My electric bill in February was $1300. I work 2 jobs and bring home about $2200 a month. I have rent, car payment, 2 kids and I do not qualify for any public assistance. My electric will get shut off at the end of March. I owe OHIO EDISON $2200 because last winter they did the same as this winter. DIDNT read my meter in Jan b/c the meter reader can't do his job, apparently, if there is snow on the ground. I was finally about out of last winters whole when in November, I got my 1st $500 bill. Then december was the same story. So they re-instated my instalment plan, almost $90 a month on top of my monthly bill, for 12months. Then, yet again, in January, the meter guy cant do his job. I was prepared for a $700 bill in FEB, NOT $1300!!!
The discount rate is only for those who had the discounted rate in 2006!!! Why is that fair??? I owned an all electric home for 10years. Then after a divorse and several crappy appartments, moved into another all electric home. Well who knew but OHIO EDISON no longer offered a discount in the winter months, for all electric homes. AND TO THOSE who don't know, the discount is only on what they consider to be your HEAT!!! OVER a certain amount of kilowatt hrs. SO this new discount will give me no relief. I have 2 young kids, get no child support, work to jobs, and still can get no assistance with my $1300 electic bill. This discount needs to be for ANYONE in an all electric home.
Larry - 14 years ago
They should absolutely reinstate the discount. I have heard people tell us "it's about time you had to conserve energy", and this angers me greatly. Our thermostats are set at 60 and we wear layers & layers of clothes - my house is far from comfortable! Even prior to this disaster we conserved energy by turning off lights, etc... And everyone I talk to that has gas/electric state their bills combined are not even close to mine (they were close, but since the discount was taken away my bill has been $200-350 higher than theirs COMBINED)!!
First Energy enticed us to build all electric in 1993 and we had an agreement with them - how do you legally take that away?? Like the last e-mail stated, First Energy now can sell their surplus electric to other companies, and make even more profits than they made by luring us into all electric - that's what it all boils down too - more millions for the CEO!!!! They don't need to increase the gas/electric users rates - just make a smidge less in THEIR paycheck (boo hoo)
Don - 14 years ago
I think there is a misunderstanding in some of the emails here , the people who have all electric homes usually have a $400.00 to $500.00 electric bill during the winter months so I ask this question, (to all those who heat with gas or otherwise) when you combine your heating bill with your electric bill does it average out to this amount? Our bill use to be around that amount and now it is over $700.00 a month and we are retired with only 2 people living in the house, there is no way can people like us afford to pay this every month and of course selling is not an option. so before you complain I ask this question does your heating bill along with your electric bill top $700.00 or more a month.
Also, it was the electric co who initiated this discount as they had surplus electric at the time,then when they deregulated the electric companies a few years ago they realized that they could make more money selling the excess to other companies instead of giving the discount to their customers sp I feel this is unfair and the discount should be reinstated.
Mike Mosher - 14 years ago
I need to revise my earlier comment regarding Mr. John Funk of the Plain Dealer. Of late he has written better stories regarding First Energy. The truth about First Energy and the harm these rate increases will do needs to be documented. I still believe we all are being robbed if you use any First Energy service. Remember the cost overruns at the nuclear power plants? They don't feel they need to reduce mercury discharges into Lake Erie. What do the care about besides profits at any cost???
Frank Cotturo - 14 years ago
I keep hearing FirstEnergy talk about "fairness." Do you who voted "no" realize that that another turn-around FirstEnergy did was to get approval for an inclining rate system versus their previous declining rate system? What that means is that that EVERYONE will be paying a higher rate if they use more--that doesn't sound "fair" to me. If you buy 10 gallons of gas to fill your car tank for $3 a gallon, how would you feel about paying $4 a gallon if you needed 20 gallons to fill-up your truck?
Engelina - 14 years ago
Since the electric company made the agreement they should honor it. In order to get out of the agreement the electric company can subsidize conversion of homes to alternative energy sources on a home by home basis.
CRAIG WERNER - 14 years ago
All electric homes were built and insulated per the electric companys specs in
order to recieve the special rate . Now the electric company wants to reject the agreement. How can they do this legally?This is unfair business and should
be investigated by our justice system.
jsigg - 14 years ago
I built house 4 years ago. I used the most efficent comfort system available based on current rates. That is the geothermal heat pump. Now with current thinking or lack of same the cost to operate this system has skyrocketed. The scary thing is PUCO saying they never realized that changing rates would make consumer pay more.
Beth - 14 years ago
I and my family find ourselves in the "same boat" as Matt 2010-02-23 15:19:41 ET (see his comments). As it appears, FirstEnergy's decision to stop participating in the Discounted Rate Plan has left us NO recourse - again, at this point. My family also built a Geothermal All Electric Home. I'm still hopeful that after all is said and done, FirstEnergy acts like the responsible utility company they should be by reevaluating the effect this has on their image and their customers. After all, when you're the "big kid on the block", shouldn't you act in a responsible manner? I know there are probably some of you reading this with tears of laughter streaming down your face because I used words like “hopeful”, "reevaluate", "responsible" and even "image" when trying to make my point with FirstEnergy, but you never know!? Gee, maybe we should have agreed to buy their light bulbs?!
Fred - 14 years ago
Over the last 30 years the First Energy companies spend more than 10 million dollars in marketing All Electric homes to potential buyers, and in payments to All Electric homebuilders. They stated that the All Elecrtic rate was permanent. If natural gas was available on my street, it would cost approximately $45,000 to convert my home from All Electric to gas [ new chimney, new ductwork, new furnace, gas lines, etc.]. Why did PUCO approve the rate change? [1] They did not understand the details of what they were voting on because the details related to All Electric ellimination were buried in the document attachments which I believe they did not read. And [2] their salary is PAID by the Ohio utility companies. What an incestuous relationship!
Matt - 14 years ago
1)FirstEnergy claims it was costing more to generate the electricity than they were charging under the all electric plan, calling it a subsidy. When my wife and I entered into the agreement, the rationale for the lower rate as explained by Ohio Edison was due to the power plants having excess power capacity during the winter when people are not running A/C units. Their plan was to increase consumption during the winter months and make at least some money off of the excess energy being produced.
2)FirstEnergy claims this will help reduce overall energy consumption, it’s the green thing to do, right? However, by removing this rate structure, they have eliminated ALL financial benefit of installing a higher cost, energy efficient geothermal heat pumps. Heat pumps use environmental energy to produce heat. Geothermal specifically is the MOST efficient means by which to heat AND cool your house with conventional energy supply. It uses the earth’s energy as the heat/cooling source. However, if the new electric rates do not support/justify the installation of these units and the payback, no one will install them and we are back to only consuming fossil fuels for 100% of the heat source. Where was the energy saved?
3)We made decisions mid-2005 to install electric heat, water heater, and dryer. This was a capital investment that was made with the rate structures communicated by FirstEnergy. There decision to stop participating in the agreement has left us NO recourse. In order to have any impact on them at all, we would need to spend over $9000 to change out the furnace, install a new A/C, replace the water heater and the dryer. The decision to allow them to make these changes has resulted in our inability to reclaim our initial investment.
This whole thing was a marketing spin campaign by FirstEnergy to get approval by the state. Shame on me for not having awareness to this earlier, shame on PUCO for not being more diligent in their review of First Energy's numbers!
Kenneth Wiegand - 14 years ago
The discount should definately be continued. I am retired due to a serious illness and simply can't afford an extra $250.00 a month just so CEI shareholders and CEO can cintinue to make high profits. I'll have to eat less, live in a colder home, and skip prescriptions to stay in my home, and good luck selling in the future. Come on, PUCO and Ohio Consumers Council - what were you thinking!!?
Henry - 14 years ago
Most all-electric homes have Heat-Pumps with a duct system in place and it should not be a big deal to convert to gas. they would recover their investment and they should not receive discounts on electric rates.
Pete - 14 years ago
It is all about cost of service. If other rate payers paid for the discounts in the past, then there is no logical reason to have them cover the increase for all electric homes today. Actually, we other rate payers where subject to large increases in alternate fuels such as natural gas, propane and other oil based products in addition to electric rate increases due to these oil based fuels rising and used to generate electricity. Although we heat with other fuels than electricity, we still have to use electricity to run pumps to move heat and provide lighting to our homes. They got a great deal with discounts and considering inflation of the value of the dollar they should be paying more.
Tom - 14 years ago
What do they mean it is not fair? They offered the deal to these poor unsuspecting people and should honor it. Not fair my arse, First Energy should rot in hell.
Beth - 14 years ago
I built a new home in 1973 and was able to buy a lot with a gas permit. I would not have built without the gas permit but that was a gamble also....Gas has gone way up since 1973! Many of my neighbors who built a few months later were not able to get gas at construction, however, they had duct work put into their homes planning to abandon their baseboard electric heat and install a furnace as soon as gas was available. When they converted a few years later, I insulated the daylights out of my house. Their homes were heavily insulated at construction. Their furnace installation and my insulation installation were about equal in cost. NOTHING is forever. Gas has been available for many years in many places and where it is not, many people heat with propane, oil or wood. Heat is not free for anyone. I pay for gas and electricity. I have a setback thermostat. The rooms I don't use have the ducts closed. I keep my house cool. You do have a choice. It will cost you some money, but there are choices available. Right now there are even tax credits available. I knew this was happening. It was in the paper a year or more ago so you could have done some planning.
Mike Mosher - 14 years ago
Live Better Electrically is now replaced with "GREED IS GOOD!!!! Only a Billion in profits. The CEO paid like he invented electricity. My home dropped over $5000 in value at least. First Energy does not care about people or the environment. They cut down more trees than Johnny Appleseed ever planted !!!! The Plain Dealer (another monopoly) is not going after a big advertiser like First Energy in the same manner as Cuyahoga County Government was reported on. I talked to Mr. Funk months ago and he told me to lower my thermostat. All i've read is basically press releases. Money and lobbyists wins again!
Dennis - 14 years ago
I bought this house because I was told of the break, for an all electric home. I was told this would be forever. Now that I'm retired, & on a fixed income, my bill has more than doubled. I thought I saw on the news, that rates would go up 20%, not 50% & more. The average person gets screwed again
Ken Madsen - 14 years ago
Look here are the facts. All Electric customers should not get electric for below wholesale price. They want their old rate which is 2 cents per kWH cheeper than wholesale. I have gas heat and my bills in the winter get up into the hundreds too and a few years ago they were 300-500. These all electric homes have no gas bill. I don't think I should pay for them to get a discount. That is BS!
Dennis - 14 years ago
Yes people recieving all electric discounts should still get them. When your electric bill more than doubles how are you going to survive. People are trying did decide between eating, medications and paying their electric bills.
Rick Vargo - 14 years ago
People need to remember; many homeowners were promised by the utility, lower electric rates if they would install all electric heating in their homes in lieu of natural gas heating. If the utility wishes to re-nig on their promise; they should at the very least, offer to install high efficiency natural gas heating furnaces and water heaters to all electric homes or continue the lower electric rate per their original offer. It is not a matter of one group subsidizing another; it is a matter of making the electric utility live up to the commitment they made to home owners in order to get them to install all electric heating devices.
RUKIDDINGME - 14 years ago
People keep asserting that they rate was promised as long as you owned the home - who has a contract that says that - no one can guarantee anybody that their prices will never go up - only a fool would believe that - are you paying the same price for any other product that you did in the 1970's - Absurd!
Mike - 14 years ago
The majority of these houses were built at the time of a severe gas/oil shortage in the 1970's. The owners of these houses bought the houses with an understanding that not only were they being "oil" conscious but also that by having all electric they would be entitled to the all electric discount for perpetuity. What has been done is virtually criminal at most and unethical at least. I challenge any of the readers to think it is ok in an economic time like this to take on an additional "car payment" bill. Essentially all of these electric bills for these homeowners have gone from a couple of hundred dollars a month to $600-$1000. No one signed up for this, and how many of you would be willing to take this bill on when you were told you were grandfathered in. PUCO not properly reviewing and understanding the ramifications of what took place is extremely disturbing but for First Energy to slide this in is unconscionable.
Robert Ward - 14 years ago
The discounts should last as long as the house is standing. The cost of the discount should come out of shareholders profits. This was just a side bet on the part of the Illuminating Company in years gone past that electricity would be cheap to produce. It was outside the scope of regulated electricity prices and should not be considered when setting customer rates.
DJay - 14 years ago
Yes they should continue to get the discount. When you look at it, it's just GREED! How many all electric homes would sell without the incentive? I know that if I owned an all electric home I'd be trying to sell it now! But now that everyone know how much it will cost to pay the electric bill no one would buy it. What would be my primary selling point on the house? Don't worry about the electric bill, it's only 3/4 of your monthly mortgage payment! -- THIS IS WHY THE COUNTRY IS GOING BROKE!
RUKIDDINGME - 14 years ago
If you didn't have acces to natrual gas maybe you shouldn't have built your home where you did. It's nobody's fault but yours where you built your home.
And if you have a contract - which I doubt you do - you will be able to enforce it in court.
All these people that vote yes----wonder how they would vote if their gas bill almost tripled and there was no alternative supplier. They just might sing a different tune!
All electric home owners do not even have a choice as do home owners who heat their homes with gas. Are we just to sit and watch our electric bills double and triple and our home values go down. There is something wrong with this picture. This is a breach of contract in addition to being a criminal act. When your electric bill goes from $200.00 to $600.00 for a month of service, that is called robbery!
Peter Voloshen - 14 years ago
It was wrong to give these customers an unfair discount in the first place. It would be unfair to take the discount away now that they have it. These customers should be made to pay an amount equall to natural gas sold in their particular location. Any electric homes to be built in the future should not receive any discount.
Erika - 14 years ago
The full retail rate payers should not subsidize the all-electric homes. The utility should move to time of use billing. If electricity is cheaper in winter, this becomes a moot point. The large users should not get a volume discount. Smart use should get a discount.
Karen Schaefer - 14 years ago
All-electric homes are not particularly energy-efficient, in part because so much electricity is lost between source and outlet. Moreover, in Ohio most of their energy comes from coal-fired power plants, particularly polluting source of power. I'd be in favor of a graduated reduction of the discount over a period of years, such as FirstEnergy has proposed to state regulators. Those residents who use natural gas, oil, or wood to heat their homes shouldn't have to continue to underwrite the costs of heating with electricity.
John Zampino - 14 years ago
That was the dealthe all electric homes got ,in order to sell the houses. Now the Electric company wants to renig on the deal! What's that CALLED? B.S.
My electric bill in February was $1300. I work 2 jobs and bring home about $2200 a month. I have rent, car payment, 2 kids and I do not qualify for any public assistance. My electric will get shut off at the end of March. I owe OHIO EDISON $2200 because last winter they did the same as this winter. DIDNT read my meter in Jan b/c the meter reader can't do his job, apparently, if there is snow on the ground. I was finally about out of last winters whole when in November, I got my 1st $500 bill. Then december was the same story. So they re-instated my instalment plan, almost $90 a month on top of my monthly bill, for 12months. Then, yet again, in January, the meter guy cant do his job. I was prepared for a $700 bill in FEB, NOT $1300!!!
The discount rate is only for those who had the discounted rate in 2006!!! Why is that fair??? I owned an all electric home for 10years. Then after a divorse and several crappy appartments, moved into another all electric home. Well who knew but OHIO EDISON no longer offered a discount in the winter months, for all electric homes. AND TO THOSE who don't know, the discount is only on what they consider to be your HEAT!!! OVER a certain amount of kilowatt hrs. SO this new discount will give me no relief. I have 2 young kids, get no child support, work to jobs, and still can get no assistance with my $1300 electic bill. This discount needs to be for ANYONE in an all electric home.
They should absolutely reinstate the discount. I have heard people tell us "it's about time you had to conserve energy", and this angers me greatly. Our thermostats are set at 60 and we wear layers & layers of clothes - my house is far from comfortable! Even prior to this disaster we conserved energy by turning off lights, etc... And everyone I talk to that has gas/electric state their bills combined are not even close to mine (they were close, but since the discount was taken away my bill has been $200-350 higher than theirs COMBINED)!!
First Energy enticed us to build all electric in 1993 and we had an agreement with them - how do you legally take that away?? Like the last e-mail stated, First Energy now can sell their surplus electric to other companies, and make even more profits than they made by luring us into all electric - that's what it all boils down too - more millions for the CEO!!!! They don't need to increase the gas/electric users rates - just make a smidge less in THEIR paycheck (boo hoo)
I think there is a misunderstanding in some of the emails here , the people who have all electric homes usually have a $400.00 to $500.00 electric bill during the winter months so I ask this question, (to all those who heat with gas or otherwise) when you combine your heating bill with your electric bill does it average out to this amount? Our bill use to be around that amount and now it is over $700.00 a month and we are retired with only 2 people living in the house, there is no way can people like us afford to pay this every month and of course selling is not an option. so before you complain I ask this question does your heating bill along with your electric bill top $700.00 or more a month.
Also, it was the electric co who initiated this discount as they had surplus electric at the time,then when they deregulated the electric companies a few years ago they realized that they could make more money selling the excess to other companies instead of giving the discount to their customers sp I feel this is unfair and the discount should be reinstated.
I need to revise my earlier comment regarding Mr. John Funk of the Plain Dealer. Of late he has written better stories regarding First Energy. The truth about First Energy and the harm these rate increases will do needs to be documented. I still believe we all are being robbed if you use any First Energy service. Remember the cost overruns at the nuclear power plants? They don't feel they need to reduce mercury discharges into Lake Erie. What do the care about besides profits at any cost???
I keep hearing FirstEnergy talk about "fairness." Do you who voted "no" realize that that another turn-around FirstEnergy did was to get approval for an inclining rate system versus their previous declining rate system? What that means is that that EVERYONE will be paying a higher rate if they use more--that doesn't sound "fair" to me. If you buy 10 gallons of gas to fill your car tank for $3 a gallon, how would you feel about paying $4 a gallon if you needed 20 gallons to fill-up your truck?
Since the electric company made the agreement they should honor it. In order to get out of the agreement the electric company can subsidize conversion of homes to alternative energy sources on a home by home basis.
All electric homes were built and insulated per the electric companys specs in
order to recieve the special rate . Now the electric company wants to reject the agreement. How can they do this legally?This is unfair business and should
be investigated by our justice system.
I built house 4 years ago. I used the most efficent comfort system available based on current rates. That is the geothermal heat pump. Now with current thinking or lack of same the cost to operate this system has skyrocketed. The scary thing is PUCO saying they never realized that changing rates would make consumer pay more.
I and my family find ourselves in the "same boat" as Matt 2010-02-23 15:19:41 ET (see his comments). As it appears, FirstEnergy's decision to stop participating in the Discounted Rate Plan has left us NO recourse - again, at this point. My family also built a Geothermal All Electric Home. I'm still hopeful that after all is said and done, FirstEnergy acts like the responsible utility company they should be by reevaluating the effect this has on their image and their customers. After all, when you're the "big kid on the block", shouldn't you act in a responsible manner? I know there are probably some of you reading this with tears of laughter streaming down your face because I used words like “hopeful”, "reevaluate", "responsible" and even "image" when trying to make my point with FirstEnergy, but you never know!? Gee, maybe we should have agreed to buy their light bulbs?!
Over the last 30 years the First Energy companies spend more than 10 million dollars in marketing All Electric homes to potential buyers, and in payments to All Electric homebuilders. They stated that the All Elecrtic rate was permanent. If natural gas was available on my street, it would cost approximately $45,000 to convert my home from All Electric to gas [ new chimney, new ductwork, new furnace, gas lines, etc.]. Why did PUCO approve the rate change? [1] They did not understand the details of what they were voting on because the details related to All Electric ellimination were buried in the document attachments which I believe they did not read. And [2] their salary is PAID by the Ohio utility companies. What an incestuous relationship!
1)FirstEnergy claims it was costing more to generate the electricity than they were charging under the all electric plan, calling it a subsidy. When my wife and I entered into the agreement, the rationale for the lower rate as explained by Ohio Edison was due to the power plants having excess power capacity during the winter when people are not running A/C units. Their plan was to increase consumption during the winter months and make at least some money off of the excess energy being produced.
2)FirstEnergy claims this will help reduce overall energy consumption, it’s the green thing to do, right? However, by removing this rate structure, they have eliminated ALL financial benefit of installing a higher cost, energy efficient geothermal heat pumps. Heat pumps use environmental energy to produce heat. Geothermal specifically is the MOST efficient means by which to heat AND cool your house with conventional energy supply. It uses the earth’s energy as the heat/cooling source. However, if the new electric rates do not support/justify the installation of these units and the payback, no one will install them and we are back to only consuming fossil fuels for 100% of the heat source. Where was the energy saved?
3)We made decisions mid-2005 to install electric heat, water heater, and dryer. This was a capital investment that was made with the rate structures communicated by FirstEnergy. There decision to stop participating in the agreement has left us NO recourse. In order to have any impact on them at all, we would need to spend over $9000 to change out the furnace, install a new A/C, replace the water heater and the dryer. The decision to allow them to make these changes has resulted in our inability to reclaim our initial investment.
This whole thing was a marketing spin campaign by FirstEnergy to get approval by the state. Shame on me for not having awareness to this earlier, shame on PUCO for not being more diligent in their review of First Energy's numbers!
The discount should definately be continued. I am retired due to a serious illness and simply can't afford an extra $250.00 a month just so CEI shareholders and CEO can cintinue to make high profits. I'll have to eat less, live in a colder home, and skip prescriptions to stay in my home, and good luck selling in the future. Come on, PUCO and Ohio Consumers Council - what were you thinking!!?
Most all-electric homes have Heat-Pumps with a duct system in place and it should not be a big deal to convert to gas. they would recover their investment and they should not receive discounts on electric rates.
It is all about cost of service. If other rate payers paid for the discounts in the past, then there is no logical reason to have them cover the increase for all electric homes today. Actually, we other rate payers where subject to large increases in alternate fuels such as natural gas, propane and other oil based products in addition to electric rate increases due to these oil based fuels rising and used to generate electricity. Although we heat with other fuels than electricity, we still have to use electricity to run pumps to move heat and provide lighting to our homes. They got a great deal with discounts and considering inflation of the value of the dollar they should be paying more.
What do they mean it is not fair? They offered the deal to these poor unsuspecting people and should honor it. Not fair my arse, First Energy should rot in hell.
I built a new home in 1973 and was able to buy a lot with a gas permit. I would not have built without the gas permit but that was a gamble also....Gas has gone way up since 1973! Many of my neighbors who built a few months later were not able to get gas at construction, however, they had duct work put into their homes planning to abandon their baseboard electric heat and install a furnace as soon as gas was available. When they converted a few years later, I insulated the daylights out of my house. Their homes were heavily insulated at construction. Their furnace installation and my insulation installation were about equal in cost. NOTHING is forever. Gas has been available for many years in many places and where it is not, many people heat with propane, oil or wood. Heat is not free for anyone. I pay for gas and electricity. I have a setback thermostat. The rooms I don't use have the ducts closed. I keep my house cool. You do have a choice. It will cost you some money, but there are choices available. Right now there are even tax credits available. I knew this was happening. It was in the paper a year or more ago so you could have done some planning.
Live Better Electrically is now replaced with "GREED IS GOOD!!!! Only a Billion in profits. The CEO paid like he invented electricity. My home dropped over $5000 in value at least. First Energy does not care about people or the environment. They cut down more trees than Johnny Appleseed ever planted !!!! The Plain Dealer (another monopoly) is not going after a big advertiser like First Energy in the same manner as Cuyahoga County Government was reported on. I talked to Mr. Funk months ago and he told me to lower my thermostat. All i've read is basically press releases. Money and lobbyists wins again!
I bought this house because I was told of the break, for an all electric home. I was told this would be forever. Now that I'm retired, & on a fixed income, my bill has more than doubled. I thought I saw on the news, that rates would go up 20%, not 50% & more. The average person gets screwed again
Look here are the facts. All Electric customers should not get electric for below wholesale price. They want their old rate which is 2 cents per kWH cheeper than wholesale. I have gas heat and my bills in the winter get up into the hundreds too and a few years ago they were 300-500. These all electric homes have no gas bill. I don't think I should pay for them to get a discount. That is BS!
Yes people recieving all electric discounts should still get them. When your electric bill more than doubles how are you going to survive. People are trying did decide between eating, medications and paying their electric bills.
People need to remember; many homeowners were promised by the utility, lower electric rates if they would install all electric heating in their homes in lieu of natural gas heating. If the utility wishes to re-nig on their promise; they should at the very least, offer to install high efficiency natural gas heating furnaces and water heaters to all electric homes or continue the lower electric rate per their original offer. It is not a matter of one group subsidizing another; it is a matter of making the electric utility live up to the commitment they made to home owners in order to get them to install all electric heating devices.
People keep asserting that they rate was promised as long as you owned the home - who has a contract that says that - no one can guarantee anybody that their prices will never go up - only a fool would believe that - are you paying the same price for any other product that you did in the 1970's - Absurd!
The majority of these houses were built at the time of a severe gas/oil shortage in the 1970's. The owners of these houses bought the houses with an understanding that not only were they being "oil" conscious but also that by having all electric they would be entitled to the all electric discount for perpetuity. What has been done is virtually criminal at most and unethical at least. I challenge any of the readers to think it is ok in an economic time like this to take on an additional "car payment" bill. Essentially all of these electric bills for these homeowners have gone from a couple of hundred dollars a month to $600-$1000. No one signed up for this, and how many of you would be willing to take this bill on when you were told you were grandfathered in. PUCO not properly reviewing and understanding the ramifications of what took place is extremely disturbing but for First Energy to slide this in is unconscionable.
The discounts should last as long as the house is standing. The cost of the discount should come out of shareholders profits. This was just a side bet on the part of the Illuminating Company in years gone past that electricity would be cheap to produce. It was outside the scope of regulated electricity prices and should not be considered when setting customer rates.
Yes they should continue to get the discount. When you look at it, it's just GREED! How many all electric homes would sell without the incentive? I know that if I owned an all electric home I'd be trying to sell it now! But now that everyone know how much it will cost to pay the electric bill no one would buy it. What would be my primary selling point on the house? Don't worry about the electric bill, it's only 3/4 of your monthly mortgage payment! -- THIS IS WHY THE COUNTRY IS GOING BROKE!
If you didn't have acces to natrual gas maybe you shouldn't have built your home where you did. It's nobody's fault but yours where you built your home.
And if you have a contract - which I doubt you do - you will be able to enforce it in court.
All these people that vote yes----wonder how they would vote if their gas bill almost tripled and there was no alternative supplier. They just might sing a different tune!
All electric home owners do not even have a choice as do home owners who heat their homes with gas. Are we just to sit and watch our electric bills double and triple and our home values go down. There is something wrong with this picture. This is a breach of contract in addition to being a criminal act. When your electric bill goes from $200.00 to $600.00 for a month of service, that is called robbery!
It was wrong to give these customers an unfair discount in the first place. It would be unfair to take the discount away now that they have it. These customers should be made to pay an amount equall to natural gas sold in their particular location. Any electric homes to be built in the future should not receive any discount.
The full retail rate payers should not subsidize the all-electric homes. The utility should move to time of use billing. If electricity is cheaper in winter, this becomes a moot point. The large users should not get a volume discount. Smart use should get a discount.
All-electric homes are not particularly energy-efficient, in part because so much electricity is lost between source and outlet. Moreover, in Ohio most of their energy comes from coal-fired power plants, particularly polluting source of power. I'd be in favor of a graduated reduction of the discount over a period of years, such as FirstEnergy has proposed to state regulators. Those residents who use natural gas, oil, or wood to heat their homes shouldn't have to continue to underwrite the costs of heating with electricity.
That was the dealthe all electric homes got ,in order to sell the houses. Now the Electric company wants to renig on the deal! What's that CALLED? B.S.