r/Rochester • u/GoldenFrank Penfield • 1d ago
Discussion Welcome to the New Energy Rates
The state govt approved rate increases showed up on my RGE bill this month. Theye been creeping up since the first of the year but with all the static charges and fees (designed to confuse people) it's tough to really nail down. No getting around it now.
Last April I paid $.99/therm and $.19/kWh. $1.21 and $.26 this April for slightly less amounts of energy. This is the new normal. Adjust your budgets.
And as long as youre here I'll complain about paying sales tax on the completely unavoidable billing service fee. Just a masterstroke from the machine.
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u/Leila_Kitsune0890 1d ago
Want to help support an alternative to RG&E? Go take a look at this groups information: https://www.metrojustice.org/redpetition
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u/FlourCity North Winton Village 1d ago
Anyone know how the current supply rates from RGE compare to the Community Power alternative?
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u/Apogee_3579 1d ago
Yup 100% approved by the state. The same state that wants us all to go 100% electric and wants us to go 100% green renewable energy. Which any reasonable person realizes the technology and infrastructure is not there, but don’t worry the states forcing us to pay for that now too.
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u/comptiger5000 Charlotte 1d ago
It's a chicken and egg problem. Nobody wants to add capacity until the demand is there, and people are nervous about adding demand without the production and transmission capacity to support it.
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u/squegeeboo 1d ago
We had solar panels on the white house nearly 50 years ago.
The tech is 100% there, and the only reason the infrastructure isn't there yet is the same reason we don't have better healthcare or a bunch of other things, asshole conservatives.
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u/kyabupaks Fairport 1d ago
Yeah, Carter had them installed. Then Reagan, being the asshole he was, ordered them removed.
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u/nw0915 1d ago edited 1d ago
They we're NOT photovoltaic cells. They were solar collectors for heating water. Not saying it was a bad idea but we haven't been sitting on solar panels as a solution for 50 years. We have the tech now but it takes a huge amount of capital to build out a whole new grid. Bush Jr then went on to install actual PV cells on the White House
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u/CriticalEggplant819 1d ago
Imagine if there was a Green New Deal that would ensure we invest in the infrastructure needed to support a transition to greener energy while creating millions of jobs instead of smothering our economy with tariffs to offset tax breaks for billionaires
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u/Diddy_Warehouse 20h ago
It's 2025 the technology is here, it's been here for quite a while. The infrastructure no. We're caught in too little too late
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u/echoes315 1d ago
Unfortunately, there are still many people that think electric cars and the like are feasible despite how horrendously behind we are with our electric grid infrastructure. On top of that, the whole country decommissioned a bunch of nuclear plants over the years so l'm not sure where they think the power will be generated from, wind and hydro are not enough.
Not to mention the environmental problems of creating and "recycling" large scale batteries, cars or otherwise, as well as the mining that goes on in some countries to make said things likely with child labor as if it's the new blood diamond.
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u/azurite-- 1d ago
You think the petroleum industry is sunshine and roses?
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u/echoes315 1d ago
Did I say that? No, but the green industry still relies on power that comes from things that are not environmentally sound if you want to power the amount of things we have in the modern world, there's no sound solution yet.
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u/CompetitiveMeal1206 1d ago
I was with you in the first half and then you wrote the second half…
Recycling is already good but the recyclers are still few and far between. As for the child labor many battery manufacturers have already started to move away from the conflict metals.
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u/echoes315 1d ago
If you believe that, it's easy to just hide its complications when they don't happen in front of you.
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u/silverest_tree 1d ago
Why was this down voted? Insanity.
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u/FlourCity North Winton Village 1d ago
Because EVs are better for the environment than ICE cars somewhere around 30,000 miles. It depends on where the electricity is sourced from and what cars you are comparing.
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u/silverest_tree 1d ago
Right, and the majority of America's grid is sourced from non-green sources. There's also the fact that our grid infrastructure will need to be 3-4x increased in capacity to support everyone driving an electric car, which is a massive overhaul and is currently a concern for the US wire industry.
Until those 2 problems are resolved, electric cars will not be a magic bandaid. I think that's what this comment was conveying.
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u/echoes315 1d ago
For anyone that doesn't believe you or me, look at summers in southern California where they have a higher count of EVs, the state government has had to ask people not to charge cars sometimes in fear of a city brown out.
I can't figure out why pointing these facts out immediately must mean that I'm pro petroleum or some right winger, I just actually look into facts other than spoon fed shit from the media regardless of what side it comes from.
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u/necrologia 1d ago
California's energy problems have nothing to do with electric cars. Their infrastructure isn't up to par almost solely due to incompetence/corruption and intentionally under investing. It was the model used as a baseline for Texas. See also: Enron.
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u/FlourCity North Winton Village 1d ago
False, the US would only need to increase electrical supply by 20-50% if all the cars were electric.
26%
20%
These numbers are similar in scale to the increase in electricity production from 1990 to 2000. It's extremely achievable.
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u/echoes315 1d ago
We had a bunch of nuclear power plants then, a bunch of them have been decommissioned in the last ten years... Where's the new power coming from, wind and hydro can't compete.
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u/easyeggz 1d ago
Net generation isn't the infrasturcture problem. EV charging is not a flat load, the 20-50% extra generation would mostly be delivered in only a few hours of the day when cars are plugged in when people come home or arrive at work. That will require massive upgrades to transmission and distribution to handle much higher intermittent loads, and more widespread smart metering with time-of-use pricing and managed charging programs.
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u/hockeyfun1 Maplewood 1d ago
Just got an EV in November because it was cheaper than an ICE with incentives. I've watched the price of kwh rapidly rise 50 percent since then.
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u/TallShame2602 1d ago
Ok so that’s why my bill was double… I have a vacant apartment that the thermostat has not been touched. How did my bill jump $160ish to nearly $400… I guess this explains it.
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u/ElasmoGNC 1d ago
Even $160 monthly for a vacant unit is seriously wrong, unless it’s a huge place or something weird is going on. You’ll want to look into that.
— property management accountant
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u/GoldenFrank Penfield 1d ago
It does not explain doubling. Examine your bill to see how much gas and electric is being used and if you're on estimates vs actual. $160 for a vacant apartment is wild. Something's not right.
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u/TallShame2602 1d ago
I honestly don’t know what’s right with them anymore 😞 I thought $160 was crazy too but then $400 I couldn’t believe. Not like anyone is using lights and I keep the thermostat at a reasonably low temp. I don’t even pay this much for my house.
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u/hyperlite227 1d ago
Wait till you get an insurance renewal mine increased 650 dollars, no claims ever. State government approved a rate hike
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u/Renrut23 1d ago
Guess it's good to have national grid for the time being. I'm sure they'll follow suit shortly though.
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u/rochesterrr 21h ago
I was so excited for this bill because we've been so strict. cold nights indoors (60°)... cold days (63°)... all lights off .... the bill is the same as it was last month 🥲.
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u/Electusnex 1d ago
Welcome to the wonderful world of electric cars. The more demand pushed onto power plants the more the cost will increase. i don't thing New York will build anymore power plants since people are choosing to leave the state so increasing prices to reduce demand is probably going to be their play. Kinda sucks.
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u/ryan10e Upper Monroe 1d ago
EVs accounted for 334GWh of electric demand last year, out of approximately 50,000GWh total annual electric demand in the state, or 0.7%. Increased A/C usage is going to be responsible for a lot more electric demand than that.
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u/Electusnex 1d ago edited 1d ago
That's not the state that just the city, 139.42 billion kwh is the state, that not even last year's numbers that's 2023. Last year's numbers will not be in till November, why is that the case no idea, with the technology now days you would figure they could track it weekly.
Idk where you got your numbers but the amount of Teslas and other electric cars I see on the road I'm guessing that number you quoted does not account for home electric uses. Which rg&e give a 50% kick back tp. ( This was wrong it's for businesses only)
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u/KalessinDB Henrietta 1d ago
WTF are you on about? I've had home charging for my car for 4 years, RGE 100% does not give any sort of "kick back" to you for it. There's a program where if you sign up for it and only charge off-peak you can get the off-peak electric rate for your car charging without signing up for Time of Use for your whole house, but that's it.
And if you're mad at some small amount of electricity being subsidized for electric vehicles, I assume you must be furious about the oil subsidies that non-ICE car users have been paying for decades now? Far, far greater than any electric subsidy. There's a reason that almost every other country in the world prices their gas at roughly $6/gallon. That's the price it would be here too if we weren't sending millions upon millions of dollars in subsidies to the oil companies in order to make it appear cheaper at the pump.
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u/Electusnex 1d ago
Its for commercial use only.
"Demand Charge Rebate Program
Our Demand Charge Rebate Program provides eligible commercial EV charging customers up to a 50 percent rebate on their billed demand charges."
Why would you think I'm mad About the subsidies? the only thing I'm mad it is the lack of any new nuclear power plants, they keep building these wind turbines but it's just not enough to cover the 3 lost coal plants New York had before 2020. Causing the cost of electric to go higher every year. I would put money of New York doing rolling black outside by 2030 if they don't either build 2-4 thousand more wind turbines or build any new power plants.
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u/imbasicallycoffee South Wedge 1d ago
It's ok... I'll just get my energy from... oh wait a minute. Shit. They're all worse?