Good observation! Of course, the utilities are caught in a bold face lie with "equity" as if they were Robin Hood defenders of the poor. We can see their record profits and look how much money the corporate executives are making. Hint: the utility CEO's make *millions* in total compensation a year. Somebody's got to pay for that right?
THIS. They could've labeled it better like a generic "franchise fee" like cable companies do or a surcharge and put it on all bills for maintenance and expansion. Just wait till your DMV learns of the nontransferable no credit/refund/exchange gas tax recovery surcharge for hybrids, CNG, electric cars our is $100-$200 a year plus registration, etc.
@@Pentti_Hilkuri Not sure what you mean by "always". Because that's opposite of typical supply/demand economics. In macroeconomics, the Law of Demand says that when demand goes down then the price goes down and vice versa. The only time when price an go up with decreasing demand is when the supply goes down more than the demand. Such as if the infrastructure to make the product is being dismantled. But nope! The electricity supply is *not* going down either! In fact, the price of electricity should go *waaay* down! Because the demand is decreasing (solar homes not buying as much grid power) *and* the supply is increasing or staying the same (solar homes exporting surplus power to the grid). This is what happens when the demand curve is shifting left while the supply curve is shifting right. Its a double-whammy to knock down the price of the commodity. No wonder the utilities are terrified!
What they don’t tell you is that it is illegal to be completely off grid in many states. They actually force you to use the local electric companies which forces you to have to pay the electric companies even if you don’t need them. I think that is called a monopoly.
It's soft communalism. If every rich guy took his home and Factory off the grid, it would not be a viable or affordable thing. If they all ran their operations off generators only they can afford the "Poor" would be living in Victorian days at home. Like the roads, even full time pedestrians pay for them, Motorists pay for Transit, the only MEGA infrastructure I can think of that is pay to play are toll bridges and they are probably subsidized. These people in the Thumb should get a exemption, and there should be one based on how many Sq/ft you have per square foot of home. Or what percentage of you energy is home made. A heavy slap in the face to invest that much "for the greater good" and be told you were a fool.
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This is my point. When the proponents for the 16th amendment said a new income tax would only be a few percent and would only effect a small number of the uber rich (and no one else), not enough people asked "but what about tomorrow.... and next month.... and next year?" Now look at the mess we're in. As for net metering.... a power company shouldn't be forced to pay retail to buy someone's excess electricity. It's the power company that has the billions of dollars in infrastructure to get power to (and from) a customer's property.
We are in Hawaii and are on full solar, but when you cannot charge the PV bc of weather, you gotta pull from the grid! HELCO has been charging these fees for years now! Welcome to reality , folks!
Just like that "Fair gas act tax" where gas stations can use other gas stations for having low gas prices than competitors. They make new laws to break old laws.
The fees always starts small and only affect a few... That is how the income tax started. What you really have to worry about is local governments taxing solar at a higher rate like they have started doing with electric cars.
Exactly. We had free parking in the small town I live in the city streets. Then it went to $3 an hour and now they have raised it to $5. It never stops hurting financially the little guy.
Here's The ULTIMATE Question.... Will Florida Residents do something about it? or will they surrender to the politicians who allowed such laws to exist!?
If you go off of grid you pay nothing. You are paying for the ability to tie to the grid when needed. It shouldn't be up to others to play for the infrastructure.
I pay $11 a month for natural gas even though I don't use it. I also pay storm water fees, waste water fees, various taxes, telephone pole fees, and other charges on my power bill. My bill last month was $260, and I live in a small house, use one light at night, and watch the A/C like a hawk. Doesn't matter, because the other fees are there no matter how efficient I am with my electrical use. It's getting ridiculous how everybody keeps reaching into our pockets.
@@notredo You should pay to tie into the grid when you initially get hooked up, and it should be a 1 time fee. After that, it's a tax by another name, especially since governments love raiding public utility coffers. It's utterly disgusting.
"....customers called our news room trying to find out what is wrong." I can tell you what's wrong. They are losing revenue so they decided that since you found a way around a huge electric bill, they've decided to steal the money from you instead. It's wrong, unethical and should be illegal.
@clot shots You are aware the reason people are staying on the grid is that they sell power back to the grid, right? The electrical company benefits from distributed production but they're ripping people off
@@priestesslucy3299 tsk tsk tsk. Nobody is getting ripped off. This story is 3 months old. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill. Net metering lives on on Florida and they can't charge a mandatory minimum for solar customers. It's really funny to see all of these people who think this is law. They obviously aren't solar customers and have no clue about anything they are raging against.
@clot shots Yes. Someone has to. Let it be those who aren't changing to "renewable" energy. I want to be charged for what I use. Not what other people use. Charging for services not used is stealing. Period. If there is a way to get off the grid without investing $10,000 to 100,000 in material and installation costs while still leading a normal life, I and more than half of America are waiting for your solution.
For decades we were told to cut our electricity usage: turn the lights off when you exit a room, buy energy efficient appliances, forced to buy LED lightbulbs, turn your thermostat up in the summer, on an on. Electric companies pushed the business model of "stop using so much of our product". Now that people have found a way to stop using so much of their product they have a minimum charge.
Good ol’ moRon Doucheantis! He can write a bill literally overnight to disparage the LGBTQ community and Disney but he can stop the power company from price gouging. 😂😂😂😂😂
Here's The ULTIMATE Question.... Will Florida Residents do something about it? or will they surrender to the politicians who allowed such laws to exist!?
I live in Alberta, Canada. My natural gas bill has increased from $97 per month to $155 per month starting in August. A 60% increase. This province is the largest producer of natural gas in Canada!
That's because they can sell that gas elsewhere for now money, so your have to pay that price to get any. The solution? Stop burning the gas if you can. Climate change has been a thing for almost 40 years. Tough if you're in an apartment or renting because you're powerless to change anything. But if you own your own home it might be worth looking at solar + wind.....or at least a home battery to fill up at a cheap time to use the power at an expensive time.
"It really doesn't generate much revenue at all" - Then, obviously, the reason for charging the fee is to discourage people from installing solar panels, not to make a profit.
The fee is their to cover the costs of utility infrastructure to the home, even these solar powered homes need the utility for night time and cloudy day events. If they dont want to pay for maintaining the utility service, then they should remove the utility wires from their home and go full solar, even at night.
@@dave8599 Thank you Captain Obvious. Let me explain. I have a small house with 11 solar panels on my roof and net-metering. Those 11 panels do not cover all my electrical needs. They produce power all day, but at night they do not power my lights. During the day, net-metering sells my surplus electricity back to the grid and I pay for the electricity my lights use at night. This Summer, when my air conditioner is running almost constantly, I will not be sending anything back to the grid and I will pay for those kWh from the grid. However, during sunny temperate months my panels generate *almost* as many kWh as I use, so my bill last month was $2.08. The month before it was about $20 and the month before that about $30. In my case the result is that my solar installation only *lowers* my electric bill. But consider the person who has a large solar installation that consistently sells back to the grid. Let's say he generates a surplus that obligates the power utility to send a check to him every month. Should not that "access fee" be subtracted from his check? Perhaps they are and the Florida utility is 'only' charging a $25-$30 minimum charge fee on the months where his solar negates them from selling him grid electricity. But that was not how this was presented: it sounded as though they charge him at least $25/mo. no matter how much solar electricity he sends their way. Think of it this way. Suppose poor Mother Hubbard lives in a one room tar-paper shack with one lightbulb dangling from the middle of the ceiling. Should the electric utility charge her $25 per month for the "privilege" of powering her one light bulb each evening when normally she would be billed maybe a dollar?
@@etoineschrdlu9382 You are using millions of dollars of electricity infrastructure and making the grid unstable with your retarded solar energy that does not produce any net energy and would never be installed without government subsidies. the energy companies are forced to pay you retail energy prices for your tiny amount of grid destabilizing energy. energy is produced and sold distributed by producers in hundreds of megawatts at wholesale. ill be glad when this whole system finally breaks. you retards are not gonna survive it
@DeathNikki Actually, i never dial out on my landline. So essentially I am paying for a phone line I rarely use. Everyone seems to forget that the grid goes both ways. The power line to my house transports electricity both to and from my house. And I certainly have seen the fees on my electric bill that have no relation to the kWh's either of us generate or use. The utility pays me for power my solar panels generate during peak hours and in return I pay them for the power I use above and beyond that which my panels produce. My bill still has those fees included every month, no matter how much power I sell back to the power utility. I am paying them a monthly "minimum fee" - but I am paying them in electricity instead of dollars.
People trying to lower their environmental impact by going solar are being punished for it, in some areas its illegal to collect rainwater to water your garden, to have large food gardens, to keep a couple of chickens. They don't want people to be at all self sufficient.
And now roll out forcing people to have to buy electric vehicles… You see the scam yet?? It’s never about “saving the planet”, it about CREATING MONOPOLY!!
The bit that caught my attention was the money saved through the solar panels. Worked out to be about $1,200 a year saving. He had a ton of panels which cost... $20k? That's over 16 years to offset the initial cost. Assuming the panels don't need replacing. What a total waste. The panels do put energy back in the grid which generates income. But it's not going to be anywhere near enough to cover the $20k, especially since his bill is still in the positive. Which means he's taking out more than he's putting in. His bill will only go up as the solar panel efficiency decreases and generate less electricity.
Simply report this extra fee(s) to the IRS on your taxes. If the IRS see this as a way the utilities are making extra money from you and they don’t report it, they will get audited. (You can do this with every bill you have to make sure companies don’t take advantage of you. Up to you to show how much money you send to each biller per year on your taxes. They do it to us.)
Years ago all the local cities upgraded their lights. One of the talking points was how much money would be saved on electricity. Power company simply raised its rates to make up the lost income. 🤷♂️
This is exactly why those with solar panels and or other alternative electric generation for their homes are forced to "tie into the grid". If you do not tie into "the grid" they will penalize you for not doing so.. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Personally I would rip the lines from the poles to my house out and leave the meter sitting on the curb. The government should not be allowed to force you into being a customer of some corporation or sell your services to them. It is your choice to make not theirs.
You are commenting on a 3 month old story. Even more funnier than that is Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill and none of this is happening now. Do a little research if you want to comment on old stories like this. I'm sure you've heard the new saying, tell me that you're not a _______ without saying that you are not ________. In this case fill in the blank with "solar customer" I am, and as a result I stayed on top of this law because it would have affected me.
@@fauxque5057 have you ever thought that maybe, this is still an on-going issue somewhere else in the country and not just Florida, and his opinion is valid either way. Idk maybe you should do some research on it
When I was a kid (in the midwest), our electric company was a co=op. When they made too much money they had to give it back to their customers as a dividend.
Im in south texas and i had to sign documents saying that if i produced 100% of my energy there will still be a $25 account service charge each month… which compared to paying $225 a month, that seems like a steal… however, my wife and i got solar in case there are any more outages and the essential rooms would be covered so we didnt freeze to death or so our produce didnt go to waste
It always start small. Only $30, & only affects a very small number of customers. But this is about conditioning the public to accept the idea of minimum bills. Once this becomes normalized they'll continue to raise the minimum till it affects nearly everyone. Also this idea would spread to all other utilities.
Exactly, ATM cards were free, I'll take the 2 bucks everytime someone uses it! Seat belt law in Ohio started at 5.00, now its 100.00. And so it goes, start off slow ,,, then get it all!
They did this in my area when they deregulated the energy providers. My last mile connection supplier charges a $20 a month connection fee for gas and $15 a month meter fee for electricity. I can buy my gas and electric from any supplier on the market or not use it at all. But if I want it there to be available, those are the minimum fees I have to pay. And if something goes out, every number I call goes back to the last mile providers outage line. They handle all the pipes and electrical lines in the area regardless of who I buy the actual energy from. It's been this way in my area since the mid 2000s. My bills average about the same since then too.
Whats insidious is u may actually be paying for infrastructure in entirely different areas in all your bills. For example, the county in my area put in a new law years ago that required anyone who pierced the roadway, so the water company, cable companies, etc had to replace all lanes of the roadway 150' in each direction where they pierced it to current code standards, even if it was just a one inch hole. It just so happened that they also changed the code and required a reinforced roadbed for most roads. So when u got your water bill, cable bill etc these costs were passed on to the customer who already pays taxes to keep the roadways maintained. So they are double, triple, quadruple dipping all over the place.
Not the Fueling Station but that's already been in the works by multiple States to force Hybrid/Electric vehicle owners to pay additionally each year because they aren't getting that sweet tax Revenue when you don't have a 10 MPG MAGA Truck.
@@kimballspeakthreetheater3318 everything will be electric someday and if they build the roads off gas tax theyre just gonna get worse and worse. If you dont want the charge couldnt you just have them not connect you to the grid?
@@chickenpuncher1674 god i hope not. There isn't enough lithium to support this and graphene isn't the miracle is was marketed as a decade ago. We can't afford to support it nor can the environment handle the strip mining. We need a healthy mix. Also it costs as much or more money in most cases to replace electric or hybrid batteries than an engine rebuild costs. An engine goes hundreds of thousands of miles and 20+ years. Some cars outlive their owners. Batteries begin rapidly failing at 5 years almost without fail. This forced electric craze will be the doom of the working class.
@@oceanbytez847 The Battery replacement cost vs Engine repair cost argument has been disproved time after time. You almost NEVER need to replace the entire Battery, only the malfunctioning Cell. This is an issue Prius drivers (like myself) have great knowledge in and 20+ years of real world provable data. It is accurate that we need a healthy mix, but that mix needs to lean heavier into ultra efficient Hybrids and outright outlawing Coal gasified Trucks and other vehicles that can't even manage 10 MPG. The problem lies with Politicians and their being owned by the Energy sector.
Sounds like the standing charge that you have in the UK. Basically a price per day usually £0.20 or $0.15 which you pay even if you don't use Electricity or Gas (you don't pay it if you're disconnected though), which they say is a charge to maintain the infrastructure.
Duke says "only a small number of customers are affected," people are missing the point. Duke and other power companies are conditioning the public for such "minimum charges." Once customers are use to this charge it will start to be raised. Next thing you'll know the $25 charge will become $50 and so forth.
They’ve been the raising I’m here in Toledo for a while they used to be $35 just to have electric on now it’s $75 just have electric on that’s with absolutely zero energy use
@@northernstar2064 Same here in Houston. I live in a subdivision with a “MUD” and even when I use no water, I have a $66.00 minimum bill. Ridiculous. No incentive to “save” water.
I love how the female anchor had the guts to put the truth out there and proudly taking ownership of what everyone was thinking. The power companies doing everything they can just to keep those checks coming
As long as the power companies keep doling out money to politicians through PACs the checks will keep coming. We are not governed by those we elect to govern us. We are governed from corporate boardrooms. Both parties are useless. They both accuse each other of being unfit to govern. They are both right.
@@wanaraz But they are not. That is why the system is outdated and crumbling. You honestly equate as fair, someone that spends thousands to install solar to the average customer that doesn't do anything but consume?
In the United States, the federal government has paid US$145 billion for energy subsidies to support R&D for nuclear power ($85 billion) and fossil fuels ($60 billion) from 1950 to 2016. We are paying for the infrastructure and utilities. The utility companies are merely profiting from both ends.
Exactly…I loved that too! The other two could have grown a ‘pair’ and agreed with her, but I guess nowadays men don’t have anything between their legs. 🤬😡
The electric companies put papers in the bill telling you how to cut back on your usage, then turn around and raise your bill if you don't use enough. Ridiculous
@@aidenralston5477 Cuba, where the standard of living was like twice as good as the US before we stepped in Also funny how he never even said anything about communism in the first place. Trigger happy much?
"The Fee is to ensure that everyone is still paying for the upkeep of the grid that they're still using" Yeah...the Grid....that the government says you HAVE to tie into, otherwise you can't install solar. They won't LET YOU live off grid. Funny how that works... Let's face it. It's not for electrical grid upkeep. It's for shareholders.
In the UK we have standing charges, which got hiked due to the energy Secretary of the time Ed Davey. Saw my gas bill increase to the stage that every £1 on gas I use, I'm paying £3-4 in standing charges. Electricity standing charge also increased. Sadly the changes penalise single/responsible fuel usage people and just enable high abUsage users as we subsidise them with the energy cap that's so unrealistic for single/responsible people as it's 10x as much fuel that they use. But hey, politicians spin it, we pay for it.
@Zink Popovich - It happened here in Ontario Canada, well something similar. Back in the late 90's early 2000's We were told we were using too much power and our grid could not handle the loads, so the power company worked with local government to implement a drive to give rebates on new replacement appliances for old not so energy efficient units. Think fridges, ovens, AC units etc. Well this happened for a few years. Many people took the offer and upgraded, it worked so well, that the power company wasn't making enough money. So they asked permission sighting the loss of revenue to increase the price of electricity higher than what was legally supposed to be allowed, saying they could not maintain the grid (and the retirement funds) unless they were allowed to charge more... Not only were they allowed to charge more, but they were also allowed to charge a legacy network maintenance fee on top of raising the rates. Then a few years later they introduced time of day metering since they had all this new income to wholesale replace all the customers meters... Doesn't the state of Florida mandate all dwellings MUST be connected to the electrical grid. No exceptions?? Seems not so much freedom in the sunshine state after all....
This should be illegal considering they have a monopoly on the electricity in the area. They can jack up the prices, and customers can't simply switch to a different provider.
@@dannymartial7997 no but I know the solar is only like half of what you would need to do so I'm sorry you thought you could use the grid to make your relatively small investment of just solar panels and grid tie inverters run your house all the time and it's $30 to keep the grid up and running
When I lived in Rural Pa our Electric company made a big thing out of saving energy. We followed their recommendations and lowered our bills. Well suddenly the Co requested a rate hike and soon our bill was up higher, The Company said they lost so much money on conservation they had to charge more. You can’t win!
Same where I am too. My usage has gone down greatly what with conservation, room darkening shades, power efficient appliances and lights.... and my usage has dropped... but the rates keep going higher because of those fixed costs of running the power plants, they need to make up for it. Absolute madness.
We have this sort of system in the UK. There is a 'daily charge' for having power supplied to your home and then a 'usage charge' dependent on how much you consume. The daily element is supposed to cover the maintenance and upgrading of the distribution network and it doeas vary quite a bit from region to region (current prices range from £111.73/year in London to £179.46/year in Southwest England). The more difficult to maintain areas of the country (read sparsly populated) end up paying more on this charge and we also tend to have higher prices for consumption as well.
Back in the 80's a family friend put in a solar system on my parents rural ranch which was being powered by propane generators. he built by purchasing surplus solar panels and batteries from government auctions. This was backed up by a home built wind generator . Their energy bill dropped by 90 percent. I remember him saying that this would become more popular when the utilities can figure out how to put a meter between the sun or the wind and you.
Why would a utility company worth its weight in a pound of sweat off their balls waste time putting a meter between the sun and Earth? Too risky and far too expensive. All it takes is this "Day and Age" is a monthly envelope stuffed with untraceable money (cash only) slid under the right politicians door. If caught, just go to trial and tie up the court for 100 million years, with suits countersuits, delays and stall tactics.
This should be illegal. Imagine this idea getting out of hand and Walmart saying you must spend a minimum of $10 whenever you enter the building. It seems silly, but so does this entire idea. How is this legal? A house needs to have access to water and eletricity to be considered liveable. These utilities are literally a mandatory necessity. We don't have an option here.
Just like taxes, you just renting your on property. Don't pay, you get thrown out in the street. I really feel sorry for many in the Democrat states that have to pay thousands of $ in property taxes. I guess that's why they move south to retire. I TELL THEM DONT BRING WHAT YOU RUNNING FROM. VOTE RED.
Minimum charge is standard here in mexico although it's soo low it doesn't even matter xD ($40 pesos $2 usd). I mean the utility company needs to pay for the meter, the wiring, poles, infrastructure the person that reads the measurements. It only makes sense to have a minimum charge but $30 usd? Lmao
In most states you can disconnect from the power system and generate your own, thus avoiding the charges. I was in the generation business for over 30 years and all our plants had to pay the transmission company an interconnect charge which covered the cost of their equipment over 30 years allowing us to sell our power to the market. Now scale this down to a micro level and you have John Doe's solar panel at his house. The equipment to connect his house (transformer, conductor, metering, grounding equipment) has to be paid by him or his neighbors end up paying for it. Its not free. The public is confused by the myriad of politically passed rules and credits. One thing that never changes, is change it self in the business world. Oh by the way all of our plants always and only got wholesale rates when we sold our power, not retail. The retail was added on by the transmission and distribution utilities to recoup their costs.
“People,we’re thinking about solar, now they are pulling back” That’s the point. ….. they don’t want you to be self sufficient. Here’s an hint, stop electing sociopaths that hate you
Learn the truth about solar and wind and you will never buy solar or wind unless there isn't an alternative. If it was a true solution to cleaner power it wouldn't have to be subsidized by the government.
@@lordrayden3045 Beats me. Not sure what your point is unless you think I am anti solar because I am pro oil. I just know solar and wind are not the solution. The "Climate Change" group is pushing it to create another bureaucracy that can be exploited for generations to come. If you don't believe me they never mention current technologies that could put them right where they claim they want to be by simply implementing them today. Research thorium for power or methanol to fuel our automobiles. Also research how much energy it takes to make a solar panel then look at how much that panel generates during its lifetime. Don't be surprised if you find out the average panel fails before it gets to recover the cost it took to make it. It's what they are not telling you and that is a lot.
I am one of the "seasonal customers" and when I saw this charge I was infuriated. I called and had them shut my service off. They screwed me over for 3 months but at least I caught on to the game before too long. That's the problem with auto pay.
What? Why? If you rent an apt for a year and are gone for some months, do you expect the owner to let it go while you’re away? Owner still has to maintain the grounds, fix the roof if a tree falls, pay the property taxes, pay the mortgage, keep the heat working in winter so pipes don’t freeze. Power utility has to do comparable things to keep the grid up. If the tenant claims to be “infuriated” while away and skips the rent, we all know what that’s called: deadbeat.
@@Nill757 False equivalence. If those things cost money, you charge for those services. You know, the ones that are actually provided. You don't charge a 'you're not using enough of our service' fee. Grid maintenance should be paid by people using the grid. Not people who are, at the request of the utility companies, reducing the load on the grid. If you are going to try and make a pro-capitalist argument, learn how capitalism works. If you walk into a Macy's and you buy a shirt, and when you get the total, its way more that what the price tag said, and you find there is a 'we didn't use the full capacity of our warehouse' fee tacked on the end, you have a right to be pissed. Those warehouse costs should be included in the shirt price, unless management is incompetent at pricing.
@@edeasley144 So if a storm causes a line to go down that impacts your house/building/etc. during one of those months you aren't paying are you okay with them not fixing it? I'm not saying minimum charges like this are the way to do it but if you are connected to the grid and have an expectation that you will use it at least part of the time you should also help pay for the maintenance and repair of the grid. If what you pay during the period of time you use it is not enough to cover the average cost of maintaining a line to your type of building then you should pay for the shortfall. This is similar to the gas tax vs. electric vehicle problem.
@@kamX-rz4uy Then they should have a line charge everyone pays regardless of useage. A company shouldn't be charging because they can't bill you enough for their product you're consuming. As stated above line repairs, emergencies, etc, should already be built into the cost.
Minimum charging is a slippery slope. In the UK they introduced a daily standing charge for both gas and electricity. The charges started off fairly low, but have more than doubled in the last year.
Yep, same in Australia., its called a "service charge", Its a charge just to be connected to the network. In Australia it can be almost half the bill. We are charged around $1 per day just to be connected to the network. Over 3 months its around $90. This is coming to everyone in western countries.
“Said Borenstein: “When a household installs solar in the service areas of the three California investor-owned utilities (PG&E, SCE and SDG&E), the customer saves 20-30 cents for every kilowatt-hour their system produces, but the utility costs only go down by 7-9 cents. (Studies that reach similar conclusions here, here, and here - none paid for by entities with a financial stake in the answer). The extra 10-20 cents are avoided by that household, but those fixed costs still have to be paid…. “It has been well documented - and surprises no one - that households with solar are disproportionately wealthy (as well as disproportionately white). So, when a customer installs solar, their share of the fixed costs are shifted to other ratepayers who are poorer on average,” he added.”
"only a smally number of customers are impacted..." Somehow, I have a hard time trusting that statement. A lot has been left unsaid and should invite more scrutiny.
NVEnergy (Norther Nevada) charges a 'connection fee' to be hooked up to the grid. Now I am wondering if they too are going to 'add' a minimum BS fee. I have to pay to be hooked up, if this becomes the case, then I will disconnect and install batteries.
It’s time to nationalize power. I moved from OUC to Duke 4 years ago. If I had known it was going to be this bad with Duke power I would’ve bought a house still in oh you see territory. The power flickers and goes out here on a weekly basis. I never had a problem with OUC in the 23 years I lived there. Private corporations are ruining this country.
This is what happens when people try to do the right thing. Either the government or a large corporation steps in and wants to take advantage of those people. I am certain we will see the same happen when electric vehicles are the norm. The government will have to make up for the gas tax that supposedly pays for roads and infrastructure and pass it on somehow to electric vehicles. In the end it is the people who can least afford it that will end up paying for it.
the two problems actually go hand in hand. if everyone on the road switched to electric, the power grid would be so insanely overtaxed trying to charge that many cars at once. best idea is to get solar in your home and then buy electric car so you're not paying for the electricity to charge it, as well as ease the strain on decades old electric infrastructure that was never meant for millions of electric cars charging. unfortunately once the govt/media says "electric is bad" the majority of sheeple will just agree instead of doing their own research and due diligence. i can't tell you how many times i've heard people say "well i heard solar was worse for the environment than fossil fuels" ...... i'm like where tf do you get this information????
The gouvernment only steps in because the corporation donate millions of dollars for fossile energie laws to stay in the past and want climate change with more tornados and wood fires in summer. There can be more workers in green energy as in fossil energie if they would change the strategie.
Australian utilities have a "connection charge" for infrastructure regardless of consumption. Also, the feed-in rate for your excess solar energy to the grid pays a pathetically low rate which equates to a further fee. I would suspect a future fee for off-grid battery installations to recover lost connection fees :( The state of Victoria has a 2.5 cents PER KM for EVs. Supposedly to recoup some of the petrol tax lost. The issue here is that petrol tax is a federal tax, not a state revenue. During a long drought a few years ago, the State of Victoria introduced a requirement to register the installation of each rainwater storage tank to qualify for a water rebate ... we knew what registration meant in the long term though !!!
They need to make it fully legal in Florida for solar customers to disconnect from the grid and install battery backup systems. Otherwise, these utilities will continue to screw over their trapped customers.
Nobody goes off grid with just batteries. That’s a carnival pitch. Everybody off grid in a full time residence or business uses fossil generators. “trapped customers” Do you also gripe about professional farmers and clothing manufacturers, or do you imagine you can escape that “trap” by growing all your own food? Pay your damn utility bill, or go off grid.
@@Nill757 You missed the point entirely. State code requires a homeowner to be hooked up to a utility company, even if the homeowner can generate their own electricity. Maybe you shouldn't comment on topics about which you're utterly clueless.
What do you think it would cost to to buy enough batteries to store enough power for an entire household? I can assure you it's more than $30 a month. When you're hooked up to the grid, the grid acts as your battery, and you don't have to maintain and replace it over time.
@@cjones7588 Yes the grid acts as backup for rooftop solar. The problem is that rooftop owners don’t pay for that very valuable connection. Net metering lets them skate. The cost of the grid is still there of course, so the utility raises its rates to cover the fall in revenue, which falls mainly on the poorer population.
Just like my municipal power company, solar eats into their profits so they come up with ways to charge more or dissuade customers from using solar through tons of red tape hoops and status changes. What would the power companies do if all those with strong solar got backup battery banks and disconnected from the utility altogether?
This is outrageous. Those people spent thousands of dollars to have solar panels put on their homes. And now they're being hit with a minimum charge every month. OUTRAGEOUS.
I'm 90% efficient here in NYC. I buy energy from PSEG for about .45cents per kilowatt and when I have excess production they buy it for about .05 cents from me. The monthly charge for the grid is about $15 per month regardless you consume energy or not. The entire thing is a scam.
@@tedmarakas2626 That's high way robbery. They are taking your surplus electricity for $0.05 pennies on the dollar , but selling you there's $0.45. It would be nice if you could charge them, your accounting fee, grid maintenance fee. Your home is like a mini substation. They need to pay for that also. At least the Europeans got it right. American greed. Sheesh
Imagine being on a planet that when you're trying to help out the planet and make things easier in life others will fight and do what they can do to make it worse because of greed and jealousy
I agree divergent thg, the 'games' we play with each other are really messed up. People want to live a good life and be amazing creators not to be handicapped slaves being thrown in cells for not paying taxes, permits, following millions of made up rules etc. On God's green earth.
This is not okay. They are charging you for products that you have not received. It's like going to McDonald's and getting a kid's meal, but being charged for an adult meal because you have to pay enough to upkeep the grill. That's not okay. The government needs to step in and make sure this doesn't happen. Just because you have an excuse, doesn't make it okay to do something.
Electric Company: You're using too much electricity. We're going to have to jack up the price to support demand. Customer: Fine, I'll just buy solar panels. Electric Company: You're not using enough electricity. We're instituting a mimimum cost fee. Customer: 👁👄👁
Electric grid is a massive piece of infrastructure. My delivery charge is more than the supply. You drive all over the country every year or just around town you're still taxed the same ignoring fuel tax and tolls.
I am considering installing solar - but off-grid, running only part of my home on the system via a battery. This is crazy. I own an electric car and would love to charge it on the sun, but I'm not going to give the utilities the benefit of that if this is what's going to happen in the future.
Here's The ULTIMATE Question.... Will Florida Residents do something about it? or will they surrender to the politicians who allowed such laws to exist!?
This would be fair if it wasn't legally required to be connected to the power grid. Even if you can go 100% solar panels and windmills to get all the electricity you need, but law in a lot of states, you still have to be connected to the power grid. So for them to charge a minimum is criminal in my opinion. Edit from this point: Need to clarify something, it is only criminal, in my opinion, if you are not selling your electricity.
No because that infastructure is still maintained for the day a hail storm wiping out your solar panels and you go flip the switch to go back on the grid it is available to you.
@@Shodori How about this; energy production should be. ...nationalized. charging people for basic utilities in a post scarcity society is, dare I say it, immoral?
Paying for transmission and grid infastructure is fair. Forcing people to use that infastructure is extortion. Even here in Australia which is generally far more restrictive in terms of freedom you are allowed to legally disconnect from the grid with you're own system as long as it's up to code which isn't too bad honestly.
Isn’t it amazing that no matter what you do, or what cost cutting measures you take, UTILITY COMPANIES STILL GET THEIR POUND OF FLESH. WE had a terrible ice storm this year, went without power for days( we were lucky) and now the utility raised their rates so we pay for the cost of their repairs. Since when is business without risks? They just make us pay for them.
Well as long as we keep rolling over and accepting it, they'll be no limits for them to keep doing it. We are so separated and individualistic as a society that it's easy for them to do as they will...I mean who will stand up and stop them when no one will band together and speak out.
don't those businesses have insurance? Or are they just doubling down, having their insurance give them a wad of cash and then charging the customers too?
@Jonny Croxville exactly, Jan. 6th people stood together. Fought and died together, and Now prison time. No labeling Necessary, domestic terrorism And treason are plainly evident. Now to organize and protest Utilities companies is totally a American right.
Large solar corporations paid off politicians in order to get tax rebates for buyers of solar panels. Yes our taxes went to subsidize rich buyers of solar panels, even electric cars. Solar corporations are evil corporations who bribe politicians
No the problem is the voters. They see this happening and they vote for those politicians anyway. So why shouldn’t politicians except businesses money to do their bidding? The vote is a more concerned about partisan politics then they are about what their politicians are really doing.
That's exactly what SRP (Salt River Project) electric utility in Arizona does, for Solar customers they charge them a minimum fee of at least $30/mo. You could sell more electric back to your utility company than you generate and they will still charge you at least $30/mo, this is a thing happening across the country. I live in Arizona, and came across this video and was just curious. It's maddening, the people need to stand together against these companies and vote out the politicians who support these policies.
I live in Arizona and I've been off grid for 30 yrs. And I haven't used a generator for months sense up grading my system. Yes I have AC also. 40 - 240 watt pannels used from San tan solar two 48 volt forklift batteries with a two 5000 watt diy all in one inverters from midnight solar.
Do you have aps here in az from casa grande here and we got solar 3 months ago. 54k for 12kw dc system and ac production of 9.5kw peak out put. I was planning g on just using a limited grid tie inverter to keep the cost low and use a battery bank to store any excess production with out selling back to the grid. Was going to use the back yard for laying out 30 to 60 pannels witch is about 24kw of maximum power production. Just pannels along on 60 pannels or 2 pallet would be 14k. And this is not including the grid tie limiters or cables or even 15kwhrs of storage. Could of done ot for 40k all together a d still have a cheap bill. Man parents don't listen when their son has a better solution.
I have solar panels myself here in pa. I still have a $15 dollar a month bill because I net meter and still get electricity "delivered" even though i produce and send back to the grid a few hundred kwh monthly. I understand it that I'm still technically using a service. But here in Pa i get SRECs and get an annual over production check every May, so it more than balances out.
The Peopels Republic of Ca did a similar thing with Water. During the drought water usage was very limited. So Revenues went down, so for not using water they raised the prices temporarily. The temporary was like 6 years ago, of course, they never went back to original cost when the drought was over that winter.
This is why monopolies are unhealthy. Even when they are regulated like power companies they have so much leverage that they can get the regulators to cave when they want to do something like this. This disproportionately affects the people who are doing smart things to not use excess energy, and no affecting the people who waste at all... It is the exact opposite of what we want from the system.
We need to nationalize our utilities. It's unacceptable that heat, energy, internet, and water infrastructure can be constantly ignored and left to deteriorate by companies and people still keep shilling and cucking for them. This is last stage capitalism in its development, it's up to your Floridians to stop this.
@@TheLazyass111 I wouldn't suggest nationalising it necessarily but having increased government oversight. For instance Australia has had a nationalised broadband network that has crippled their minimum speeds. Good in concept; give rural areas decent speeds comparative to urban, but horrible in practice; resulted in both rural and urban areas having extremely poor internet speeds comparative to money invested.
@@TheLazyass111 I can't speak to the rest, but at least where I am Internet is doing a pretty good job as far as market forces go. I build fiberoptic networks along telephone poles, and I actively see one company move into a town causing the companies already in that town to update their existing networks and improve speeds/prices. Internet is doing alright in the more populated areas because it isn't an enforced monopoly. A new company is able to come in and force the existing to compete.
@@TheLazyass111 let’s give the government even more control! That will definitely work even though you have plenty of countries showing the negative effects.
The intent is to get their foot in the door. The next act is to increase the "minimum" and go get rid of the requirement to purchase excess power from individuals completely returning their monopoly.
I'd like to see what happens when people just start calling to terminate their service. It sounds like what little they're paying now isn't even for energy. It's for infrastructure that they aren't even using anymore.
@@KosstAmojan 90% of solar are still using the grid if you don’t have storage capabilities then you are always using the grid. There are grid forming solar solutions out now but at night without storage you are using the grid. If it rains all day you want the grid, also people think that these solar systems run flawlessly 100% of the time. This is not true they break down and need to be maintained. You need the grid as a back up only. Paying a fee for something completely reliable is not a bad trade off. I am a solar electrician, the industry is becoming more efficient every day. In about 10-15 years we may not need the grid as much as we do now but it will always be useful to have.
The people with solar are already in a good position to do that. All they have to do is buy a bit of extra production and batteries and then cut the cord. As should we all, but it's a huge investment for people starting out
Four more clueless people. This is a 3 month old story Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill Stop ranting and raving about something that is not happening. LOL.
Honestly, I can understand having a small monthly bill-where I live, Southern California Edison charges $10.50 a month. Even if you only use the grid at night (when your solar panels don't work) they still have to maintain the lines and transformers (a new pole-mounted transformer runs about $12k) plus all the other stuff. I doubt SCE is making a windfall profit off it.
The point of the minimum bill is so they can easily increase them over time. $25-30 isn't much now, but paves a way for these companies to increase this bill as they please in the future.
Or it is to cover the costs of the connection. This excess energy is just getting dumped into the grid whether it is needed or being used or not. It disappears if it isn't used, there is no storage. That means they are buying waste electricity in some cases and need to cover the expenses.
@@sumduma55 no lol the excess energy is used, the power company doesn't have to produce quite as much bc you did that work for them. Cover expenses? They can store every bit of your so called "waste electricity" if they wanted to but that would cut into their profit margin 🙄
@@codyslayer6715 you obviously do not know how a power grid operates. Without writing a short novel to explain it, it give you the cliff notes version. You can find more at a ton of places online. Ever power provider has to provide a base load. This is expected usage plus 10%.if they approach that 10% buffer, that is when demand load and peak loads come into play. This demand load and peak load can be turned on and off and controlled. It is where the solar energy resides. . Base load generation do not throttle up and down. They are generally steam or water powered. There are no hydroelectric power stations I know of in Florida. That leaves steam. Steam is the most efficient and effective method of producing electricity when you consider availability and land use. The drawback is regardless of what fuel is used to create the steam, it takes a considerable amount of time to do it at a usable amount. So when the solar output surpasses the demand load requirements, it isn't used and is just wasted. Even the base load can suffer this if demand unexpectedly drops. Now you cannot just lower your base load requirements because it is heavily regulated by the government and you need to maintain a level at night when the sun isn't out. Well, you could but not without using the internal combustion style generation and jacking the costs and pollution up. These home owners can store that excess solar energy too. But they don't because it costs too much. All you are suggesting by storing the excess is who pays that costs.
@@sumduma55 The video itself said that having in $25 minimum doesn't really generate much money due to most people already spending more than that a month and solar owners paying $10-15 a month before this minimum. So your argument of "paying for the cost of storage" makes no sense. It makes even less sense when you realize storing energy is cheaper than producing energy! I doubt energy coming into the grid from solar homes is making much of difference but if it is then shouldn't the price of energy go down?
@@codyslayer6715 Wrong. So wrong. People like you shouldn't even be commenting. You have absolutely no understanding of how the power grid works and, apparently, can't even be bothered to get the bare minimum facts about it.
Yup! My coworker has a house in Alabama. it's her mom's home who passed away a year or two ago. No one lives there, no one uses any electricity or water yet she has to pay a bill each month to each! I was flabbergasted when she said that. I had no idea such a thing existed. It's all about greed! You have to pay for the ability to use it even if you don't.
@@dercooney that would assume they are maintaining the grid also even if it is only a $12 bill that more then pays for maintenance to your house when you aren't using their power
@@Highgear145 Which is why my rain catchment system is hidden behind a fence. How dare these corporations try to charge for rain and sunshine?!?!?! What in the actual f*ck
Keep calm. Think of all the people who work in the utilities and build the piping and wells, or what have you. They are doing it for everyone. Be skeptical not suspicious. Don't be angry--except when it helps you to do something positive.
In my area the gas company has a minimum charge of $68 a month. Out electric/water/sewer company has what they call tiers. Depending on which tier they have you on is what you pay even though you are not using that much, the minimum monthly charge is $80 something. It's ridiculous that we are forced to pay for something we don't get/use.
Where I live have a well I'm surprised that the water company here has not required that a water meter we put in line so they can find a way to get money
"Only a small number of solar customers are impacted by these minimum bills..." ... for the moment. But hey, let it take root and grow and it'll be _all customers_ in no time!
Here is what is ACTUALLY fair...everyone pays a flat monthly charge to be connected to the grid. Then you apply net metering...if you use power, you pay a per-unit charge for the power, and if you produce more than you use, the power company buys it from you per unit (since they are turning around and selling it to another customer). Your monthly bill is the sum of the connection charge plus your consumption or sales, and can be negative. Getting rid of net metering legalizes theft of electricity when the power company is doing it to small producers. Believe me, if they did this between actual power companies there would be massive lawsuits. The "minimum monthly bill" is the power company defying the net metering law and is blatantly illegal.
I mean they should just do a $30 minimum and that convers the first however many kilowatts I have heard of water companies doing basically the same thing I don't know why if someone is making plenty of power they think they should be able to connect to the pretty stable grid that is supplying you power 24/7 not juat when the sun is shining nothing and ya I think net metering is pretty fair or at least like 90% pay back because they are selling it to other people but again they are using the power companies grid to to that so if there was a slight Is discrepancy that would be fine with me but not where they do like pennies on the dollar
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. 1973-74 oil shock caused crude oil prices to skyrocket. 1976 Jimmy Carter federal support for renewable energy (solar panel research) 1978 Congress passed energy tax act (solar panel subsidies) Even after subsidies, homeowners footed the balance for purchase and installation. The panels generated no power after about 5-6yrs because of "hazing." Roofs rotted because of poor installation. Costs to home owners were in the 10s of thousands to upgrade panels or have them removed. To discard cost even more because city dumps were already full. Thrown away panels were then shipped to 3rd world countries for disassembly which came at a cost in dollars and human lives (toxicity). All this without mentioning how toxic it is to manufacture panels. Plastics, adhesives and toxic soldering. The water runoff from these plants is on par with nuclear waste.
Next you go into your grocery store to get a bottle of soft drink. It's 2.50 for the drink and 27.50 minimum purchase adjustment for a total of $30. Sounds fair, right?
Folks this is how it happens. The energy companies are guaranteed a profit. They also donate huge sums of monies to those running for office. If a legislator doesn't vote the way they want them to, well you guessed it! They don't donate to their campaign fund and give those monies to their opponent! Yep the consumer is screwed!
I work for an electric company in the midwest. We are governed by a regulatory committee in each state we operate in. In order to raise rates the company has to show all of it's books for the previous years to show where a rate hike is justified. Yes, the utility company makes a profit. But it is limited by law to around 2 and a half to 3% in the states we operate in. In the mean time the local burger drive in makes 50% profit and the lawyer's office makes 75%. It's easy to bad mouth the utility companies but when there's a storm at 2 a.m. and your power goes out just think about how much money they have to pay a whole crew of guys to climb power poles in a lightning storm to restore your service. Believe me, the salary these guys get isn't enough.
@@igory8698 They do lie to the workers but they can't lie to the regulatory commission. Sorry but utility companies make a lot less profit than the average business, they just make so much on the top line that the bottom line looks pretty large too.
This is disgusting how companies enforce their grip on customers and also solar users to frighten them in some way. From 127 dollars down to 24 dollars with solarpower is insanely good and the companies dont want that to happen. As usual, behind that sceme: Greed
Might as well add more Solar panel to my Florida houses and shed. cut off from the grid if they keep try to more money from us. Solar panel help reduce energy need from the Power grid. Guess have have to buy Solar battery to keep power on a night if I have too.
I appears to solely be an oversight from the new fee being added based on the bill at billing, vs the bill by usage before the sold back energy was added. This is a minor oversight, affected under a dozen people and the only people left affected by the fee after the oversight's potential correction would be peoppe who left their utilities on the grid despite being out of state for an extended period of time or just permanently on a prpperty no one resides at. It costs them money and consideration to be on the grid even just the metering, going out to check and maintain it, and they arent breaking even if you use $5 worth a month.
I somewhat agree. But now imagine is everyone went solar and there was no min fee. Who would be paying for the grid upkeep if everyones usage was only say $17 a month? I mean come on there is no way that would pay for the employees to be out in a storm fixing the grind in the middle of the night. You would very quickly end up with the power companies just shutting shop and then all you would have is your solar except when you run out of battery and its night and you have no way to cool or heat your house. I think they would have done better as just putting it on as a Maintenace type set fee of a fixed amount then trying to push it as a power adjustment.
GREED. We already cannot afford to live. Duke Energy, Florida Power & LIght, and all other "electric" companies should not be allowed to price gouge like this.This makes a good argument for refusing to allow private companies to run what are essentially public utilities.
Where I live the city is talking about a tax on septic tanks because some people don’t have to pay for sewage. There are some things I shouldn’t have to pay to do.
Property taxes are charged to maintain city owned & provided properties & services; schools, etc. A privately installed, private property owned & maintained septic tank does not fall under this heading. What next? Taxing fireplaces? Wells? Added home insulation? I hope your city doesn't get away with this blatant money grab. Make a stink about this - pun not intended.
Well, realistically they have to make enough to cover the cost of upkeep for the network. Oh WOW, they just mentioned it in the video. That was weird, as I was typing it. But yeah, it costs money to keep a network going. I'm surprised the minimum isn't higher honestly.
Its not just FL, its companies all over doing this, where I live solar is almost useless now since our power company was able to stop paying the full rate for power we produce. They only pay us about a penny per kilowatt hour now. So all you can do is net zero your bill and they also have the minimum bill, but its 50$. You can't go under 50, no matter if you sold them 10,000 kw/h or 1. Oh I wanted to add since its not really mentioned yet anywhere...Our power company also was going to start chaging an "Electric Car" drop in fee, you know, if you have the large 100 or 200amp service drop.. So they know you have an electric car, so now thats an extra 40$ fee per month. Now before I even crank on a light per month, my bill is 90$.
The power company that serves my house has a $45 charge in addition to paying for electricity used each month. We ran electric to a workshop on the property a few years ago. There was an old electric service pole right next to the building. We chose to run the electric from our house some 110 ft away rather than hook to the pole 10 ft away. The pole option would have added another $45 a month to our bill!
This reminds me of when wind turbines came out in Texas in the 90's. All the cities passed ordinances restricting the hight that a blade could be. It was ALWAYS well below the optimum operating height. Never forget your city gets a kick back from all, I repeat ALL, utilities based on profit.
And so too those legislators pushing to penalizing green energy! Don’t forget all those lobbyists who they cater to. Sunshine right up the Back ends of Floridians….Republican branded “freedom” yes sir!
The wind mill thing has been a complete failure. It takes a dump truck of power to get them moving ,they ignite into catastrophic fires.. yeah a failure...
In my city in Florida, the water company charges 40$ for a base charge. You have to pay even if you don't use any. This is what happens when monopolies run utilities. You pay up or you don't have any service. I guess taxes aren't fattening their pockets quickly enough.
$10 month water collection fee for the water that comes off the house gutters. I tried to charge them $20 a month for using my roof to collect their water. They laughed at me.
It's suburbs. The cost of running water mains to a cul-de-sac pre-planned neighborhood is not small. But there's only 100 houses or so in a huge land footprint. I'm not saying utilities aren't evil, and don't push their monopolies. They most definitely do. But it ain't helped when most of the country wants to live in suburbs with a staggering land use per person. They can push this stuff through legislation simply by pointing to the millions invested in buildout and upkeep of their sprawling networks. Which btw, councils are all too aware of because they have to build and upkeep road networks to them that are underused for the cost of building them. City councils hate suburban road networks, hate. Huge sink the taxes cannot cover. Always running in the red. So they're predisposed to understanding the utilities plight.
I have solar here in Missouri. I have a minimum bill. I use the grid when it's cloudy etc so why shouldn't I "pay" for the upkeep of the transmission lines that bring power to me and take power away when I sell it back. Fair and reasonable come to mind here. 🤓 You don't want to pay a minimum bill, cool. Don't buy any power from the Grid, that's work pretty well.
@DeathNikki the point would be that they are selling back excess power lowering their bill . If you mandate a min usage they are getting paid for your excess, not you whos producing it. What they should do is charge regular rates in your bill and put the excess you sold to then in a credit at the end of the bill but they are doing it in the middle and the charge comes up when the bill calculates at the end.
@@johnthree1611 lol. I'm hunting for a single comment on this story that tells the truth. I can't it. This is a 3 month old story. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill. It's a none issue yet look at all of the comments ready to attack the government and power company. Maybe check out the California law and take your rage that way.
The problem is that there is no law being broken. The legislation at both the state level and federal level made it legal to bribe politicians via campaign donations. The utility companies then bribe, I mean, donate to the legislatures to make it legal to charge customers minimum fees, service fees and miscellaneous fees. The only thing that the utility companies could be taken to court for is for "lying to shareholders" by means of making false claims (such as needing these fees to maintain the grid). At that point, it would take forensic accountants and warrants to get that information which is hard to do without having existing criminal conduct that would then lead to the SEC regulations being broken.
People in charge “We need to switch to renewable energy!!!” Normal people *switch to renewable energy* People in charge “not like that!!!” *charges them extra*
It depends on the state in the US.If you have an elected official that receives money from these companies then they can do this, if you have an elected official that is either pro solar or receives money from a company that produces solar panels then you will have an easier time.$$$ talks unfortunately.
@@TheBandit7613 These companies are receiving millions ( if not billions) in subsidies from the Government, they already add an additional fee on the bill for "maintainance" and the solar Panel users are selling off energy for Pennies on the dollar so they can charge 10 times more for it.If you think that energy companies are struggling you are mistaken: these people are fattening up their wallets
Told for DECADES that we're using too much water and electricity, now we're charged for using too less. The audacity of these people
Good observation! Of course, the utilities are caught in a bold face lie with "equity" as if they were Robin Hood defenders of the poor. We can see their record profits and look how much money the corporate executives are making. Hint: the utility CEO's make *millions* in total compensation a year. Somebody's got to pay for that right?
THIS. They could've labeled it better like a generic "franchise fee" like cable companies do or a surcharge and put it on all bills for maintenance and expansion. Just wait till your DMV learns of the nontransferable no credit/refund/exchange gas tax recovery surcharge for hybrids, CNG, electric cars our is $100-$200 a year plus registration, etc.
Always when we use less of something the price goes up and the net result is the same or bigger bill.
@@Pentti_Hilkuri Not sure what you mean by "always". Because that's opposite of typical supply/demand economics.
In macroeconomics, the Law of Demand says that when demand goes down then the price goes down and vice versa. The only time when price an go up with decreasing demand is when the supply goes down more than the demand. Such as if the infrastructure to make the product is being dismantled. But nope! The electricity supply is *not* going down either!
In fact, the price of electricity should go *waaay* down! Because the demand is decreasing (solar homes not buying as much grid power) *and* the supply is increasing or staying the same (solar homes exporting surplus power to the grid).
This is what happens when the demand curve is shifting left while the supply curve is shifting right. Its a double-whammy to knock down the price of the commodity. No wonder the utilities are terrified!
They really said “your carbon footprint is too low, we gotta fix that”
It's retaliation for people disconnecting from big electricity, plain and simple. At least the female reporter has the balls to say it.
They always out to hurt the people
But they're not disconnected. They still want that main power as back up for pennies a month.
It’s the Republicans in charge of all of Florida that did this for the power companies.
@@justinborysenko3885 And it's only fair right?
Retaliation with the help of your representatives.
What they don’t tell you is that it is illegal to be completely off grid in many states. They actually force you to use the local electric companies which forces you to have to pay the electric companies even if you don’t need them. I think that is called a monopoly.
Living off the grid is technically not illegal in any of the 50 U.S. states
It's soft communalism. If every rich guy took his home and Factory off the grid, it would not be a viable or affordable thing. If they all ran their operations off generators only they can afford the "Poor" would be living in Victorian days at home.
Like the roads, even full time pedestrians pay for them, Motorists pay for Transit, the only MEGA infrastructure I can think of that is pay to play are toll bridges and they are probably subsidized.
These people in the Thumb should get a exemption, and there should be one based on how many Sq/ft you have per square foot of home. Or what percentage of you energy is home made. A heavy slap in the face to invest that much "for the greater good" and be told you were a fool.
It's called a zionist CRIME!
Bingo
Yeah see how that works out when it's dark your solar batteries run dead and you're off the power grid.
At the very least, I now grasp the concept of leverage.
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Another point that everyone seems to be missing is: This “minimum charge” is only the opener for higher “minimum” charges down the road.
Thats what my comment was gonna be about....what charges does this open us up to down the road?....🤷🏾♂️ 👍🏾 great comment...
Oh my! What a cynical point of view. It's as if you have experience dealing with corporations, utilities and the government. LOL
This is my point. When the proponents for the 16th amendment said a new income tax would only be a few percent and would only effect a small number of the uber rich (and no one else), not enough people asked "but what about tomorrow.... and next month.... and next year?" Now look at the mess we're in.
As for net metering.... a power company shouldn't be forced to pay retail to buy someone's excess electricity. It's the power company that has the billions of dollars in infrastructure to get power to (and from) a customer's property.
The will charge more lol the electric company needs to make money .
@@j5892000 they already have more money then they will ever need
“This is called a minimum bill.” I’d call it ripping people off.
Right. If I didn't use it, I shouldn't pay for it.
We are in Hawaii and are on full solar, but when you cannot charge the PV bc of weather, you gotta pull from the grid! HELCO has been charging these fees for years now! Welcome to reality
, folks!
Or theft
Just like that "Fair gas act tax" where gas stations can use other gas stations for having low gas prices than competitors. They make new laws to break old laws.
If you dont pay for it, then have the utility wires to your house removed. Also give back your solar panel tax rebate to the taxpayers.
I'm sure the lawmakers that push this bill are making a profit or kickback from the power companies.
The fees always starts small and only affect a few...
That is how the income tax started.
What you really have to worry about is local governments taxing solar at a higher rate like they have started doing with electric cars.
Exactly. We had free parking in the small town I live in the city streets. Then it went to $3 an hour and now they have raised it to $5. It never stops hurting financially the little guy.
I always knew that it was too good to be true. Like criminals in jail, the power companies will find a way to get you
Here's The ULTIMATE Question....
Will Florida Residents do something about it? or will they surrender to the politicians who allowed such laws to exist!?
The fact that an electrical company thinks that they can charge you money if you're not using their service should be illegal in the first place
Only in America land of the free.
If you go off of grid you pay nothing. You are paying for the ability to tie to the grid when needed. It shouldn't be up to others to play for the infrastructure.
I pay $11 a month for natural gas even though I don't use it. I also pay storm water fees, waste water fees, various taxes, telephone pole fees, and other charges on my power bill. My bill last month was $260, and I live in a small house, use one light at night, and watch the A/C like a hawk. Doesn't matter, because the other fees are there no matter how efficient I am with my electrical use.
It's getting ridiculous how everybody keeps reaching into our pockets.
Blame your zionist politicians!
@@notredo You should pay to tie into the grid when you initially get hooked up, and it should be a 1 time fee. After that, it's a tax by another name, especially since governments love raiding public utility coffers. It's utterly disgusting.
"....customers called our news room trying to find out what is wrong."
I can tell you what's wrong. They are losing revenue so they decided that since you found a way around a huge electric bill, they've decided to steal the money from you instead. It's wrong, unethical and should be illegal.
Absolutely!
@clot shots You are aware the reason people are staying on the grid is that they sell power back to the grid, right?
The electrical company benefits from distributed production but they're ripping people off
@@priestesslucy3299 tsk tsk tsk. Nobody is getting ripped off. This story is 3 months old. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill. Net metering lives on on Florida and they can't charge a mandatory minimum for solar customers.
It's really funny to see all of these people who think this is law. They obviously aren't solar customers and have no clue about anything they are raging against.
@clot shots Yes. Someone has to. Let it be those who aren't changing to "renewable" energy. I want to be charged for what I use. Not what other people use. Charging for services not used is stealing. Period.
If there is a way to get off the grid without investing $10,000 to 100,000 in material and installation costs while still leading a normal life, I and more than half of America are waiting for your solution.
@@fauxque5057 your comment needs to be up front. This is just trying to shove blame on R Desantis.
For decades we were told to cut our electricity usage: turn the lights off when you exit a room, buy energy efficient appliances, forced to buy LED lightbulbs, turn your thermostat up in the summer, on an on. Electric companies pushed the business model of "stop using so much of our product". Now that people have found a way to stop using so much of their product they have a minimum charge.
They want to burn more coal. These people are climate terrorists.
Good ol’ moRon Doucheantis! He can write a bill literally overnight to disparage the LGBTQ community and Disney but he can stop the power company from price gouging. 😂😂😂😂😂
Here's The ULTIMATE Question....
Will Florida Residents do something about it? or will they surrender to the politicians who allowed such laws to exist!?
I live in Alberta, Canada. My natural gas bill has increased from $97 per month to $155 per month starting in August.
A 60% increase. This province is the largest producer of natural gas in Canada!
And the zionist are crying that they are running out of natural gas!
That's because they can sell that gas elsewhere for now money, so your have to pay that price to get any. The solution? Stop burning the gas if you can. Climate change has been a thing for almost 40 years. Tough if you're in an apartment or renting because you're powerless to change anything. But if you own your own home it might be worth looking at solar + wind.....or at least a home battery to fill up at a cheap time to use the power at an expensive time.
"It really doesn't generate much revenue at all" - Then, obviously, the reason for charging the fee is to discourage people from installing solar panels, not to make a profit.
The fee is their to cover the costs of utility infrastructure to the home, even these solar powered homes need the utility for night time and cloudy day events.
If they dont want to pay for maintaining the utility service, then they should remove the utility wires from their home and go full solar, even at night.
@@dave8599 Thank you Captain Obvious. Let me explain. I have a small house with 11 solar panels on my roof and net-metering. Those 11 panels do not cover all my electrical needs. They produce power all day, but at night they do not power my lights. During the day, net-metering sells my surplus electricity back to the grid and I pay for the electricity my lights use at night. This Summer, when my air conditioner is running almost constantly, I will not be sending anything back to the grid and I will pay for those kWh from the grid. However, during sunny temperate months my panels generate *almost* as many kWh as I use, so my bill last month was $2.08. The month before it was about $20 and the month before that about $30. In my case the result is that my solar installation only *lowers* my electric bill.
But consider the person who has a large solar installation that consistently sells back to the grid. Let's say he generates a surplus that obligates the power utility to send a check to him every month. Should not that "access fee" be subtracted from his check? Perhaps they are and the Florida utility is 'only' charging a $25-$30 minimum charge fee on the months where his solar negates them from selling him grid electricity. But that was not how this was presented: it sounded as though they charge him at least $25/mo. no matter how much solar electricity he sends their way.
Think of it this way. Suppose poor Mother Hubbard lives in a one room tar-paper shack with one lightbulb dangling from the middle of the ceiling. Should the electric utility charge her $25 per month for the "privilege" of powering her one light bulb each evening when normally she would be billed maybe a dollar?
@@dave8599 But they ARE paying the electric utility - with electricity that the utility *can sell* to other customers instead of dollars.
@@etoineschrdlu9382 You are using millions of dollars of electricity infrastructure and making the grid unstable with your retarded solar energy that does not produce any net energy and would never be installed without government subsidies. the energy companies are forced to pay you retail energy prices for your tiny amount of grid destabilizing energy. energy is produced and sold distributed by producers in hundreds of megawatts at wholesale. ill be glad when this whole system finally breaks. you retards are not gonna survive it
@DeathNikki Actually, i never dial out on my landline. So essentially I am paying for a phone line I rarely use.
Everyone seems to forget that the grid goes both ways. The power line to my house transports electricity both to and from my house. And I certainly have seen the fees on my electric bill that have no relation to the kWh's either of us generate or use. The utility pays me for power my solar panels generate during peak hours and in return I pay them for the power I use above and beyond that which my panels produce. My bill still has those fees included every month, no matter how much power I sell back to the power utility. I am paying them a monthly "minimum fee" - but I am paying them in electricity instead of dollars.
People trying to lower their environmental impact by going solar are being punished for it, in some areas its illegal to collect rainwater to water your garden, to have large food gardens, to keep a couple of chickens. They don't want people to be at all self sufficient.
And now roll out forcing people to have to buy electric vehicles…
You see the scam yet??
It’s never about “saving the planet”, it about CREATING MONOPOLY!!
Ding Ding Ding
Collecting rainwater is illegal? Wow. They do realize laws are meant to fight crime, right? Not ways of survival.
Rainwater law is kinda useful tho... It prevents the reproduction of mosquitoes.
@@slazerlombardi that being illegal is just nonsense, should be regulated instead. Like plumbing, wiring, building standards, etc...
The bit that caught my attention was the money saved through the solar panels. Worked out to be about $1,200 a year saving. He had a ton of panels which cost... $20k? That's over 16 years to offset the initial cost. Assuming the panels don't need replacing. What a total waste.
The panels do put energy back in the grid which generates income. But it's not going to be anywhere near enough to cover the $20k, especially since his bill is still in the positive. Which means he's taking out more than he's putting in. His bill will only go up as the solar panel efficiency decreases and generate less electricity.
Simply report this extra fee(s) to the IRS on your taxes. If the IRS see this as a way the utilities are making extra money from you and they don’t report it, they will get audited. (You can do this with every bill you have to make sure companies don’t take advantage of you. Up to you to show how much money you send to each biller per year on your taxes. They do it to us.)
Years ago all the local cities upgraded their lights. One of the talking points was how much money would be saved on electricity. Power company simply raised its rates to make up the lost income. 🤷♂️
Exactly. It’s a lose-lose situation.
In my city they are converting all the traffic lights to solar. By 2027 the city will no longer be a customer of the electric company
This is exactly why those with solar panels and or other alternative electric generation for their homes are forced to "tie into the grid". If you do not tie into "the grid" they will penalize you for not doing so.. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Personally I would rip the lines from the poles to my house out and leave the meter sitting on the curb. The government should not be allowed to force you into being a customer of some corporation or sell your services to them. It is your choice to make not theirs.
You are commenting on a 3 month old story. Even more funnier than that is Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill and none of this is happening now. Do a little research if you want to comment on old stories like this.
I'm sure you've heard the new saying, tell me that you're not a _______ without saying that you are not ________. In this case fill in the blank with "solar customer" I am, and as a result I stayed on top of this law because it would have affected me.
Very unamerican
@@fauxque5057 have you ever thought that maybe, this is still an on-going issue somewhere else in the country and not just Florida, and his opinion is valid either way. Idk maybe you should do some research on it
just had solar put in wish I can flip a switch and cut off TECO utility company
@@altha-rf1et ... Technically there is a way to do that but if caught they will fine you and other nasty crap as well.
When I was a kid (in the midwest), our electric company was a co=op. When they made too much money they had to give it back to their customers as a dividend.
Im in south texas and i had to sign documents saying that if i produced 100% of my energy there will still be a $25 account service charge each month… which compared to paying $225 a month, that seems like a steal… however, my wife and i got solar in case there are any more outages and the essential rooms would be covered so we didnt freeze to death or so our produce didnt go to waste
It always start small. Only $30, & only affects a very small number of customers. But this is about conditioning the public to accept the idea of minimum bills. Once this becomes normalized they'll continue to raise the minimum till it affects nearly everyone. Also this idea would spread to all other utilities.
Exactly, ATM cards were free, I'll take the 2 bucks everytime someone uses it! Seat belt law in Ohio started at 5.00, now its 100.00. And so it goes, start off slow ,,, then get it all!
The green energy
Frogs in boiling water
They did this in my area when they deregulated the energy providers. My last mile connection supplier charges a $20 a month connection fee for gas and $15 a month meter fee for electricity. I can buy my gas and electric from any supplier on the market or not use it at all. But if I want it there to be available, those are the minimum fees I have to pay. And if something goes out, every number I call goes back to the last mile providers outage line. They handle all the pipes and electrical lines in the area regardless of who I buy the actual energy from.
It's been this way in my area since the mid 2000s. My bills average about the same since then too.
Whats insidious is u may actually be paying for infrastructure in entirely different areas in all your bills.
For example, the county in my area put in a new law years ago that required anyone who pierced the roadway, so the water company, cable companies, etc had to replace all lanes of the roadway 150' in each direction where they pierced it to current code standards, even if it was just a one inch hole. It just so happened that they also changed the code and required a reinforced roadbed for most roads.
So when u got your water bill, cable bill etc these costs were passed on to the customer who already pays taxes to keep the roadways maintained. So they are double, triple, quadruple dipping all over the place.
Imagine driving a hybrid car and the gas station says you have to buy a minimum amount of gas each month or they'll charge you the difference.
Not the Fueling Station but that's already been in the works by multiple States to force Hybrid/Electric vehicle owners to pay additionally each year because they aren't getting that sweet tax Revenue when you don't have a 10 MPG MAGA Truck.
@@kimballspeakthreetheater3318 everything will be electric someday and if they build the roads off gas tax theyre just gonna get worse and worse. If you dont want the charge couldnt you just have them not connect you to the grid?
@@chickenpuncher1674 god i hope not. There isn't enough lithium to support this and graphene isn't the miracle is was marketed as a decade ago.
We can't afford to support it nor can the environment handle the strip mining.
We need a healthy mix.
Also it costs as much or more money in most cases to replace electric or hybrid batteries than an engine rebuild costs. An engine goes hundreds of thousands of miles and 20+ years. Some cars outlive their owners. Batteries begin rapidly failing at 5 years almost without fail. This forced electric craze will be the doom of the working class.
You don't have to imagine, many states already have an additional charge for electric cars.
@@oceanbytez847 The Battery replacement cost vs Engine repair cost argument has been disproved time after time. You almost NEVER need to replace the entire Battery, only the malfunctioning Cell. This is an issue Prius drivers (like myself) have great knowledge in and 20+ years of real world provable data.
It is accurate that we need a healthy mix, but that mix needs to lean heavier into ultra efficient Hybrids and outright outlawing Coal gasified Trucks and other vehicles that can't even manage 10 MPG.
The problem lies with Politicians and their being owned by the Energy sector.
I love how the windmills in the background... are NOT SPINNING !!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Sounds like the standing charge that you have in the UK. Basically a price per day usually £0.20 or $0.15 which you pay even if you don't use Electricity or Gas (you don't pay it if you're disconnected though), which they say is a charge to maintain the infrastructure.
Duke says "only a small number of customers are affected," people are missing the point. Duke and other power companies are conditioning the public for such "minimum charges." Once customers are use to this charge it will start to be raised. Next thing you'll know the $25 charge will become $50 and so forth.
They’ve been the raising I’m here in Toledo for a while they used to be $35 just to have electric on now it’s $75 just have electric on that’s with absolutely zero energy use
@@northernstar2064 Same here in Houston. I live in a subdivision with a “MUD” and even when I use no water, I have a $66.00 minimum bill. Ridiculous. No incentive to “save” water.
@@MB-uy5kh and all the repairs from the meter to your house or still your responsibility!
Same thing as the vaccination ...oh wait you need this booster then this one then this one
@@tylersowa3858 no. No Tyler.
I love how the female anchor had the guts to put the truth out there and proudly taking ownership of what everyone was thinking.
The power companies doing everything they can just to keep those checks coming
As they should. They have a huge infrastructure to maintain.
You could literally see the power companies d$ck hanging out of that older reporters mouth!
As long as the power companies keep doling out money to politicians through PACs the checks will keep coming. We are not governed by those we elect to govern us. We are governed from corporate boardrooms. Both parties are useless. They both accuse each other of being unfit to govern. They are both right.
@@wanaraz But they are not. That is why the system is outdated and crumbling. You honestly equate as fair, someone that spends thousands to install solar to the average customer that doesn't do anything but consume?
In the United States, the federal government has paid US$145 billion for energy subsidies to support R&D for nuclear power ($85 billion) and fossil fuels ($60 billion) from 1950 to 2016. We are paying for the infrastructure and utilities. The utility companies are merely profiting from both ends.
Government: Go green, use renewable energy, go off grid.
Also Government: You can't go off grid.
@crunthat I bet so or they would starve
Love how the lady had more balls to speak the truth than the, so called, men. She said,”I said it!”
Exactly…I loved that too! The other two could have grown a ‘pair’ and agreed with her, but I guess nowadays men don’t have anything between their legs. 🤬😡
The electric companies put papers in the bill telling you how to cut back on your usage, then turn around and raise your bill if you don't use enough. Ridiculous
It's sad. But what is sadder is that there is no electricity or food in the first place, ahem, communism.
@Jaeger19Ultima Why do people say capitalism? Are you implying communism is better? Go to Cuba and see how that works out.
What companies don't have a minimum payment? I've never hired a plumber or electrician who didnt have a minimum fee
@Jaeger19Ultima You mean corporate socialism
@@aidenralston5477 Cuba, where the standard of living was like twice as good as the US before we stepped in
Also funny how he never even said anything about communism in the first place. Trigger happy much?
"The Fee is to ensure that everyone is still paying for the upkeep of the grid that they're still using"
Yeah...the Grid....that the government says you HAVE to tie into, otherwise you can't install solar. They won't LET YOU live off grid. Funny how that works...
Let's face it. It's not for electrical grid upkeep. It's for shareholders.
No its to kill an industry there afraid of.
💯
And how many of those shareholders are members of Congress?
@@patrickkenyon2326 Yes
I live 100% off grid. Maybe you should move to another state. I did so I could have the freedom I want.
In the UK we have standing charges, which got hiked due to the energy Secretary of the time Ed Davey. Saw my gas bill increase to the stage that every £1 on gas I use, I'm paying £3-4 in standing charges. Electricity standing charge also increased. Sadly the changes penalise single/responsible fuel usage people and just enable high abUsage users as we subsidise them with the energy cap that's so unrealistic for single/responsible people as it's 10x as much fuel that they use.
But hey, politicians spin it, we pay for it.
@Zink Popovich - It happened here in Ontario Canada, well something similar. Back in the late 90's early 2000's We were told we were using too much power and our grid could not handle the loads, so the power company worked with local government to implement a drive to give rebates on new replacement appliances for old not so energy efficient units. Think fridges, ovens, AC units etc. Well this happened for a few years. Many people took the offer and upgraded, it worked so well, that the power company wasn't making enough money. So they asked permission sighting the loss of revenue to increase the price of electricity higher than what was legally supposed to be allowed, saying they could not maintain the grid (and the retirement funds) unless they were allowed to charge more... Not only were they allowed to charge more, but they were also allowed to charge a legacy network maintenance fee on top of raising the rates. Then a few years later they introduced time of day metering since they had all this new income to wholesale replace all the customers meters... Doesn't the state of Florida mandate all dwellings MUST be connected to the electrical grid. No exceptions?? Seems not so much freedom in the sunshine state after all....
This should be illegal considering they have a monopoly on the electricity in the area. They can jack up the prices, and customers can't simply switch to a different provider.
Then go off grid
@@james10739 tHeN gO oFf gRiD.
Ok, hippy
@@dannymartial7997 no but I know the solar is only like half of what you would need to do so I'm sorry you thought you could use the grid to make your relatively small investment of just solar panels and grid tie inverters run your house all the time and it's $30 to keep the grid up and running
@@james10739 don't need a grid if you have your own power
Fun fact monopolies use to be illegal as they should be illegal.
When I lived in Rural Pa our Electric company made a big thing out of saving energy. We followed their recommendations and lowered our bills. Well suddenly the Co requested a rate hike and soon our bill was up higher, The Company said they lost so much money on conservation they had to charge more. You can’t win!
Same where I am too. My usage has gone down greatly what with conservation, room darkening shades, power efficient appliances and lights.... and my usage has dropped... but the rates keep going higher because of those fixed costs of running the power plants, they need to make up for it. Absolute madness.
It's thievery. Vindictive and wrong.
You can't win, but they sure can
We are seeing a rate hike here in NC.
~have the money
We have this sort of system in the UK. There is a 'daily charge' for having power supplied to your home and then a 'usage charge' dependent on how much you consume. The daily element is supposed to cover the maintenance and upgrading of the distribution network and it doeas vary quite a bit from region to region (current prices range from £111.73/year in London to £179.46/year in Southwest England). The more difficult to maintain areas of the country (read sparsly populated) end up paying more on this charge and we also tend to have higher prices for consumption as well.
Our energy should be cheap and abundant. Oil and gas!
Back in the 80's a family friend put in a solar system on my parents rural ranch which was being powered by propane generators. he built by purchasing surplus solar panels and batteries from government auctions. This was backed up by a home built wind generator . Their energy bill dropped by 90 percent. I remember him saying that this would become more popular when the utilities can figure out how to put a meter between the sun or the wind and you.
Thanks, I needed that.
Your friend is very wise.
@@JohnMiller-oz7gv He was a true genius, that never graduated from High School yet became a high tech developer at TRW and Boeing among others
Why would a utility company worth its weight in a pound of sweat off their balls waste time putting a meter between the sun and Earth? Too risky and far too expensive. All it takes is this "Day and Age" is a monthly envelope stuffed with untraceable money (cash only) slid under the right politicians door. If caught, just go to trial and tie up the court for 100 million years, with suits countersuits, delays and stall tactics.
@@furturisticfrontierfilms That was awesome, in a sad but true way.
This should be illegal. Imagine this idea getting out of hand and Walmart saying you must spend a minimum of $10 whenever you enter the building. It seems silly, but so does this entire idea. How is this legal? A house needs to have access to water and eletricity to be considered liveable. These utilities are literally a mandatory necessity. We don't have an option here.
welcome to the land of dum-dum!
Just like taxes, you just renting your on property. Don't pay, you get thrown out in the street. I really feel sorry for many in the Democrat states that have to pay thousands of
$ in property taxes. I guess that's why they move south to retire.
I TELL THEM DONT BRING WHAT YOU RUNNING FROM. VOTE RED.
Minimum charge is standard here in mexico although it's soo low it doesn't even matter xD ($40 pesos $2 usd). I mean the utility company needs to pay for the meter, the wiring, poles, infrastructure the person that reads the measurements. It only makes sense to have a minimum charge but $30 usd? Lmao
That’s Sam’s Club, bro 😭
You're not owed an right to enter Walmart (or sleep in its parking lot). It's a private business. Utilities are different.
In most states you can disconnect from the power system and generate your own, thus avoiding the charges. I was in the generation business for over 30 years and all our plants had to pay the transmission company an interconnect charge which covered the cost of their equipment over 30 years allowing us to sell our power to the market. Now scale this down to a micro level and you have John Doe's solar panel at his house. The equipment to connect his house (transformer, conductor, metering, grounding equipment) has to be paid by him or his neighbors end up paying for it. Its not free. The public is confused by the myriad of politically passed rules and credits. One thing that never changes, is change it self in the business world. Oh by the way all of our plants always and only got wholesale rates when we sold our power, not retail. The retail was added on by the transmission and distribution utilities to recoup their costs.
If you disconnected the power to your home, how long would it take the system to catch up with you?
“People,we’re thinking about solar, now they are pulling back”
That’s the point. ….. they don’t want you to be self sufficient.
Here’s an hint, stop electing sociopaths that hate you
Yes , go vote the crap out of them 😂
Learn the truth about solar and wind and you will never buy solar or wind unless there isn't an alternative. If it was a true solution to cleaner power it wouldn't have to be subsidized by the government.
@@mperdue12
You realize none of that is true right?
@@mperdue12
Why does the government subsidize oil companies then?
@@lordrayden3045 Beats me. Not sure what your point is unless you think I am anti solar because I am pro oil. I just know solar and wind are not the solution. The "Climate Change" group is pushing it to create another bureaucracy that can be exploited for generations to come. If you don't believe me they never mention current technologies that could put them right where they claim they want to be by simply implementing them today. Research thorium for power or methanol to fuel our automobiles. Also research how much energy it takes to make a solar panel then look at how much that panel generates during its lifetime. Don't be surprised if you find out the average panel fails before it gets to recover the cost it took to make it. It's what they are not telling you and that is a lot.
I am one of the "seasonal customers" and when I saw this charge I was infuriated. I called and had them shut my service off. They screwed me over for 3 months but at least I caught on to the game before too long. That's the problem with auto pay.
What? Why? If you rent an apt for a year and are gone for some months, do you expect the owner to let it go while you’re away? Owner still has to maintain the grounds, fix the roof if a tree falls, pay the property taxes, pay the mortgage, keep the heat working in winter so pipes don’t freeze. Power utility has to do comparable things to keep the grid up. If the tenant claims to be “infuriated” while away and skips the rent, we all know what that’s called: deadbeat.
@@Nill757 False equivalence. If those things cost money, you charge for those services. You know, the ones that are actually provided. You don't charge a 'you're not using enough of our service' fee. Grid maintenance should be paid by people using the grid. Not people who are, at the request of the utility companies, reducing the load on the grid. If you are going to try and make a pro-capitalist argument, learn how capitalism works. If you walk into a Macy's and you buy a shirt, and when you get the total, its way more that what the price tag said, and you find there is a 'we didn't use the full capacity of our warehouse' fee tacked on the end, you have a right to be pissed. Those warehouse costs should be included in the shirt price, unless management is incompetent at pricing.
@@edeasley144 What happens when they dont cost money... Energy is free.
@@edeasley144 So if a storm causes a line to go down that impacts your house/building/etc. during one of those months you aren't paying are you okay with them not fixing it? I'm not saying minimum charges like this are the way to do it but if you are connected to the grid and have an expectation that you will use it at least part of the time you should also help pay for the maintenance and repair of the grid. If what you pay during the period of time you use it is not enough to cover the average cost of maintaining a line to your type of building then you should pay for the shortfall. This is similar to the gas tax vs. electric vehicle problem.
@@kamX-rz4uy Then they should have a line charge everyone pays regardless of useage. A company shouldn't be charging because they can't bill you enough for their product you're consuming. As stated above line repairs, emergencies, etc, should already be built into the cost.
That’s like… going to the grocery store and being charged money for getting only 12 items
Yuuuuup! You said it!
Want to use the grid as your personal infinitely large battery? Pay up! Don’t want to pay? Disconnect from the grid! 😂
Minimum charging is a slippery slope. In the UK they introduced a daily standing charge for both gas and electricity. The charges started off fairly low, but have more than doubled in the last year.
Ignorant people will be saying the “slippery slope” argument is a fallacy. It’s blatantly real.
it's not even slippery slope, it's correctly called "foot in the door"
YEAR? Really? Ouch...
Yep, same in Australia., its called a "service charge", Its a charge just to be connected to the network. In Australia it can be almost half the bill. We are charged around $1 per day just to be connected to the network. Over 3 months its around $90.
This is coming to everyone in western countries.
“Said Borenstein: “When a household installs solar in the service areas of the three California investor-owned utilities (PG&E, SCE and SDG&E), the customer saves 20-30 cents for every kilowatt-hour their system produces, but the utility costs only go down by 7-9 cents. (Studies that reach similar conclusions here, here, and here - none paid for by entities with a financial stake in the answer). The extra 10-20 cents are avoided by that household, but those fixed costs still have to be paid….
“It has been well documented - and surprises no one - that households with solar are disproportionately wealthy (as well as disproportionately white). So, when a customer installs solar, their share of the fixed costs are shifted to other ratepayers who are poorer on average,” he added.”
"only a smally number of customers are impacted..." Somehow, I have a hard time trusting that statement. A lot has been left unsaid and should invite more scrutiny.
Right, like how that # is expected to grow rapidly with all the current plans they have instituted.
Don't expect the politicians to do the scrutiny before passing legislation green lighting this.
When Apple says it no one bats an eye.
Look at Twitter. They can't/won't tell Musk how many of their accounts are fake.
Even if it's only 1 cust. and that cust. is YOU, it's 1 too many.
NVEnergy (Norther Nevada) charges a 'connection fee' to be hooked up to the grid. Now I am wondering if they too are going to 'add' a minimum BS fee. I have to pay to be hooked up, if this becomes the case, then I will disconnect and install batteries.
It’s time to nationalize power.
I moved from OUC to Duke 4 years ago. If I had known it was going to be this bad with Duke power I would’ve bought a house still in oh you see territory.
The power flickers and goes out here on a weekly basis. I never had a problem with OUC in the 23 years I lived there.
Private corporations are ruining this country.
This is what happens when people try to do the right thing. Either the government or a large corporation steps in and wants to take advantage of those people. I am certain we will see the same happen when electric vehicles are the norm. The government will have to make up for the gas tax that supposedly pays for roads and infrastructure and pass it on somehow to electric vehicles. In the end it is the people who can least afford it that will end up paying for it.
the two problems actually go hand in hand. if everyone on the road switched to electric, the power grid would be so insanely overtaxed trying to charge that many cars at once. best idea is to get solar in your home and then buy electric car so you're not paying for the electricity to charge it, as well as ease the strain on decades old electric infrastructure that was never meant for millions of electric cars charging. unfortunately once the govt/media says "electric is bad" the majority of sheeple will just agree instead of doing their own research and due diligence. i can't tell you how many times i've heard people say "well i heard solar was worse for the environment than fossil fuels" ...... i'm like where tf do you get this information????
The gouvernment only steps in because the corporation donate millions of dollars for fossile energie laws to stay in the past and want climate change with more tornados and wood fires in summer.
There can be more workers in green energy as in fossil energie if they would change the strategie.
amen brother i couldn't say it better
Australian utilities have a "connection charge" for infrastructure regardless of consumption. Also, the feed-in rate for your excess solar energy to the grid pays a pathetically low rate which equates to a further fee. I would suspect a future fee for off-grid battery installations to recover lost connection fees :(
The state of Victoria has a 2.5 cents PER KM for EVs. Supposedly to recoup some of the petrol tax lost. The issue here is that petrol tax is a federal tax, not a state revenue.
During a long drought a few years ago, the State of Victoria introduced a requirement to register the installation of each rainwater storage tank to qualify for a water rebate ... we knew what registration meant in the long term though !!!
This is why you don’t allow corporations, to lobby the deregulating of consumer protections…
They need to make it fully legal in Florida for solar customers to disconnect from the grid and install battery backup systems. Otherwise, these utilities will continue to screw over their trapped customers.
Nobody goes off grid with just batteries. That’s a carnival pitch. Everybody off grid in a full time residence or business uses fossil generators.
“trapped customers”
Do you also gripe about professional farmers and clothing manufacturers, or do you imagine you can escape that “trap” by growing all your own food? Pay your damn utility bill, or go off grid.
@@Nill757 You missed the point entirely. State code requires a homeowner to be hooked up to a utility company, even if the homeowner can generate their own electricity.
Maybe you shouldn't comment on topics about which you're utterly clueless.
What do you think it would cost to to buy enough batteries to store enough power for an entire household? I can assure you it's more than $30 a month. When you're hooked up to the grid, the grid acts as your battery, and you don't have to maintain and replace it over time.
@@cjones7588 Yes the grid acts as backup for rooftop solar. The problem is that rooftop owners don’t pay for that very valuable connection. Net metering lets them skate. The cost of the grid is still there of course, so the utility raises its rates to cover the fall in revenue, which falls mainly on the poorer population.
@@PronatorTendon What a surprise in the Home of the free-Land of the brave.
Where is the FREEDOM most of You people brag about it?
😂😂😂 They fell for that “It’s totally at no cost to you” line. 💵💰💸
Just like my municipal power company, solar eats into their profits so they come up with ways to charge more or dissuade customers from using solar through tons of red tape hoops and status changes.
What would the power companies do if all those with strong solar got backup battery banks and disconnected from the utility altogether?
This is outrageous. Those people spent thousands of dollars to have solar panels put on their homes. And now they're being hit with a minimum charge every month. OUTRAGEOUS.
I'm 90% efficient here in NYC. I buy energy from PSEG for about .45cents per kilowatt and when I have excess production they buy it for about .05 cents from me. The monthly charge for the grid is about $15 per month regardless you consume energy or not. The entire thing is a scam.
All they have to do is cancel their electrical power.
You pay 45 cents a kilowatt????? Why, how?
@@tedmarakas2626 That's high way robbery. They are taking your surplus electricity for $0.05 pennies on the dollar , but selling you there's $0.45. It would be nice if you could charge them, your accounting fee, grid maintenance fee. Your home is like a mini substation. They need to pay for that also. At least the Europeans got it right. American greed. Sheesh
@@dawill8366 It is an insult to people's intelligence. Ruthless
Imagine being on a planet that when you're trying to help out the planet and make things easier in life others will fight and do what they can do to make it worse because of greed and jealousy
America has collapsed.
A comet will cleanse this cesspool soon enough.
I agree divergent thg, the 'games' we play with each other are really messed up. People want to live a good life and be amazing creators not to be handicapped slaves being thrown in cells for not paying taxes, permits, following millions of made up rules etc. On God's green earth.
There is no need to help the planet because it isn’t in danger of anything.
@@HairyBottom well yes, earth isnt going anywhere, its what is on the planet that is going somewhere
This is not okay. They are charging you for products that you have not received. It's like going to McDonald's and getting a kid's meal, but being charged for an adult meal because you have to pay enough to upkeep the grill. That's not okay. The government needs to step in and make sure this doesn't happen. Just because you have an excuse, doesn't make it okay to do something.
FPL and other utilities are avoiding having to increase generators and power stations.
Electric Company: You're using too much electricity. We're going to have to jack up the price to support demand.
Customer: Fine, I'll just buy solar panels.
Electric Company: You're not using enough electricity. We're instituting a mimimum cost fee.
Customer: 👁👄👁
"Soooooorry about that Minimum Charge...."
"We will introduce a Monthly Energy Accounting Tip, of $20. Again, so Sorry....."
Might sound funny, but that's exactly where the situation stands in most of this country.
Electric grid is a massive piece of infrastructure. My delivery charge is more than the supply. You drive all over the country every year or just around town you're still taxed the same ignoring fuel tax and tolls.
The corruption of the government and there collusion with the power providers and the fossil fuel industry is robing the Freedom of the people.
I am considering installing solar - but off-grid, running only part of my home on the system via a battery. This is crazy. I own an electric car and would love to charge it on the sun, but I'm not going to give the utilities the benefit of that if this is what's going to happen in the future.
Honestly, who really believes that local and/or federal congress work for the people and not for big companies?
100%
Here's The ULTIMATE Question....
Will Florida Residents do something about it? or will they surrender to the politicians who allowed such laws to exist!?
If only there was some kind of organized body of representatives that worked on behalf of the citizens’ interests.
No kidding!
Customers need to go 100% with Powerwalls. Cut the greedy psychopaths out of the picture completely.
This would be fair if it wasn't legally required to be connected to the power grid. Even if you can go 100% solar panels and windmills to get all the electricity you need, but law in a lot of states, you still have to be connected to the power grid. So for them to charge a minimum is criminal in my opinion. Edit from this point: Need to clarify something, it is only criminal, in my opinion, if you are not selling your electricity.
No because that infastructure is still maintained for the day a hail storm wiping out your solar panels and you go flip the switch to go back on the grid it is available to you.
@@Shodori It's still criminal.
@@Thoralmir your low education on the matter is criminal
@@Shodori How about this; energy production should be. ...nationalized. charging people for basic utilities in a post scarcity society is, dare I say it, immoral?
Paying for transmission and grid infastructure is fair. Forcing people to use that infastructure is extortion.
Even here in Australia which is generally far more restrictive in terms of freedom you are allowed to legally disconnect from the grid with you're own system as long as it's up to code which isn't too bad honestly.
Isn’t it amazing that no matter what you do, or what cost cutting measures you take, UTILITY COMPANIES STILL GET THEIR POUND OF FLESH. WE had a terrible ice storm this year, went without power for days( we were lucky) and now the utility raised their rates so we pay for the cost of their repairs. Since when is business without risks? They just make us pay for them.
Well as long as we keep rolling over and accepting it, they'll be no limits for them to keep doing it. We are so separated and individualistic as a society that it's easy for them to do as they will...I mean who will stand up and stop them when no one will band together and speak out.
don't those businesses have insurance? Or are they just doubling down, having their insurance give them a wad of cash and then charging the customers too?
@Jonny Croxville this has nothing to do with Jan. 6th.
@Jonny Croxville exactly, Jan. 6th people stood together.
Fought and died together, and
Now prison time. No labeling
Necessary, domestic terrorism
And treason are plainly evident.
Now to organize and protest
Utilities companies is totally
a American right.
@Jonny Croxville You're must be handicapped, or brain
Dead. So sorry...
If the $30 minimum will not be enough in the future, they can possibly raise it. Goodbye saving for solar.
Today it's a $30 charge for having solar
Tomorrow it's your first-born child if you wanna vote for your favorite meth dealing alligator
As long as large corporations are paying off politicians, things like this will never change
Right. Who would vote for this unless they're getting paid.
Large solar corporations paid off politicians in order to get tax rebates for buyers of solar panels.
Yes our taxes went to subsidize rich buyers of solar panels, even electric cars.
Solar corporations are evil corporations who bribe politicians
Corporate Socialism at its most Insidiousness!
As long as people keep voting for politicians who can be bought by big corporations, things like this will never change.
No the problem is the voters.
They see this happening and they vote for those politicians anyway.
So why shouldn’t politicians except businesses money to do their bidding?
The vote is a more concerned about partisan politics then they are about what their politicians are really doing.
That's exactly what SRP (Salt River Project) electric utility in Arizona does, for Solar customers they charge them a minimum fee of at least $30/mo. You could sell more electric back to your utility company than you generate and they will still charge you at least $30/mo, this is a thing happening across the country. I live in Arizona, and came across this video and was just curious. It's maddening, the people need to stand together against these companies and vote out the politicians who support these policies.
These THIEVING UTILITY COMPANIES' PROFITS are greater than ever
Republicans
I live in Arizona and I've been off grid for 30 yrs. And I haven't used a generator for months sense up grading my system. Yes I have AC also. 40 - 240 watt pannels used from San tan solar two 48 volt forklift batteries with a two 5000 watt diy all in one inverters from midnight solar.
Do you have aps here in az from casa grande here and we got solar 3 months ago. 54k for 12kw dc system and ac production of 9.5kw peak out put. I was planning g on just using a limited grid tie inverter to keep the cost low and use a battery bank to store any excess production with out selling back to the grid. Was going to use the back yard for laying out 30 to 60 pannels witch is about 24kw of maximum power production. Just pannels along on 60 pannels or 2 pallet would be 14k. And this is not including the grid tie limiters or cables or even 15kwhrs of storage. Could of done ot for 40k all together a d still have a cheap bill. Man parents don't listen when their son has a better solution.
where i live there has been a line and equipment fee for years, which makes sense. i can buy the actual energy from anyone selling.
I have solar panels myself here in pa. I still have a $15 dollar a month bill because I net meter and still get electricity "delivered" even though i produce and send back to the grid a few hundred kwh monthly. I understand it that I'm still technically using a service. But here in Pa i get SRECs and get an annual over production check every May, so it more than balances out.
The Peopels Republic of Ca did a similar thing with Water. During the drought water usage was very limited. So Revenues went down, so for not using water they raised the prices temporarily. The temporary was like 6 years ago, of course, they never went back to original cost when the drought was over that winter.
This is why monopolies are unhealthy. Even when they are regulated like power companies they have so much leverage that they can get the regulators to cave when they want to do something like this. This disproportionately affects the people who are doing smart things to not use excess energy, and no affecting the people who waste at all... It is the exact opposite of what we want from the system.
Sounds like it’s time to dump the tea in the harbor.
We need to nationalize our utilities. It's unacceptable that heat, energy, internet, and water infrastructure can be constantly ignored and left to deteriorate by companies and people still keep shilling and cucking for them. This is last stage capitalism in its development, it's up to your Floridians to stop this.
@@TheLazyass111 I wouldn't suggest nationalising it necessarily but having increased government oversight.
For instance Australia has had a nationalised broadband network that has crippled their minimum speeds. Good in concept; give rural areas decent speeds comparative to urban, but horrible in practice; resulted in both rural and urban areas having extremely poor internet speeds comparative to money invested.
@@TheLazyass111 I can't speak to the rest, but at least where I am Internet is doing a pretty good job as far as market forces go. I build fiberoptic networks along telephone poles, and I actively see one company move into a town causing the companies already in that town to update their existing networks and improve speeds/prices. Internet is doing alright in the more populated areas because it isn't an enforced monopoly. A new company is able to come in and force the existing to compete.
@@TheLazyass111 let’s give the government even more control! That will definitely work even though you have plenty of countries showing the negative effects.
The intent is to get their foot in the door. The next act is to increase the "minimum" and go get rid of the requirement to purchase excess power from individuals completely returning their monopoly.
Not surprised. I saw this one coming.
TECO is $20, Duke is $30, FPL is $25, WREC is $39. I'm one of the partners at Tampa Bay Solar, I have to deal with this on a regular basis.
That should be criminal to have a “minimum bill” I think the people should stand together against this and stop letting corporations walk on them
I'd like to see what happens when people just start calling to terminate their service. It sounds like what little they're paying now isn't even for energy. It's for infrastructure that they aren't even using anymore.
@@KosstAmojan 90% of solar are still using the grid if you don’t have storage capabilities then you are always using the grid. There are grid forming solar solutions out now but at night without storage you are using the grid.
If it rains all day you want the grid, also people think that these solar systems run flawlessly 100% of the time. This is not true they break down and need to be maintained. You need the grid as a back up only. Paying a fee for something completely reliable is not a bad trade off.
I am a solar electrician, the industry is becoming more efficient every day. In about 10-15 years we may not need the grid as much as we do now but it will always be useful to have.
The people with solar are already in a good position to do that.
All they have to do is buy a bit of extra production and batteries and then cut the cord.
As should we all, but it's a huge investment for people starting out
Four more clueless people.
This is a 3 month old story
Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill
Stop ranting and raving about something that is not happening.
LOL.
Honestly, I can understand having a small monthly bill-where I live, Southern California Edison charges $10.50 a month. Even if you only use the grid at night (when your solar panels don't work) they still have to maintain the lines and transformers (a new pole-mounted transformer runs about $12k) plus all the other stuff. I doubt SCE is making a windfall profit off it.
The point of the minimum bill is so they can easily increase them over time. $25-30 isn't much now, but paves a way for these companies to increase this bill as they please in the future.
Or it is to cover the costs of the connection. This excess energy is just getting dumped into the grid whether it is needed or being used or not. It disappears if it isn't used, there is no storage.
That means they are buying waste electricity in some cases and need to cover the expenses.
@@sumduma55 no lol the excess energy is used, the power company doesn't have to produce quite as much bc you did that work for them. Cover expenses? They can store every bit of your so called "waste electricity" if they wanted to but that would cut into their profit margin 🙄
@@codyslayer6715 you obviously do not know how a power grid operates. Without writing a short novel to explain it, it give you the cliff notes version. You can find more at a ton of places online.
Ever power provider has to provide a base load. This is expected usage plus 10%.if they approach that 10% buffer, that is when demand load and peak loads come into play. This demand load and peak load can be turned on and off and controlled. It is where the solar energy resides.
. Base load generation do not throttle up and down. They are generally steam or water powered. There are no hydroelectric power stations I know of in Florida. That leaves steam. Steam is the most efficient and effective method of producing electricity when you consider availability and land use. The drawback is regardless of what fuel is used to create the steam, it takes a considerable amount of time to do it at a usable amount.
So when the solar output surpasses the demand load requirements, it isn't used and is just wasted. Even the base load can suffer this if demand unexpectedly drops. Now you cannot just lower your base load requirements because it is heavily regulated by the government and you need to maintain a level at night when the sun isn't out. Well, you could but not without using the internal combustion style generation and jacking the costs and pollution up.
These home owners can store that excess solar energy too. But they don't because it costs too much. All you are suggesting by storing the excess is who pays that costs.
@@sumduma55 The video itself said that having in $25 minimum doesn't really generate much money due to most people already spending more than that a month and solar owners paying $10-15 a month before this minimum. So your argument of "paying for the cost of storage" makes no sense. It makes even less sense when you realize storing energy is cheaper than producing energy! I doubt energy coming into the grid from solar homes is making much of difference but if it is then shouldn't the price of energy go down?
@@codyslayer6715 Wrong. So wrong. People like you shouldn't even be commenting. You have absolutely no understanding of how the power grid works and, apparently, can't even be bothered to get the bare minimum facts about it.
Yup! My coworker has a house in Alabama. it's her mom's home who passed away a year or two ago. No one lives there, no one uses any electricity or water yet she has to pay a bill each month to each! I was flabbergasted when she said that. I had no idea such a thing existed. It's all about greed! You have to pay for the ability to use it even if you don't.
Wow
IT ALWAYS starts with "just a few impacted ".......
If it's such a "small number", as if to sound that it's probably negligible, then they should have no problem waiving it for them.
nah, the minimum charge is there to maintain the grid. even with a bunch of disconnected homes, you need to fund that
@@moonmullins8227 where are you even getting your numbers?
anyway, run a legal monopoly and get back to us
@@moonmullins8227 150k, mate
@@dercooney that would assume they are maintaining the grid also even if it is only a $12 bill that more then pays for maintenance to your house when you aren't using their power
@@brykanst9071 who knows for sure? you'd need an engineering study
I don't think I could adequately express the amount of rage this makes me feel.
They do the same thing with rain water
@@Highgear145 Which is why my rain catchment system is hidden behind a fence. How dare these corporations try to charge for rain and sunshine?!?!?! What in the actual f*ck
@@MrMountainchris They want control of every single part of your life
Keep calm. Think of all the people who work in the utilities and build the piping and wells, or what have you. They are doing it for everyone. Be skeptical not suspicious. Don't be angry--except when it helps you to do something positive.
Well the bill doesn't show a connection fee, so this is the connection fee.
They have to keep you reliant on the system. Like how they force you to be on grid even when you produce 100% of what you use.
In my area the gas company has a minimum charge of $68 a month. Out electric/water/sewer company has what they call tiers. Depending on which tier they have you on is what you pay even though you are not using that much, the minimum monthly charge is $80 something. It's ridiculous that we are forced to pay for something we don't get/use.
And if you ever fall on hard times and late paying that bill, they will treat you accordingly and disconnect ya service.. it’s all a grift
@@somethingserious4090 Oh the irony in that. If you are not behind on your bill and you tell them to disconnect you they won't.
But relying on the system's existence and use.
Where I live have a well I'm surprised that the water company here has not required that a water meter we put in line so they can find a way to get money
@@carbogger Do they base sewer from it?
"Only a small number of solar customers are impacted by these minimum bills..."
... for the moment.
But hey, let it take root and grow and it'll be _all customers_ in no time!
Maintaining the grid is not a miner cost and if you they have a problem with it then goo off grid
Here is what is ACTUALLY fair...everyone pays a flat monthly charge to be connected to the grid. Then you apply net metering...if you use power, you pay a per-unit charge for the power, and if you produce more than you use, the power company buys it from you per unit (since they are turning around and selling it to another customer). Your monthly bill is the sum of the connection charge plus your consumption or sales, and can be negative.
Getting rid of net metering legalizes theft of electricity when the power company is doing it to small producers. Believe me, if they did this between actual power companies there would be massive lawsuits. The "minimum monthly bill" is the power company defying the net metering law and is blatantly illegal.
I mean they should just do a $30 minimum and that convers the first however many kilowatts I have heard of water companies doing basically the same thing I don't know why if someone is making plenty of power they think they should be able to connect to the pretty stable grid that is supplying you power 24/7 not juat when the sun is shining nothing and ya I think net metering is pretty fair or at least like 90% pay back because they are selling it to other people but again they are using the power companies grid to to that so if there was a slight Is discrepancy that would be fine with me but not where they do like pennies on the dollar
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
1973-74 oil shock caused crude oil prices to skyrocket.
1976 Jimmy Carter federal support for renewable energy (solar panel research)
1978 Congress passed energy tax act (solar panel subsidies)
Even after subsidies, homeowners footed the balance for purchase and installation. The panels generated no power after about 5-6yrs because of "hazing." Roofs rotted because of poor installation. Costs to home owners
were in the 10s of thousands to upgrade panels or have them removed. To discard cost even more because city dumps were already full. Thrown away panels were then shipped to 3rd
world countries for disassembly which came at a cost in dollars and human lives (toxicity).
All this without mentioning how toxic it is to manufacture panels. Plastics, adhesives and toxic soldering. The water runoff from these plants is on par with nuclear waste.
@@beezo2560 So what is your suggestion? Have you seen the mess that abandoned mine drainage has on the environment?
Next you go into your grocery store to get a bottle of soft drink. It's 2.50 for the drink and 27.50 minimum purchase adjustment for a total of $30. Sounds fair, right?
The Florida utility companies are strong arming its customers, and have a monopoly in the state
Folks this is how it happens. The energy companies are guaranteed a profit. They also donate huge sums of monies to those running for office. If a legislator doesn't vote the way they want them to, well you guessed it! They don't donate to their campaign fund and give those monies to their opponent! Yep the consumer is screwed!
America is broken
@@confederatetearsaredelicious Sold out back into slavery to the only slaver left: uncle scam.. for the fun and profit of his corporate butt-buddies.
I work for an electric company in the midwest. We are governed by a regulatory committee in each state we operate in. In order to raise rates the company has to show all of it's books for the previous years to show where a rate hike is justified. Yes, the utility company makes a profit. But it is limited by law to around 2 and a half to 3% in the states we operate in. In the mean time the local burger drive in makes 50% profit and the lawyer's office makes 75%. It's easy to bad mouth the utility companies but when there's a storm at 2 a.m. and your power goes out just think about how much money they have to pay a whole crew of guys to climb power poles in a lightning storm to restore your service. Believe me, the salary these guys get isn't enough.
@@1967davethewave They probably lie to you. If a service company makes less than 60% profit, it goes belly up.
@@igory8698 They do lie to the workers but they can't lie to the regulatory commission. Sorry but utility companies make a lot less profit than the average business, they just make so much on the top line that the bottom line looks pretty large too.
This is disgusting how companies enforce their grip on customers and also solar users to frighten them in some way. From 127 dollars down to 24 dollars with solarpower is insanely good and the companies dont want that to happen. As usual, behind that sceme: Greed
Might as well add more Solar panel to my Florida houses and shed. cut off from the grid if they keep try to more money from us. Solar panel help reduce energy need from the Power grid. Guess have have to buy Solar battery to keep power on a night if I have too.
I appears to solely be an oversight from the new fee being added based on the bill at billing, vs the bill by usage before the sold back energy was added. This is a minor oversight, affected under a dozen people and the only people left affected by the fee after the oversight's potential correction would be peoppe who left their utilities on the grid despite being out of state for an extended period of time or just permanently on a prpperty no one resides at. It costs them money and consideration to be on the grid even just the metering, going out to check and maintain it, and they arent breaking even if you use $5 worth a month.
I somewhat agree. But now imagine is everyone went solar and there was no min fee. Who would be paying for the grid upkeep if everyones usage was only say $17 a month? I mean come on there is no way that would pay for the employees to be out in a storm fixing the grind in the middle of the night. You would very quickly end up with the power companies just shutting shop and then all you would have is your solar except when you run out of battery and its night and you have no way to cool or heat your house.
I think they would have done better as just putting it on as a Maintenace type set fee of a fixed amount then trying to push it as a power adjustment.
@@Toom316 if everyone went solar why would we need a grid or snobby rich people taking our money? I say we shoot people that think like you.
of course it's greed...they need to pay the millions in big wig payouts and the share holders.
GREED. We already cannot afford to live. Duke Energy, Florida Power & LIght, and all other "electric" companies should not be allowed to price gouge like this.This makes a good argument for refusing to allow private companies to run what are essentially public utilities.
Where I live the city is talking about a tax on septic tanks because some people don’t have to pay for sewage. There are some things I shouldn’t have to pay to do.
Property taxes are charged to maintain city owned & provided properties & services; schools, etc. A privately installed, private property owned & maintained septic tank does not fall under this heading. What next? Taxing fireplaces? Wells? Added home insulation? I hope your city doesn't get away with this blatant money grab. Make a stink about this - pun not intended.
Leave it to the Florida legislature to legalize something like this.
I wonder how much the energy companies paid them to do this.
They should call it the “corrupting politicians fee”
This is what you get when you have Republicans in charge.
Well, realistically they have to make enough to cover the cost of upkeep for the network. Oh WOW, they just mentioned it in the video. That was weird, as I was typing it. But yeah, it costs money to keep a network going. I'm surprised the minimum isn't higher honestly.
Its not just FL, its companies all over doing this, where I live solar is almost useless now since our power company was able to stop paying the full rate for power we produce. They only pay us about a penny per kilowatt hour now. So all you can do is net zero your bill and they also have the minimum bill, but its 50$. You can't go under 50, no matter if you sold them 10,000 kw/h or 1. Oh I wanted to add since its not really mentioned yet anywhere...Our power company also was going to start chaging an "Electric Car" drop in fee, you know, if you have the large 100 or 200amp service drop.. So they know you have an electric car, so now thats an extra 40$ fee per month. Now before I even crank on a light per month, my bill is 90$.
@@alexanderfrancis7446 You need to actually go out and learn about logistics and such. You just have this singular childlike view of things.
The power company that serves my house has a $45 charge in addition to paying for electricity used each month. We ran electric to a workshop on the property a few years ago. There was an old electric service pole right next to the building. We chose to run the electric from our house some 110 ft away rather than hook to the pole 10 ft away. The pole option would have added another $45 a month to our bill!
The irony of me getting a solar panel ad before this video loaded
Just think folks your own government talked you into this 🤣🤣🤣🤣
This reminds me of when wind turbines came out in Texas in the 90's. All the cities passed ordinances restricting the hight that a blade could be. It was ALWAYS well below the optimum operating height. Never forget your city gets a kick back from all, I repeat ALL, utilities based on profit.
And so too those legislators pushing to penalizing green energy! Don’t forget all those lobbyists who they cater to. Sunshine right up the Back ends of Floridians….Republican branded “freedom” yes sir!
The wind mill thing has been a complete failure. It takes a dump truck of power to get them moving ,they ignite into catastrophic fires.. yeah a failure...
They're also massive noise polluters and tend to swat birds out of the sky.
@@supremecaffeine2633 that bird death thing is deeply concerning… there’s a reason it’s an omen 💀
@@mega-lomart7154 it's nothing compared to salor farms. They can cook a flock of birds midair.
In my city in Florida, the water company charges 40$ for a base charge. You have to pay even if you don't use any. This is what happens when monopolies run utilities. You pay up or you don't have any service. I guess taxes aren't fattening their pockets quickly enough.
$10 month water collection fee for the water that comes off the house gutters. I tried to charge them $20 a month for using my roof to collect their water. They laughed at me.
It's suburbs. The cost of running water mains to a cul-de-sac pre-planned neighborhood is not small. But there's only 100 houses or so in a huge land footprint. I'm not saying utilities aren't evil, and don't push their monopolies. They most definitely do. But it ain't helped when most of the country wants to live in suburbs with a staggering land use per person. They can push this stuff through legislation simply by pointing to the millions invested in buildout and upkeep of their sprawling networks. Which btw, councils are all too aware of because they have to build and upkeep road networks to them that are underused for the cost of building them. City councils hate suburban road networks, hate. Huge sink the taxes cannot cover. Always running in the red. So they're predisposed to understanding the utilities plight.
It's called living in a greedy Republican state!
How do you not use any water? That’s not possible
@@Browdeh you buy a house and hold it for renovation. That's how.
I have solar here in Missouri. I have a minimum bill. I use the grid when it's cloudy etc so why shouldn't I "pay" for the upkeep of the transmission lines that bring power to me and take power away when I sell it back. Fair and reasonable come to mind here. 🤓 You don't want to pay a minimum bill, cool. Don't buy any power from the Grid, that's work pretty well.
The only way to win is to have your own energy storage and disconnect from the power grid all together.
The solar users should get together and file a lawsuit against the electric companies.
It sounds like it was the legislature that allowed them to do it.
@DeathNikki the point would be that they are selling back excess power lowering their bill . If you mandate a min usage they are getting paid for your excess, not you whos producing it. What they should do is charge regular rates in your bill and put the excess you sold to then in a credit at the end of the bill but they are doing it in the middle and the charge comes up when the bill calculates at the end.
@@johnthree1611 lol. I'm hunting for a single comment on this story that tells the truth. I can't it. This is a 3 month old story. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill. It's a none issue yet look at all of the comments ready to attack the government and power company. Maybe check out the California law and take your rage that way.
They should just raise the rates at which they sell the power back.
The problem is that there is no law being broken. The legislation at both the state level and federal level made it legal to bribe politicians via campaign donations. The utility companies then bribe, I mean, donate to the legislatures to make it legal to charge customers minimum fees, service fees and miscellaneous fees. The only thing that the utility companies could be taken to court for is for "lying to shareholders" by means of making false claims (such as needing these fees to maintain the grid). At that point, it would take forensic accountants and warrants to get that information which is hard to do without having existing criminal conduct that would then lead to the SEC regulations being broken.
People in charge “We need to switch to renewable energy!!!”
Normal people *switch to renewable energy*
People in charge “not like that!!!” *charges them extra*
Sadly this entire thing is summed up in a friggin meme
Happened where I live with water. You need to conserve water. So we did. Now we need to charge you more because you conserved too much.
It depends on the state in the US.If you have an elected official that receives money from these companies then they can do this, if you have an elected official that is either pro solar or receives money from a company that produces solar panels then you will have an easier time.$$$ talks unfortunately.
Who pays to maintain the grid? Wires, poles and transformers aren't free.
@@TheBandit7613 These companies are receiving millions ( if not billions) in subsidies from the Government, they already add an additional fee on the bill for "maintainance" and the solar Panel users are selling off energy for Pennies on the dollar so they can charge 10 times more for it.If you think that energy companies are struggling you are mistaken: these people are fattening up their wallets
They were PROMISED otherwise! OOPS! "Grandma, what big teeth you have"!
Its 'only' 25 dollars this year, next year it will be 30... It's all about making more money and never about helping the customer.