I'm going to complain. I'm going to rant... maybe.
I just got my electric bill. I just had a WTF moment. I just hyperventilated.
I have Ohio Edison as my electric provider. Ohio Edison is owned by First Energy.
I opened my bill today and I see my bill is $125.80. I think "holy crap, my kids are using too much electricity!".
As I examine my bill, I realize that this is not the case. We only used $69.25 in electricity, which is slightly high, but its been hot. This is where the WTF moment came in, right before my self righteous indignation took front and center. Where did the rest of the bill come from? I proceeded with my examination.....
I'm being charged an extra $56.55.
$4.00 for a "customer charge", $4.58 for a "cost recovery charge", and $47.97 for a "DISTRIBUTION RELATED COMPONENT".WTF is that? According to my bill, a "distribution related component" is "a charge (including taxes) for moving electricity over electric distribution lines to your home or business. Formerly, Delivery Charge".
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd....... Cue self righteous indignation.
They're going to charge me for distribution???!! Hey, Ohio Edison, you're OWNED by the company that provides my electricity. You're the only company I can HAVE for electricity.You want me to pay for YOUR company to bring YOUR company's electricity into my house, and then you want me to pay for the electricity too???!! AND you want to charge me for being a CUSTOMER??!! You're almost doubling my bill!
I repeated the above speech to customer service. Its explained to me that the "distribution charge" is similar to a rental fee. First Energy is providing electricity to me through Ohio Edison's power lines and I have to pay a fee for that. FIRST ENERGY OWNS OHIO EDISON. I'm using First Energy's power lines. Does anyone understand this other than me? O_o
Basically, the customer service rep gave me a "that's how it is and everyone pays it" speech and hung up on me.
Everyone is broke. Money is tight EVERYWHERE. Everyone is in debt including our own government.
Evidently, this justifies raising the prices on everything from food and gas all the way to electricity. Even after pondering over it for hours now, I still can't understand why First Energy/Ohio Edison would create such a ridiculous charge with the economy the way it is.
I guess the theory must be that they already raised the electric prices, why not go all out and take every dime?
I just had exactly that experience, and I can't believe there are so few mentions of it on the interwebs. Are people that apathetic, or just plain stupid?
ReplyDeleteI honestly think people just don't pay attention to their bills or they don't care enough to try to find out what they're being charged for.
ReplyDeleteWell My WTF happened 2 months ago. Normal Electric bill $95.00- 98.00 then the August bill was $233 followed by a Sept bill of $156. I then start examining closer thinking that what happened is not a fluke and I too see that the distribution charges have doubled. So from what I gather on your post is that Ohio Edison is basically going to tell me TOO BAD SO SAD pay it anyway.
ReplyDeleteWTF- I guess this is what our president meant when he said Electricity bills will necessarily skyrocket.
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ReplyDeleteThank you very much! ^_^
ReplyDeleteyou think those bills are high, try $800 a month for 5 months straight! I read your post about delivery charge. I couldn't understand that cost but thanks to you I do now. How can our government let this happen? I'm a man of faith, but my faith is being tested right now I'm so upset! Our Government are ......I'm going to stop there, but I think you can fill in what I was going to say.
ReplyDeleteyou think those bills are high, try $800 a month for 5 months straight! I read your post about delivery charge. I couldn't understand that cost but thanks to you I do now. How can our government let this happen? I'm a man of faith, but my faith is being tested right now I'm so upset! Our Government are ......I'm going to stop there, but I think you can fill in what I was going to say.
ReplyDeleteI'm also fed up with this. The more energy you use the higher your DRC charge is, since it too is based on a price per KWH. If it's just a rental fee, why is it different for everyone? We're all renting the same lines, are we not? I'm renting the same line to use 100 KWH as I am 10000 KWH. Crooks.
ReplyDeleteCustomers can choose whom to buy power from, but monopoly power transmission companies still have to deliver it to homes and businesses. Texas was the 18th cheapest state to power homes between 2002 and 2013,I add one website where you get very good compare electricity rates houston
ReplyDeleteI just moved here from Oklahoma and it is the stupidest thing i ever of. Your being billed twice for the same thing. There's no two ways about it. It's fraud. It allows them to say that the energy here is cheaper when in fact it makes them almost the most expensive in the nation .
ReplyDeletewhy is my distribution component now much higher than the usage charge?
ReplyDelete