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ANOTHER ARTIST
How to decipher your electric bill
Funk
Roguski
Marshall
51 picas
13 3/4 inches
00FGBILL
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Shedding light on electric bills
How to decipher your FirstEnergy bill
John Funk | Plain Dealer Reporter
The monthly electric bill may look like a test to
gauge a consumer’s patience. The statement is
jammed with detail written in a language not
spoken in most homes. The electricity is measured
in something no one can imagine, let alone see,
touch or smell. And its cost, though just pennies,
seems to have gone out of control by the time you
get to the bottom line.
Account Number: 11 00 13 5169 32
JOE SMITH
2222 S. MAIN ST.
CLEVELAND, OH 44114
1
What to do? Take a look at the Illuminating Co.
sample summer bill and accompanying explainer.
Ohio Edison bills are nearly identical.
Account Summary
Amount Due
79.51
–79.51
0.00
Account summary and current basic
charges: Electric utilities bill their customers
monthly for the amount of energy used the
previous month, as measured by a meter or as
estimated, using historical consumption patterns.
1
41.91
49.01
90.92
Total Due by Aug. 19, 2009 – Please pay this amount
General information: If you are buying your
electricity from a company other than the
Illuminating Co. or Ohio Edison, your bill will list that
company here. Currently there are only two outside
suppliers offering power here — FirstEnergy
Solutions or Gexa Energy through NOPEC.
0.00
90.92
$90.92
2
General Information
2
Price to Compare: This is the price, or the
rate, the utility charges for each unit of power
it bought and paid to have moved over the highvoltage transmission system, also known as the
“grid,” to the lower-voltage wires on your street,
and finally, to your home.
3
What is a kWh? Imagine your teenager manages
to turn on 10 table lamps around the house, each
with a 100-watt bulb. You are now using 1,000
watts, or 1 kilowatt. The bulbs burn for an hour
before you find them. You have consumed 1,000
watts (or 1 kilowatt) for one hour, or one
kilowatt-hour, abbreviated 1 kWh. Don’t forget the
delivery charges.
Charges from the utility: This is the most
confusing section of the bill to many
consumers because it is detailed and written in
terms that are defined elsewhere on your bill.
4
Customer charge: A fixed monthly $4 charge
just for the privilege of being a customer. It
covers administrative costs.
5
6 Distribution Related Component: This is
the delivery charge. It pays for your use of the
local wires, substations and transformers. It is also
based on a rate — about 4 cents per kWh.
Transition charges: These will be on
Illuminating Co. bills until Dec. 31, 2010, paying
down state-approved expenditures the utility made
before deregulation began. The charges were in the
rates before deregulation, but not listed separately.
Ohio Edison transition charges have been paid off.
7
8 Cost Recovery Charges: Less than half a cent
per kWh, these were authorized by the state to
reimburse the utility for upgrades to the big transmission lines it had to make when rates were
locked at set prices. Illuminating Co. residential
customers pay a much higher cost recovery charge
than Ohio Edison customers because cost recovery
for this company includes a rate to reimburse the
utility for the long-term, deep-discount contracts it
signed with industrial users before FirstEnergy
bought the utility. As these contracts expire, any
new CEI industrial discounts have to be linked to
job creation or retention and have to be approved
by the state.
Bypassable Generation and Transmission
Component: This charge will appear on your
bill on the line below “Cost Recovery Charges” if
you have continued to buy directly from the
Illuminating Co. or Ohio Edison rather than an
outside supplier. The awkward phrase refers to the
price of the power itself and the charges for
moving the electricity over the high-voltage
transmission system called the “grid.” The fee is
“bypassable,” meaning you won’t have to pay it to
9
SOURCES: FirstEnergy; Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
3
Price to Compare Message
4
Charges from The Illuminating Company this billing period
5
6
7
8
Bypassable Generation and Transmission Component 9
10
Charges from FirstEnergy Solutions this billing period
49.01
750 KWH x 0.065340 per KWH
$49.01
Detail Payment and Adjustment Information
Account Balances by Company
46.88
32.63
79.51
–46.88
–32.63
–79.51
41.91
49.01
90.92
41.91
49.01
90.92
Meter Reading Information
the utility, if you buy the power from an
outside supplier, and pay that company.
outside supplier is FirstEnergy Solutions. It
could also be Gexa Energy in NOPEC towns.
10 Charges from the company that
The section also shows how many kilowatthours you used and at what rate you are
charged. In this sample bill, the customer is
paying 4.35 cents per kWh, less than what
Mr. Smith would have paid buying directly
from the utility — listed at 7.26 cents per
kWh, under “Price to Compare” on page 1.
generated the electricity: These are
the charges levied by the outside supplier for
the electricity it generated and transmitted
over the grid to the utility. If you did not
contract with an outside supplier, this will not
appear on your bill. In this sample bill, the
GRAPHIC BY KEN MARSHALL | THE PLAIN DEALER