Triple-Digit Highs -- on Your Edison Bill
Robert Ciminski worked all through last month’s heat wave in a sweltering auto repair shop in Arcadia, fixing cars and longing for the air conditioning that he and his wife kept running day and night in their nearby home.
Now he’s paying the price.
The Ciminiskis’ electricity bill for July was $280 -- double the bill for June, which was already higher than normal because that month also was unusually hot.
Southern California Edison, which serves 4.4 million households across the region, said customers overall used 31% more electricity during the July heat wave than they had in June -- and many doubled their usage.
Consumers could find that their July bills have actually doubled or even tripled because of previously planned rate hikes and the utility’s sliding rate structure, said Lynda Ziegler, senior vice president for customer service at Edison.
Earlier this year, Edison imposed a hefty rate increase of more than 15% -- all of it charged to consumers who use more than a modest baseline set by the California Public Utilities Commission.
That means that households accustomed to paying a lower rate because they don’t use much will be charged as if they are major electricity guzzlers. A typical household that usually pays $80 per month but doubled its usage during the heat wave, Ziegler said, would see a threefold jump as the bill for July climbs to $263.
The tiered pricing was designed to encourage conservation, because the less electricity a customer uses, the lower the rate they pay.
But with the heat wave, many customers whose low consumption normally keeps their bills in check are being pushed into tiers in which the per-kilowatt-hour prices are substantially higher.
Mary NewMyer of Duarte, for example, used 1,494 kilowatt-hours of electricity in July. On one portion of her bill, she was charged 6.3 cents for each of the first 386 kilowatt-hours. But her extra usage carried her through several pricing tiers, and the last 398 kilowatt-hours she used cost 31.9 cents each.
“If you go over 1,000, they absolutely clobber you, because that’s where they have the really high rates,” NewMyer said.
Edison customers will see another jump in their bills in November as a 6.3% increase to residential consumers takes effect. The hike will be retroactive to the beginning of the year.
The increases won’t be quite as dramatic for Los Angeles residents served by the Department of Water and Power, but officials said Friday that higher bills are on the way.
In DWP territory, usage rose by about 30% in July. But some households actually used double or even triple that because the record hot nights prompted people to keep their air conditioners running around the clock.
The biggest effect is expected to be in the broiling San Fernando Valley, where the DWP estimates that bills will increase an average of 58% to $112 compared with last July, said Commissioner Nick Patsaouras. Citywide, the DWP estimates a 47% increase to $76.
Unlike Edison, which uses the sliding pay scale, the DWP charges the same amount across the board: about 11 cents per kilowatt-hour, said spokeswoman Kim Hughes.
That means that for a household that usually uses 600 kilowatts per month but drew 900 kilowatts during the heat wave, the bill would go from $66 to $99 for the month. Customers who doubled their usage -- like many homeowners who kept the air conditioning on 24 hours a day -- would pay $132.
The electricity bills are going to hit the mailboxes of customers already suffering from sticker shock for the charges they racked up during June’s hot weather. Many also saw their power disrupted when transformers straining under high electricity demand burned out.
NewMyer, 68, said she and her husband lost power to part of their house for a few days during the heat wave. Then Edison hit her with the biggest electricity bill she’s ever seen: $321.87, up from $149 in June.
“I thought, this has got to be two bills in one,” said NewMyer. “After I was shocked, I was livid.”
Rancho Santa Margarita resident Bill Kirkendale, 69, is dreading his next bill from Edison. His last one -- which didn’t include electricity use during the recent hot spell -- was more than $700, up more than 40% from last year.
He has four children at home, including a 5-year-old with cerebral palsy and a compromised immune system who needed to stay cool despite the 100-degree-plus temperatures that blanketed the state last week.
“My air conditioning was on every single minute of the day during that heat wave. It had to be on,” said Kirkendale, a mortgage broker. “I can’t imagine what my bill’s going to be this month.”
When Kirkendale complained to Edison about his last bill, he learned the utility offers discounts to residential customers with special medical needs. He signed up, but Edison hasn’t told him what kind of discount the program provides or how it would affect his future bills.
Carl Sheasby sees the results firsthand. A meter-reader for Southern California Edison, Sheasby visits 400 homes and businesses in a typical day.
Pleasant and efficient, Sheasby recently made his way through back yards to read meters along his San Gabriel Valley route.
Since the heat wave, Sheasby said, some customers have asked if their bills were going up. But others, steamed at the high cost, haven’t been as talkative as usual, he said.
One of his customers, Simon Siriana, 38, said the electricity bill for a storefront commercial building he owns nearly doubled -- to $920 -- during July.
“Can you get me a discount?” he asked Sheasby.
Some advocacy groups have expressed concern about how the high bills will affect the poor. Mindy Spatt of the Utility Reform Network said she worries that some elderly or poor residents will turn off their power during the next hot or cold spell.
DWP board President Mary Nichols said she has asked utility officials to develop a payment assistance program for customers facing higher bills because of the heat wave.
Details are still being worked out but will probably include a payment extension of up to 90 days for customers in good standing. The board has also asked utility officials to make a presentation at its Tuesday meeting on plans to expand energy-efficiency programs, Nichols said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) urged President Bush earlier this week to provide more federal assistance to low-income California households that have been hit hard by high bills.
But some customers are resigned to writing those checks.
“What are you going to do?” asked Ciminski, 48. “You work out in this heat. You’ve got to have some AC at home so your body can cool down.”
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Record Heat and a Thirst for Power
Q&A;
Question: Why are power bills expected to be so high in July?
Answer: The record heat wave caused record demand for electricity. Southern California Edison said power use was up 31%, and the L.A. Department of Water and Power said use was up about 30%.
Q: How much can consumers expect to pay?
A: It depends on how much power your home or business used. But Edison customers might be in for the biggest jolt because of previously planned rate hikes and the utility’s sliding rate structure designed to encourage conservation. In DWP territory, the biggest impact is expected to be in the broiling San Fernando Valley, where officials estimate bills will increase an average of 58%.
Q: Is their any relief in sight?
A: DWP officials are talking about a program that gives those who could not pay their full bill extra time. State officials have also sought federal assistance for low-income California households.
Q: How is August shaping up?
A: So far, August has been substantially cooler than July and June. Some of the cool, cloudy conditions usually associated with “June gloom” are showing up this month.
