energy bills.
“There is no magic here, I recommend customers stick to the basics: Sealing air leaks, insulation, and efficient appliances all contribute to more comfortable and efficient homes,†Suggs said. He also said that space heaters are one of the worst offenders when it comes to inefficient heating. Some customers have added several hundred dollars in energy cost to their winter bills by operating these units.
“There is nothing wrong with using a space heater to knock the chill out of the air for a few minutes,†Suggs said. “Unfortunately, some of our customers use these units constantly and as their primary source of heat. This can be very expensive.â€
Many of the less fortunate in our community are going to have a hard time meeting their utility bills this winter. Suggs encourages customers to consider making a donation to Project Safe (Special Assistance Fund for Energy) when they pay their utility bill. Funds collected are given directly to Aid to Distressed Families of Anderson County and kept in the community to help those in need.
For more information on energy savings, visit: http://energyright.com.
Andrew Howe says
This article on talks about demand, not supply. Is there a supply shortage? If not, then why raise the rates.
I know, I know, demand has gone up so it’s typical to raise rates. Still, the way *I* look at it personally is this:
If your summer sales are good enough to keep the electric company in the black, then all those extra watts sold in the winter will put the company that much more in the black. Why price gouge when demand has gone up if you’re still ahead? Unless the supply drops, I believe this is simple price gouging and not ethical.
The American people don’t like it when the oil company’s do it to us, and they have a known supply issue (even if it’s forecasted in the future and we don’t really have one presently). They certainly don’t appreciate it from a company that doesn’t have much of a supply shortage.
That said, I imagine hydro-electric generation is lessened during the winter (but it would be during the summer as well around here), and there’s a legitimate future forecast of coal shortage, and possible future forecast of nuclear energy shortage (depending on how the people feel about nuclear power plants).
So, in summary, I doubt there’s really a big enough shortage to warrant a rate increase, so what’s really driving this? I’ve personally never had an issue with anyone at the electric dept, but I’ve heard countless complaints from others such as:
People getting power shut off on Christmas Eve after they’ve attempted to pay off a good chunk of their bill, then to get hit with a large re-activation charge. At Christmas time, a city dept did this to it’s citizens.
Obviously, i don’t know the full story, and I’ve never personally had to deal with such difficulties, but since I’ve been hearing bad stories like the one above for a decade, I think we should examine this problem along the lines of ethics.
The City of Oak Ridge works for us, we don’t work for them. If they need to raise rates because the infrastructure is needing upgrading, fine, just tell us so. If there’s a supply shortage in the winter, fine, just tell us so. But to say you’re raising the rates because people want to actually buy their product is sloppy PR.
Philip W Nipper says
Sir, I don’t think that the article is suggesting that there will be a rate increase. I believe it simply is informing residents that their electric bills are going to be higher than they may be expecting due to the recent cold weather. The below paragraphs describe the situation.
“The National Weather Service calculates an index called “degree days
of heating,†which is used as an indication of how cold the weather is
over the course of a month. The higher the value of the number, the
greater difference between the outside temperature and a properly heated
home.
“Higher degree days of heating means that the heating system in a
customer’s home has to work harder to keep the home warm,†Suggs said.
December 2013 had nearly twice the degree days of heating as November,
and January is looking to be significantly higher than that.”
Andrew Howe says
Thanks, Phillip. Explanation is in my reply to Jeff. I appreciate you being respectful in your post.
What’s really funny is that just last week I defended the Electric Co on a FB group by looking at my Dec bill and comparing it to my previous Dec bill and finding that this year the rate per unit was less.
I’m obviously burning too many candles at too many ends and not catching details. I’ll try to slow down.
Philip W Nipper says
As they say, “the devil is in the details”….
Andrew Howe says
There is a discrepancy between the posted rates (see Ellen’s post above) and my rate this last bill. Posted rate is 0.09766/kwh, my rate is 0.09776.
Likely a typo. I’ve informed the city.
There have been previous discrepancies in the past year and a half, but all those were in the customer’s favor.
Ellen Smith says
Andrew, there are two interesting things you need to know when you compare electric bills for different months:
1. Your bill includes a flat-rate “customer charge” (currently $9.70/month for residential customers) that is billed every month whether or not you use any electricity, plus a per-kwh charge for the electricity you used. That customer charge affects the apparent per-kwh rate that you calculate if you divide your total bill by amount of electricity you are billed for.
2. Part of TVA’s bill to the city is a “fuel price adjustment” than changes from month to month. The city adjusts its per-kwh rate every month in accordance with the change in the TVA fuel use adjustment.
I imagine that your bill for December 2013 was higher than your bill for December 2012 — because it was colder this year and you have a larger household, so you probably used more electricity. However, if you divided your total bill by your kwh usage you would see a higher apparent rate for last year than for this year. That’s because TVA’s fuel price adjustment was higher last year and because this winter you were dividing that $9.70 flat rate over more kwh.
Andrew Howe says
Thanks, Ellen! As usual, you cast the proper light into the shadows!
Do you happen to know how the rate increase Ms Baughn posted is being applied?
And has the customer charge changed any over the past two years that you know of?
I’ve never quite understood the logic behind fluctuating prices. You won’t find such a business practice at a store, although their costs may fluctuate depending on the product sold, because it would lose them business. They take market fluctuation into account and set a fixed price somewhere in the middle.
You DO seem so see such practices in markets where the supplier has you “over a barrel” (oil pun intended). But that’s a whole other ball of twine…
http://www.wate.com/story/17259792/knoxville-man-makes-surprising-finds-about-tvas-charges
Ellen Smith says
Yesterday I replied to Andrew’s question about rate increases, but I don’t see my reply here… (????)
johnhuotari says
Ellen,
I do see a response from you posted 15 hours ago lower in this thread. (Look at the bottom of the following section.)
Ellen Smith says
That’s a different post. I added two posts over a fairly short period of time. The one that was lost was a lot longer than the one that is here.
johnhuotari says
Okay. I found it. Disqus put it in the spam folder for some reason, even though you’ve commented here before.
I have approved the comment, and it should be showing now.
My GoDaddy e-mail does that to me sometimes also. Takes an e-mail from someone that I communicate with regularly and sticks it in the Junk folder. Who knows why. Computers. 🙂
Thanks for letting me know so I could fix this.
Jeff Jonas says
Wow, Andrew. First you proved that you can’t read a map regarding where the East Fork Poplar Creek runs, then you can’t find the city water intake, now you don’t seem to be able to understand English and that there is no rate increase mentioned in the story. Your post looks like it was written by Emily Litella. The final words should be “never mind”.
Andrew Howe says
Jeff, you may be right! That’s one of the challenges of writing, to make sure that the point intended is the point that gets across.
Your interpretation was not at all mine though. I suppose I assumed that a news article would have newsworthy content, and telling people they’re going to have higher electrical bills because they’re using more electricity isn’t really news. If I was wrong, I’ll blame the title of the article for steering me down a garden path.
I hope you’re right and this article is basically just saying “don’t be surprised if you’ve used more electricity than you thought”!
And if I’m half as funny as Gilda Radner I’ll take your jab as a compliment. You can give me a “noogie” next time you see me!
Susan Wheelwright says
Blame your apparent lack of reading comprehension instead of looking for some other excuse. And no one has compared you to Gilda Radnor. Sadly you weren’t trying to be funny. Being compared to Emily Litella can hardly be considered a compliment.
Andrew Howe says
I’m not the only one who thought that piece implied higher rates. Others have told me that’s how they interpreted it as well.
My acceptance of criticism and admission of my shortcomings speak to my character. I truly AM Andrew Howe and I am not a perfect machine. However, I find no records ANYwhere of either Sam Shephard, Jeff Jonas, Tom Britain, OR Susan Wheelright in our area, so… the devil is not always in the details, sometimes he’s far more subversive.
Now, let’s analyze from a socio-political perspective. The article got onto OR Today via a press release from the city. How likely do you think it is they’re releasing this as a simple “service” announcement”? Certainly possible, but not as likely as the following. More likely is the rates have gone up, either from TVA’s price fuel adjustment, or the October increase, and submitting a press release about usage waste is a way to deflect consumer outrage.
Q.E.D.
Ellen Smith says
Any time people’s bills go up — whether it’s for a rate increase or higher usage due to the weather, you can assume that the good people who work in the city utilities business office are having to deal with a lot of upset customers. I imagine that Jack Suggs is simply trying to reduce the element of surprise — in hopes that fewer people will take out their frustrations on his staff.
Cindy McCullough says
Being from Wisconsin, I am used to power companies warning consumers that their bills will be high because of lower outside temperatures. That is also why many customers sign up for a budget billing plan to avoid those huge winter bills and then they are spread out over the year.
johnhuotari says
I’m glad we’re on the budget billing plan right now.
Raymond Charles Kircher says
Where can I find the terms of the BBP for Oak Ridge or ORUD? I don’t see COR or ORUD setting up the utility billing as a free credit account so there must be interest charges on the spread out portion of your bill.
Ellen Smith says
Good question, Ray! The city website doesn’t seem to have any information about the city budget billing program. I’ve never heard of any fees for it — I imagine that it might be paid for by the cost savings from not having so many people in danger of getting disconnected. You need to contact the Utility Business Office at 865 425-3400 and ask… ORUD’s website doesn’t say anything about a fee, but it does say “Applications for the Budget Billing Plan are accepted only during the months of April and May.” (That suggests to me that the extra money they collect in the summer avoids any need to “carry” customers.)
Raymond Charles Kircher says
Thank you, Ellen, but I have done that years ago and have not been given the information I need to join the group of BBP then be blind sided when prices increase or I’m using more only to find that out at the end of the contract. I was hoping John would have that since he is a member. Flat billing isn’t liked by the phone, tv, and internet companies; I believe utility companies think the same.
Rorrye Grubb Byrge says
Couldn’t never get through Ellen. Got answer machine and the operator just never answered. My Sewer is what was so outrageous. I used less this month but paid more than last month. It takes water to push sewer but the sewer is OUTRAGEOUS! my water and sewer were almost more than my Electric. All because the City wants new sewer plants…REALLY?
Ellen Smith says
Sorry to hear you’re having trouble reaching city staff, Rorrye. If I were still on City Council, I’d ping the city manager about your problem, but I’m not on Council. I suggest you try the phone call again on a weekday between 8 am and 5 pm.
The city isn’t building any new sewer plants (the one at Big Turtle Park is in good shape). What’s going on is the repair of a lot of decaying sewer lines and manholes that have been allowing a lot of rainwater to enter the sewer lines — and causing sewage to overflow into people’s backyards and streams when the lines back up due to all that extra water. The city also is installing three large above-ground tanks to hold some of the excess water — something that actually gives a huge cost reduction, compared with the cost of repairing every single leak in the sewer lines.
The city didn’t really have any choice in this situation. We are under a federal order to do this work. The city could:
(1) do the sewer work now — and take out loans and raise rates to pay for it, OR
(2) let the U.S. Department of Justice haul Oak Ridge into federal court (requiring hiring of high-priced out-of-town lawyers to help represent the city), pay very large federal fines and penalties for not doing the sewer work on schedule, and still have do the sewer work — and take out loans and raise rates to pay for the sewer work, fines and penalties, and high-priced lawyers.
Doing the work now costs us all far less than going to federal court. Other cities and utility districts that have gone to federal court over sewer issues recommended that Oak Ridge avoid that, if we could. The Knoxville Utility Board had a much bigger sewer problem than Oak Ridge and it wasn’t physically possible for KUB to do the work in time to avoid federal court. They are now paying out penalties and paying for massive upgrades to their sewers — and their rates keep going up. The last I saw, their rates were higher than ours. The smaller sewer systems in the area are also starting to be targeted for enforcement actions — and upgrade orders — like ours, so their rates will be rising soon.
Rorrye Grubb Byrge says
Thanks Ellen. Wish you were still on the City Council. Your a wonderful Lady.
Cindy McCullough says
On a semi related topic, I received my somewhat higher bill than usual. My main complaint, is there is little to no information on them. I don’t see how much electric I used, nor what is normal fees, etc. In Wisconsin our bill was in an envelope like a phone bill, with information showing how many kwh we used, or some such thing with what the rates were, etc. This bill says nothing other than an electric amount and a refuse/garbage collection amount. Just strikes me as cheap. Like they don’t value their customers at all, even though they are more than willing to take our money. Oh, and at least one of our bills was nearly unreadable on the final amount. Hubby and I both stared at that one to read the right amount. Just seems so completely uncaring and unprofessional.
Trina Baughn says
In addition to the reasons listed by Mr. Suggs, utility bills will be higher because the third of four planned water and waste water increases takes effect this month.
The last electric rate increase (of 2.63%) took effect October 1, 2013.
Tom Britain says
None of which has anything to do with the published story and serves no purpose except an attempt on Ms Baughn’s part to inject herself into the conversation and excite the populace once again.
Dave Smith says
If they haven’t already done so, Oak Ridgers can save on water usage by purchasing a front-loading clothes washer when it’s time to replace the old one. I cut my water usage in half when I replaced my old water-gulping top-loader. The savings gained from reduced water (and sewer) service paid for the entire cost of the front-loader in fewer than four years. And that was back when water was cheap.
The minimum monthly water bill increased $1.35 on January 1. By my calculation the rate increase will add about $2.47 to my monthly water bill. By way of comparison, my cable bill recently went up by $2/month and my phone bill went up by $3/month. It’s sad to think that I pay more for cable TV and a phone line for telemarketers to contact me than I do for treated water.
I appreciate that Jack Suggs has given us a heads-up so we can plan ahead. I think my electricity bills for December and January are going to increase about 20 times as much as my water bill.
Philip W Nipper says
Dave, many of the new top loading machines have water saving technology as well and are less expensive than the front loaders. Also, folks can reap savings by installing 1.6 gal per flush toilets. These too will pay for themselves in the long run.
Ellen Smith says
Those front-loading washing machines also save on the energy needed to dry the clothes — because they have a high-efficiency spin cycle that practically dries the clothes before you put them in the dryer.
johnhuotari says
Note: I have removed several comments from this thread and a few others that appeared to be posted by one person using multiple e-mail addresses and identities that I could not confirm. Our commenting guidelines do ask those comment here to use their real names. I suspect most of you already know this, so this note is for those who don’t.
To the person whose comments I removed, you are welcome to contact me through the contact form on this website if I have erred and you wish to confirm your identity.
Thank you all for reading Oak Ridge Today and participating in the discussion.
Andrew Howe says
Thanks for pointing out the page on rates and such, Ellen. Oak Ridge is lucky to have you around!
I must admit that I’ve yet to see my electric rates go up (and I did get my electric bill yesterday). Perhaps Cindy is correct and the City was being informative.
I have to suppose some of my subconscious thought process may have been due to an assumption that most around here have gas heat, so warnings are more applicable in the summer months when ACs are running.
Regarding the info on the rates page Ellen pointed out, I’ll just have to trust that the convoluted mess of calculations is in place for transparency sake. If the electric co decided to set a fixed rate, I’m sure people such as myself would wonder if they may be hiding increased rates behind that program.
Let’s face it, if you’re a utility company, or a govt entity, and in this case both, you’re probably damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Like I’ve said, I’ve not had an issue with the Electric Co ever, I’m just the type to question most everything.
The water rate hike is shocking my wallet though, I must admit, and I’m upset for being passed that financial burden for the sins of the past. Still, on that account I understand the details and can at least consider this rate hike as a gift to the future. Now, can I write that gift off on my taxes maybe? LOL.
Rorrye Grubb Byrge says
I so agree about the water and the sewer Andrew. Shocking is not the word for it. It’s a disgrace that our sewer over-rides the water. Roane County used to be high but Oak Ridge out shines all surrounding Counties now. The Council wonders why our City population is not growing?
Driving down West Outer, the number of empty housing For Sale ought to speak to them about Utilities and Taxes. Being born and raised in this City, I have seen to many changes and a lot were not for the good. Of course, this is only my observation and opinion, but when you see with your own eyes, it’s a reality.
Raymond Charles Kircher says
I appreciate Jack warning us all that electric consumption in Oak Ridge is up more than usual. That is good to know if you are worried about the infrastructure in Oak Ridge. It is a talking a point, but more than that is what is making your electric bill higher. I deal with this many times over in my profession. It didn’t take long to figure the problem and discuss options for my clients, the temperature of your water entering your house. Oak Ridge has storage tanks on towers exposed to the elements. Many times that water is not what you get at your house but straight from the city source and a much different temperature at times. Then there are times where those tanks are feeding your house directly in peak usage times. I’ve measured the temperature of the water at my sink as low as 35 F this year. That is very cold for water in your house. On average the water temp to your house is 42 F in the winter and in the summer 62 F. I have a temperature recorded in the summer of 2005 at 67 F. Now that we have the temps, we can do the math on a 40 Gal. Electric Hot Water Heater. Approximately we need 2000 Watts more per 40 Gallons of water to get our showers and dishes washed with hot water in the winter. If you use a lot of hot water, that is around $2 an hour depending on your flow through the heater. I won’t go deeper into the science and math behind these bills, but it takes more Btu’s to live the same life we live in the summer in the winter just by the water we use. The same is for Gas yet less efficient, so even a larger increase of N. Gas consumption as Btus are vented to the outside while getting hot water. Some things that help.is take quick showers in the evening when businesses are not using the water and the city is filling the tanks with warmer water, fill your cooking pots with hot water not cold water since you already paid to heat the water, insulate water pipes, use only the cold water to fill your sink for the dishes about an hour before you wash them and let the water warm up to about room temperature since you already paid for the heat, then only rinse with the hot water. I have many other ideas and working with many other utility customers to find a consistent rate of utility use. Jack can talk about the many issues about Btu storage and usage, but who wants to read about that?
Philip W Nipper says
Mr. Kirchner, you make some valid points and maybe some not so valid. First I would say to you that the majority of an electrical bill, especially the ones Mr. Suggs was writing about in his article, comes from high electrical heat pump and portable space heater usage during these cold winter days that we have been experiencing in order to keep our homes comfortable and not necessarily from hot water usage as you describe. However, as an experienced plumber I can tell you that water heaters do indeed have to work harder in the winter and a good way for people to save on their electrical bills is to reduce the amount of hot water they use. Water heaters also tend to fail more in cold weather as there is more stress on the tanks due to the cold temperature of incoming water. I don’t really grasp your dish and pot washing methods you describe. I can’t see any savings there and seems it would probably waste more water attempting to clean those pots and pans, etc. With today’s technology, it is actually more efficient to use the automatic dishwasher on the energy savings cycle than to hand wash your dishes. I would also take issue with you on your suggestion that gas water heaters are less efficient than electrical. It has been my experience that quite the opposite is the case. I personally made the switch from electric to gas in April 2013 and on average have reduced my electrical bill by about $10 per month while only seeing a $ 5.00 a month increase on my gas bill. But I still utilize my Navy training and still take Navy showers, don’t run the water when shaving etc, etc.
Raymond Charles Kircher says
Do your math again Mr. Nipper. Your statement of reducing your electric bill by 10 and increasing your gas by 5 isn’t much to go on. Calculate your Btus and hot water consumption. I haven’t seen the savings by using gas to heat water unless you are talking about the time needed to heat the water. Flow is the key point Mr. Nipper. Their is no 100% efficient gas water heater and the more you use the more you lose out your vent. My plumber and electrician experience has found electric to be cheaper to heat water for small household residential use. The dish water, think about it. You paid your gas company around 200 last month to heat your house. That heat is stored in your house. The water is too cold to wash dishes at 42 F. You fill the sink let it sit, and it collects heat from the room and rises in temperature to room temperature in about an hour, unless you have a Navy sink. Room temperature water is much nicer to do dishes than ice water. Having a four person household, gas hot water is nice due to its heating time but is wasteful in Btus, Two person household, gas hot water is a very wasteful appliance. Your electric bill drop is due to something else, not because of your hot water heater. Not even a Navy person can heat water for 5 dollars a month by gas, nor claim to use only 10 dollars a month in electric to heat water. Please do your math.
Philip W Nipper says
Here are some of my basic numbers. For the three month period from last year, Nov and Dec 2012 and Jan 2013 (electric water heater) my total electrical consumption was 1,336 units costing $162.79. For the same 3 month period this season, Nov and Dec 2013 and Jan 2014, (natural gas water heater) my electrical consumption was 1,057 units costing $131.53. I understand there are other variables but for my living situation and my specific habits, natural gas has been cheaper for me to heat water with.
Raymond Charles Kircher says
Good to hear you have found a nice home here in Oak Ridge. I just wanted people to understand that not only heating your home is more, so is heating your water. I’m not at the liberty to bunch utilities all together and call it the day. At 347 cf of N. Gas for the Btus calculated in electric above I can disagree with you without you getting upset. We haven’t even moved into the science behind electric, gas, oil, wood, coal, and thermal. I address this topic with many people every winter and every summer.