RandAlThor

West Virginians voted overwhelmingly for Trump on promise to cut electric costs in half. Bills in energy-rich West Virginia now top mortgages

https://lemmy.ca/post/63091437

West Virginians voted overwhelmingly for Trump on promise to cut electric costs in half. Bills in energy-rich West Virginia now top mortgages - Lemmy.ca

Every month, Rebecca Michalski takes a deep breath before opening her electric bill. She lives on a fixed income, and heating her small house this winter has been staggering: Her February charge was $940.08 — more than her check.

Apr 9 at 5:47pmWeb
Show threadCompactFlax5d ago
Goddamn $900 bill. Solar pays for itself in a year or two - if you can afford the cost up front.
Show threadsamus123455d ago

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

Show threadCompactFlax5d ago
And they keep electing the people who say they’re taking their boots away.
Show threadreddig335d ago

At $1000 per month, yep, rooftop solar with tax credits and incentives would probably take two to three years to pay for itself. Where I live, it took me about ten years. $900/mo for an average electric bill is just price gouging. The costs to generate electricity have actually gone down thanks to renewables.

It’s stupid that there aren’t more incentives for people to install solar and batteries. Decentralizing the grid should be thought of as a national security issue.

Show threadstopdropandprole5d ago

appreciate what you’re saying but afaik the federal tax rebate program for residential solar installation was terminated/not renewed.

maybe there are ways to get other credits… link if anyone knows of any?

Show threadTollana12345674d ago
seems like most states have been hostile to solar for a while, even cali has some wierd rule around it.
Show threadthesohoriots5d ago
Every solar company in my state gets taken the fuck out by Duke Energy in court. Then you’re stuck with a system that you have to pay Duke Energy for and makes them money.
Show threadbitjunkie5d ago
Have the day you voted for, fuckface.
Show threadMedicsOfAnarchy5d ago
Ah, another sector enters the '“FO” phase of “FAFO”.
Show threadbillwashere5d ago
Jesus I thought my electric bill was high…
Show threadchiliedogg5d ago

Following the 2021 winter storms in Texas, power bills have been incredibly unpredictable. The variable rates being charged to the utilities jumped up hundreds of times because our laws fucking suck. So for the next 20 years, we’re having to pay off the power co-op’s debts, and we never know what the additional surcharge is gonna be on a bill. We’d get an electric bill for our usage and on top of that would be a fixed provider debt service surcharge of $300 that anyone connected to the grid had to pay regardless of use. Then the next month the surcharge would be $50. Then the next it would be $750. Then it would be $12. But it was usually far higher than the actual electric use portion of the bill.

It also has really hurt solar adoption rates, because the vast majority of the bill isn’t tied to use, so solar doesn’t offset that much of the bill while having its own payment plan. And code requires a connection to the electric grid, so you can’t just choose to completely disconnect to avoid the surcharges.

Show threadCMLVI5d ago

My electric bill for the last few months has been almost $200.

I live in an under 400 sqft apartment that I keep under 68 degrees all year. It increased from maybe $100 last year to almost $200 during this time. Energy costs here are absolutely insane.

Show threadshirasho5d ago

A friendly reminder that generating electricity id the cheapest it has ever been.

Another reminder that power companies are being incentivized by the current administration to NOT to make their energy grids better.

This is what the Republicans voted for and what thr Democrats allowed to happen by putting forth their worst candidates.

Show threadlobut4d ago
I mean you can blame Republicans or Democrats, I blame the American voters and non-voters. You did this to yourselves.
Show threadTollana12345674d ago
even before p47, they wernt incentivized either, pg&E california doesnt do that either, but they are ok raising rates to compensate for thier failures, and providing energy for data centers.
Show threadstopdropandprole5d ago
Show threadLemmyFeed5d ago
Cool cool. Being a millennial who graduated high school in aught-six I’ve been blessed with inflated electric costs that just kept inflating for my entire adult life. Sounds about right.
Show threadWashedupcynic5d ago
Have the electricity bills you voted for West Virginia! Montani Semper Liberi, but the electricity isn’t.
Show threadDoucheBagMcSwag5d ago
Bow down before the one you serve. You’re gonna get what you fucking deserve
Show threadBubbaonthebeach5d ago
Damn. I thought I had it bad when my annually average electric bill went up to CA$140/month from $108. I also pay CA $58 in natural gas. Yet so many people still think it’s cheaper to live in the US.
Show threadTollana12345674d ago
the only electable D was manchin and that was with many Concessions, and hes going to be replaced by a magat , there isnt much hope for WV IN GENERAL.
Show thread_‌_反いじめ戦隊4d ago

♪
Almost hell, West Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River Life is old there, older than the trees Younger than the mountains, growin’ like a breeze

Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, Mountain Nazi Take me home, country roads

All my memories gather ‘round him Miner’s Klansman, stranger to blue water Dark and dusty, painted on the sky Misty taste of moonshine, teardrops in my eyes

Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, Mountain Nazi Take me home, country roads

I hear his voice, in the mornin’ hour he calls me Radio reminds me of my home far away Walking down the road, I get a feeling That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, Mountain Nazi Take me home, country roads Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, Mountain Nazi Take me home, country roads

Take me home down country roads Take me home down country roads

Show threadCort4d ago
I prefer the thereiruinedit version with war pigs lyrics in the style of John Denver. Seems like it may have gotten removed, but there’s copies: youtube.com/shorts/kheYCGfMick
Black Sabbath x John Denver credit @thereiruinedit

YouTube
Show threadSmaile3d ago
It’s funny anybody would believe him at this point.