On the note of PG&E, my electric bill averages to about $750 despite only running an air conditioner, several device chargers, a router, some lights and a fridge...
Thanks PG&E.
Thanks PG&E.
In the broader SF Bay Area, our recent PG&E bills for a 50 year old single-family home without air-conditioning is under $150/mo, with a couple fridges, electric clothes dryer, and a half-dozen laptop class computers. That's averaging about 8-9 kWh per day (250-280 kWh/month).
Last winter, our bill ramped up to over $400/mo for a few months, due to heating with natural gas.
Let's say your overall rate is $0.50/kWh, that would put you at 1500kWh per month. Which is....high. Even if your rate were $1/kWh, 750kWh would be a decent amount of juice for a region with an overall mild climate.
The EIA[0] says the typical annual electricity consumption for homes in "the West" (ie not just California) is 8525kWh/year, or 710kWh/month.
[0] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/electricit...
It's way higher than that with PG&E.
My PG&E bill tends to be around $500/mo and I run basically nothing out of the basics. Never turn on the A/C. Tiny house, normal usage of fridge, lights and the usual househould gadgets like washer/dryer. Near the coast so climate is cool, if we lived in the hot areas and had to run A/C I imagine it would be double at least.
The profound corruption of PG&E is an existential risk to California and Silicon Valley.
This is from a recent PG&E bill from my house:
Peak pricing: 0.48575 delivery + 0.14920 generation = $0.635 kWh
So yes that's pretty much higher than $0.50 kWh
It seems to have gone down a bit this year though. These are the numbers from 2024:
Peak pricing: 0.53 + 0.183 = $0.71 kWh
Note that peak is 4pm to midnight, so basically all the electricity-using hours one usually would be at home if working regular hours at the office (like we do). Off-peak is a bit cheaper but we're either sleeping or out of the house so not very helpful.
PS Where I live now, its $0.04/kwh and that's pretty normal in the rest of the US and in Latin America.
That is completely wrong.
For comparison, I have double that plus electric appliances and a home-lab with 6 rack servers that run 24/7 and my bill rarely tops $175 in the dead of summer. And I like the thermostat cold.
If you live in a duplex or condo I would consider if your meter is miswired (with your neighbor's meter daisy-chained to yours) and you are being double-billed. It is more common than you think and often goes undiscovered for years.
“Fleeing” is hyperbole. Population is roughly flat [1].
[1] https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CA/PST045224
There could be people fleeing that have lived there for some time, while being supplanted with newcomers. That would have a net zero effect.
North Korea has a stable population, people flee all the time. The comparison is apt. California's 4-walled fences are much tighter around their residents.
How could you possibly know this.