Florida Power+ light

[boomhower]

Originally posted by: ICRS

Originally posted by: dougp

Originally posted by: ICRS
This is why having private companies provide a necessity such as electricity isn't good. Government run electric companies are much more efficient, and they don't care about profits like private ones. If you had a government run power company, they wouldn't be sending letters like this.

You don't know anything - I work in EDI processing, FPL is one of our clients - I believe Florida is a regulated market and that's why this can happen.

What I do know is this. We pay around 20% less then the people in the county over. The difference, WE have government run power. They have a power from a private company PG&E.

Cost of funding for government run power is lower. Government run power doesn't have to pay taxes. They can issue tax free bonds. Their revenue isn't subject to taxes. Private run power has to pay all kinds of taxes. Lower cost of funds means lower rates for consumers.

That isn't always the case here. I work in the county over from my residence and my power bill is much lower. I have a co-worker who has a house almost identical to mine and her bill runs $300-$350 consistently. They have paid a $49 monthly fuel surcharge for around two years now. Mine varies between $110-$230 depending on the time of year. I am on progressive and their's is govt run.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: dougp

Originally posted by: ICRS

Originally posted by: dougp

Originally posted by: ICRS
This is why having private companies provide a necessity such as electricity isn't good. Government run electric companies are much more efficient, and they don't care about profits like private ones. If you had a government run power company, they wouldn't be sending letters like this.

You don't know anything - I work in EDI processing, FPL is one of our clients - I believe Florida is a regulated market and that's why this can happen.

What I do know is this. We pay around 20% less then the people in the county over. The difference, WE have government run power. They have a power from a private company PG&E.

Cost of funding for government run power is lower. Government run power doesn't have to pay taxes. They can issue tax free bonds. Their revenue isn't subject to taxes. Private run power has to pay all kinds of taxes. Lower cost of funds means lower rates for consumers.

So you pay 20% less, which is probably the taxes and other fees. Government run power is subject to more corruption than privately held companies - in a deregulated market, it's the best. What's your $/kwH?

Deregulated sounds on paper like the best solution until something like Enron happens and CA rates wound up 3X what they were due to power being bought and re-sold.

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

I don't know where you were looking, but here in the Philadelphia region it's PECO or bust.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

WRONG, Utlilities are the last refuge of State sponsored monopolists.

Odd... I looked up the op city and found 3 others in a matter of seconds.

Every city I have lived in had choices so it's not that hard if you looked.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: boomhower
That isn't always the case here. I work in the county over from my residence and my power bill is much lower. I have a co-worker who has a house almost identical to mine and her bill runs $300-$350 consistently. They have paid a $49 monthly fuel surcharge for around two years now. Mine varies between $110-$230 depending on the time of year. I am on progressive and their's is govt run.

She could easily be spending more just because of running more appliances all the time. A better comparison would be the kWhr cost and other base charges (connection/distribution charges, etc).

 

[ICRS]

Originally posted by: dougp

Originally posted by: ICRS

Originally posted by: dougp

Originally posted by: ICRS
This is why having private companies provide a necessity such as electricity isn't good. Government run electric companies are much more efficient, and they don't care about profits like private ones. If you had a government run power company, they wouldn't be sending letters like this.

You don't know anything - I work in EDI processing, FPL is one of our clients - I believe Florida is a regulated market and that's why this can happen.

What I do know is this. We pay around 20% less then the people in the county over. The difference, WE have government run power. They have a power from a private company PG&E.

Cost of funding for government run power is lower. Government run power doesn't have to pay taxes. They can issue tax free bonds. Their revenue isn't subject to taxes. Private run power has to pay all kinds of taxes. Lower cost of funds means lower rates for consumers.

So you pay 20% less, which is probably the taxes and other fees. Government run power is subject to more corruption than privately held companies - in a deregulated market, it's the best. What's your $/kwH?

The rates are tiered. http://www.smud.org/en/residen...rates/Pages/rates.aspx

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
All-electric homes kWh/mo. 0-1,120 1,121-1,400 1,401+
Gas-heated homes kWh/mo 0-620 621-825 826+
Rate (cents per kWh) 8.63 14.78 16.02

I have an all electric home.

This includes most of the taxes.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

WRONG, Utlilities are the last refuge of State sponsored monopolists.

Odd... I looked up the op city and found 3 others in a matter of seconds.

Every city I have lived in had choices so it's not that hard if you looked.

I live in Chicago and have one choice - ComEd. And at home on LI, NY, there is only LIPA for power-distribution and Keyspan (now National Grid) for actual electricty generation (all charged through LIPA), so in two major population centers I've lived in, I only have one choice. Obviously, it's anecdotal evidence, but it's not as simple as you claim.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: Doodoo
Just give them a call...its probably an automatically generated letter. The companies have to do this because of all the deadbeats out there. You have no idea how many people don't pay their bill...they can only get locked off certain times of the year. During the winter and summer months, they aren't allowed to be locked off due to the cold and hot weather. So many people are late on their payments and i've seen some ridiculous payment arrangements. With some of these payment arrangements they're bills will never get paid off.

They have a company to run. All of this could have been avoided if you just paid on time. I understand things came up...and if you call them and explain to them, I'm sure they'll understand too.

Yea, I have some responsibility here as the 3 bills were late but they could have given a heads up and tell me that even 1 day past the due date is considered late enough to warrant additional deposit..

 

[Doodoo]

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

WRONG, Utlilities are the last refuge of State sponsored monopolists.

Odd... I looked up the op city and found 3 others in a matter of seconds.

Every city I have lived in had choices so it's not that hard if you looked.

That might just be the supplier. He probably would still have to go through his local utility for billing and all.

 

[rgwalt]

Originally posted by: ICRS

Originally posted by: dougp

Originally posted by: ICRS
This is why having private companies provide a necessity such as electricity isn't good. Government run electric companies are much more efficient, and they don't care about profits like private ones. If you had a government run power company, they wouldn't be sending letters like this.

You don't know anything - I work in EDI processing, FPL is one of our clients - I believe Florida is a regulated market and that's why this can happen.

What I do know is this. We pay around 20% less then the people in the county over. The difference, WE have government run power. They have a power from a private company PG&E.

Cost of funding for government run power is lower. Government run power doesn't have to pay taxes. They can issue tax free bonds. Their revenue isn't subject to taxes. Private run power has to pay all kinds of taxes. Lower cost of funds means lower rates for consumers.

The government has to replace the lost tax revenue somehow. You pay for it one way or another. The difference is that private power companies expect profit margins. However, they have to pay to maintain infrastructure.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

WRONG, Utlilities are the last refuge of State sponsored monopolists.

Odd... I looked up the op city and found 3 others in a matter of seconds.

Every city I have lived in had choices so it's not that hard if you looked.

The county I live in (Volusia) has different co's that serve specific area's, I cannot however, switch to progress which serves the western part of the county, FP+l has the franchise here so that's the only choice..

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Doodoo

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

WRONG, Utlilities are the last refuge of State sponsored monopolists.

Odd... I looked up the op city and found 3 others in a matter of seconds.

Every city I have lived in had choices so it's not that hard if you looked.

That might just be the supplier. He probably would still have to go through his local utility for billing and all.

Thank you.
Given that each State of The Union is essentially it's own Nation, relative to the others, each of these infrastructure services is managed in a slightly different manner.
HOWEVER, I still maintain that in general Electrical Power & Natural Gas services are supplied by State endorsed Monopolies.Often you will find refuse collection and Sewer associated with that as well.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
[
The county I live in (Volusia) has different co's that serve specific area's, I cannot however, switch to progress which serves the western part of the county, FP+l has the franchise here so that's the only choice..

This makes your only option self generation. I'll bet you'll find a lot of negative local press about the cost effectiveness / payback time of solar, despite the abundance of Solar days in your area.
This negative propagand is typical Electrical company corruption of the Governmental duty to provide for all of it's citizens, not just business interests.
The Western European progress in local Solar Co-Generation proves this is the way the US should be going.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
I get a letter telling me I need additional $329 deposit because in the past 6 months my bill was paid 1 day late once and 2 days late twice. Never did the bill roll into next months and never did I ask for an extension to get it paid. My wife has medical issues and the co-pays sometimes force me to pay the Dr's first. How nice it must be in this economy when people are unsure if they have a job next week, businesses hope invoices get paid and times are tough for all that the electric co. gets to use the threat of no service to make sure they get paid first. I can borrow the money or cash in some time @ work to cover the deposit but how in the hell would an unemployed person deal with it??..

So when do you draw the line for what's 'really late'?

You know you have about 30days from the time you get your last bill to pay the new one, there is no excuse to go past due at all. Once can happen just due to whatever, but you are talking you are late 50% of the time.

Economy or not the power company needs their money to provide power. It's not a threat BTW, you agree to pay for electric and they agree to provide it for that payment. You stop paying and they stop providing, if they don't provide you have avenues to not pay and be compensated.

$329 seems like a good bargain for insurance that your next payment may not come.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

Please provide us the details on this where a single household has a few choices for where to get electric from.

 

[episodic]

SunnyD's sig made me stare. . .

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

Please provide us the details on this where a single household has a few choices for where to get electric from.

You can't choose who you get it from, but you can choose who you're paying for it in some places.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Originally posted by: ICRS

Originally posted by: dougp

Originally posted by: ICRS
This is why having private companies provide a necessity such as electricity isn't good. Government run electric companies are much more efficient, and they don't care about profits like private ones. If you had a government run power company, they wouldn't be sending letters like this.

You don't know anything - I work in EDI processing, FPL is one of our clients - I believe Florida is a regulated market and that's why this can happen.

What I do know is this. We pay around 20% less then the people in the county over. The difference, WE have government run power. They have a power from a private company PG&E.

Cost of funding for government run power is lower. Government run power doesn't have to pay taxes. They can issue tax free bonds. Their revenue isn't subject to taxes. Private run power has to pay all kinds of taxes. Lower cost of funds means lower rates for consumers.

I always have to laugh when people promote public power on the basis that (as part of the government) public power doesn't pay the taxes (on revenue and for funding) that they impose on private companies. It'd seem that the same argument could be made for every type of business. We could let the government run everything. Everything would be cheaper because no businesses would have to pay taxes. And I'm sure that the government wouldn't raise other taxes on individuals to make up their lost tax collections.

The truth is that private utility companies are heavily regulated by the states. The business practices they follow when dealing with delinquent accounts are reviewed and approved by the public utility commissions, and are there to protect those who do pay from being taken advantage of by those who don't. I agree with others who have suggested that the OP's first step should be to call FP&L's customer service to discuss your situation; see what kind of flexibility they have. If you are still dissatisfied, then the public utility commission should be your next step.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
I get a letter telling me I need additional $329 deposit because in the past 6 months my bill was paid 1 day late once and 2 days late twice. Never did the bill roll into next months and never did I ask for an extension to get it paid. My wife has medical issues and the co-pays sometimes force me to pay the Dr's first. How nice it must be in this economy when people are unsure if they have a job next week, businesses hope invoices get paid and times are tough for all that the electric co. gets to use the threat of no service to make sure they get paid first. I can borrow the money or cash in some time @ work to cover the deposit but how in the hell would an unemployed person deal with it??..

So when do you draw the line for what's 'really late'?

You know you have about 30days from the time you get your last bill to pay the new one, there is no excuse to go past due at all. Once can happen just due to whatever, but you are talking you are late 50% of the time.

Economy or not the power company needs their money to provide power. It's not a threat BTW, you agree to pay for electric and they agree to provide it for that payment. You stop paying and they stop providing, if they don't provide you have avenues to not pay and be compensated.

$329 seems like a good bargain for insurance that your next payment may not come.

No, not 30 days, more like 10 from when I get the bill and after 13 years with no history of lates, disconnects, or final notices they could have cut a little slack. I do feel badly for those that lost their jobs as this might be a deal-breaker for them..

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: episodic
SunnyD's sig made me stare. . .

Nothing like stick porn. 😉

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

WRONG, Utlilities are the last refuge of State sponsored monopolists.

Odd... I looked up the op city and found 3 others in a matter of seconds.

Every city I have lived in had choices so it's not that hard if you looked.

Yea sure 😕

I've never had a choice of provider for electric power in ANY city I've ever lived in. I've worked in water utlities and have never seen more than a single electric utility with either locating or digging in a public right a way either..not ever.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: rbV5

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

WRONG, Utlilities are the last refuge of State sponsored monopolists.

Odd... I looked up the op city and found 3 others in a matter of seconds.

Every city I have lived in had choices so it's not that hard if you looked.

Yea sure 😕

I've never had a choice of provider for electric power in ANY city I've ever lived in. I've worked in water utlities and have never seen more than a single electric utility with either locating or digging in a public right a way either..not ever.

I don't think he's lived on his own yet.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
No, not 30 days, more like 10 from when I get the bill and after 13 years with no history of lates, disconnects, or final notices they could have cut a little slack. I do feel badly for those that lost their jobs as this might be a deal-breaker for them..

what I said was is you KNOW 30 days from your LAST bill you will have ANOTHER one.

Did you lose your job? If not it has no bearing other than you aren't paying your bills on time.

You shouldn't have to wait for a monthly bill to come to start preparing to pay it.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: rbV5

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: compman25

Originally posted by: Newbian
Why not just switch to another one for a few months and reactivate it again under a new name such as adding a JR after your name?

How many cities have more than 1 electric company to choose from?

Most cities do last I looked.

WRONG, Utlilities are the last refuge of State sponsored monopolists.

Odd... I looked up the op city and found 3 others in a matter of seconds.

Every city I have lived in had choices so it's not that hard if you looked.

Yea sure 😕

I've never had a choice of provider for electric power in ANY city I've ever lived in. I've worked in water utlities and have never seen more than a single electric utility with either locating or digging in a public right a way either..not ever.

I don't think he's lived on his own yet.

Read what Mugs has said.

I have lived in Minneapolis and near Milwaukee just to name two and both times I had multiple choices and even had 2 different ones during the Minneapolis time.

 

[SagaLore]

3 out of 12 months late = 25% of the time late.

You mentioned the economy, but ironically, its because of the economy that they need to be so stringent. 😛