SF Bay area: PG&E do I need to get into a different rate plan?

pge website finally fixed the missing the hourly usage/cost bars for e9a

 

My full month's worth of charging, 29 days equals to a $77 electricity bill. This compares to last month's 10 days charging $73 bill. and the previous month of zero charging, I didn't have the PiP yet, at $57. All three bills says $0.15 average kwh. But since it's tiered, most of PiP charging is tier 2. I have no idea what I am paying in electricity for the PiP. I just know it's in the neighborhood of $20 a month +/- $5. To me, that means about the same as gasoline.

 

good info. time of use + tiers is complicated, but was able to confirm pge bill within a few cents using above algo and raw hourly usage data.

 

Most people can easily "save" enough kw-hrs in a month to lower their bill by the amount that it takes to charge a PIP everyday...and you don't need to spend $10K - $20k for solar to do it.

Here is one example: you can now buy LED downlight conversion kits for $20-$30 each. HD just had these on sale (that includes a PG&E rebate). These are for the 65w can lights in lots of kitchen ceilings. Lets say you have 8 of these and they are on 6 hrs per day (average over the year). You now spend 8 *6hrs * 65w * 365d/yr or ~1100 kw-hrs per year. With the 10w-15w replacement that would be ~175-260 kw-hrs per year or 840-925kw-hrs saved. That is enough for 280-308 full PIP charges.

Then the LED lights also save 3 more ways: 1) pretty much never need to be replaced; 2) seal the leaky can lights so you use less heat or A/C (this is probably the biggest saving); 3) lower your tiered pricing for PG&E.

Note that these are not just replacement bulbs, they seal up the hole, IMO look better and take just 3 minutes to install.

Just one example (I saw 3-4 different versions in HD and 2 in Lowe's)
6 in. White LED Recessed Lighting Retrofit Trim (T85)-CER673WH at The Home Depot

Previously these have been $50 - $100 each.

Mike

 

My problem with the vast majority of LED bulbs on the market today is that they are either as efficient or even LESS efficient as a comparable CFL, while costing 3-5x the price. To date, the only LED that makes financial sense from what I have seen is this bulb: 10.5-Watt (60-W) A19 LED Bright White (3000K) Light Bulb-420240 at The Home Depot

 

While the LED bulbs aren't necessairly more efficient than a comparable CFL, and are more expensive than a CFL, they a) will last a lot longer, b) their light output doesn't fade with time, c) they don't have mercury in them, making disposal of them a whole lot easier than a CFL & d) they are more easily dimmed than a CFL. Prices of LED bulbs have been steadily dropping.

My main complaint is that no one seems to make an LED bulb in an intermediate base size. Everything seems to be candelabra or medium bases.

 

They will last longer but still not enough to offset the cost. I can get 4 60-watt equivalent CFLs in Home Depot for like $6. An equivalent LED will cost $20, use the same amount of energy or even more, and last as long as maybe 3 of the CFLs.
Dimmability is great bit I have yet to live in a house that actually has dimmers.
My point was just that today, they are impossible to justify on economic terms. The bulb I linked, at 10.5 watts, is the only one that does, and even then, the payback period is basically 1-2 years before the bulb dies.

 

Due to the price issue and efficiency...that is why these LED downlights are a clear winner. They add the fact that they seal the air leaks in all can lights. This saves on heat and A/C as well. Note that these are not just screw in bulbs. They are an entire fixture that goes inside the can and provide new trim. But they take just a couple of minutes to install. They can take a leaky non-IC rated can and seal it.

Mike

 

That's fair. In my particular case, I don't have a single place where I could put them.

 

If you use this calculator:
https://www.pev4me.com/electric-vehicle-calculator/
you can link to your PG&E data or you can download the "green button" data from PG&E and then upload it to the pev4me site. Detailed instructions are on the pev4me site, it's hard to find the download link without them.

[edit] As far as I can tell from this discussion and the PG&E website, this is the only way to compare the E-9A plan with your current plan using your own data.
It tells me that I'll save about $300 per year by switching from E-1 to E-9A
If you click on "details" it gives you detail about the effect in the summer vs. winter.[/edit]