Hydro Time of Use rates ... scam?

[TOphotog]

As has been announced, Hydro is raising their rates for the Time of Use pricing effective tomorrow. For anyone who adjusts their life according to the clock, thinking it's going to save them some money, I've done an analysis of some common appliances. Here's a great site: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/

AFTER factoring in the delivery, regulatory and debt retirement charges in the actual price per hour for hydro, here are your costs for standard appliances, for on-peak pricing (red hours) versus off-peak (green hours) which is usually a difference of 23.13% according to the new rates effective tomorrow. I've used a standard 0.25 for my peak rate, which is 0.2464 in actual fact, only because the calculator only offers rounded numbers.

42" LED TV $0.03 vs $0.023 (3 cents versus 2.3 cents)
dishwasher 0.05 vs 0.039 (yup, going to delay using that appliance to save 1.10 pennies! most of the cost is for the hot water, which has
no time of use savings plan)
electric oven set to 350F 0.50 vs 0.385
clothes washer - cold water 0.06 vs 0.046
clothes dryer - 1 hour 1.10 vs 0.847 (a huge savings of 25.3 cents to interrupt that movie you were enjoying)

I'm not changing my schedule to save 26.7 cents for a load of laundry! Toronto Hydro keeps pushing this Time of Use plan as if you're going to save so much money with the off-peak usage. My DRD costs (delivery, regulatory and debt retirement) costs on my last bill were 11.74 cents per KWH vs the actual hydro cost of 7.2 cents for off-peak KWH.

I've put this in the real estate section since it applies to home owners and I thought it might be of interest to some.

 

[Wooba]

The way we pay for electricity is a big scam IMO. After living in 2 condos with electricity bills, finding a place with all in costs was a major deciding factor on picking where I live now. Because of all these stupid addon fees, it's extremely difficult to actually save any money of note.
I would like to see a system where you pay for what you use. Nothing else. Bump the rate up to say 25 or 30 cents KWh, but no extra fees. So if I use zero electricity one month, then I pay $0. That's a real incentive to save money instead of giving me a "cheaper" rate with tons of extra fees tacked on.

 

[nredding]

One thing that has a big impact on electricity usage is water heating. When I switched from an electric to a gas hot water heater, I discovered that water heating was a third of my electricity usage.

 

[cdr108]

One thing that has a big impact on electricity usage is water heating. When I switched from an electric to a gas hot water heater, I discovered that water heating was a third of my electricity usage.

that's why the majority go for gas water heating if available.

 

[TOphotog]

One thing that has a big impact on electricity usage is water heating. When I switched from an electric to a gas hot water heater, I discovered that water heating was a third of my electricity usage.

and if you want to save even MORE money, BUY your hot water tank and don't rent. You can pay for a new tank with around 2.4 years' worth of rental rates. The tank I just replaced last year was from 1989. They last a long time, they usually come with a five year warranty on some parts and 10 years on others. In other words, you'll save over 80% by buying.

 

[PinkLucy]

I've been paying attention to time of use rates, but it's annoying because I work from home and enjoyed the convenience of doing a load of laundry or running the dishwasher whenever I felt like it. Last month's savings worked out to about $20.

 

[AKS]

I've been paying attention to time of use rates, but it's annoying because I work from home and enjoyed the convenience of doing a load of laundry or running the dishwasher whenever I felt like it. Last month's savings worked out to about $20.

What those savings dwindle. I noticed they increase the rates twice a year. Every time there's a season switch over, the price nudges up a bit. And when the Ontario clean rebate disappears, you will really feel it.

 

[BuyNSell]

yes it seems that the hydro rates just keep going up and what was prime time hydro charges become time of day rates the next year.