power company charges

Status
Not open for further replies.
tonyou812

tonyou812

Senior Member
Location
North New Jersey
Do power companies charge more for three phase power? I have a customer that claims his bill is very high. Its a small office but it has three phase coming from the street.
 
No, well sort of, but the demand penalties might be jagging him. Commercial is billed with two components. Actual usage (often a penny or two less than resi rates), plus the demand component. He could have a RTU heat pump stuck on electric heat, water heater failing, or something like that going on. Consider also that "very high" means different things to different people. You really need to have the past 3 or 4 months bills in hand to make a clear assessment about what's going on. Couple estimated bills in a row then a real reading to catch up might screw someone up too.
 
Dollars are irrellevant when saying an electric bill is 'too high'. What you must look at is the usage. Get out the past 1 or 2 years of bills, and take a look at what the power consumed was, not the dollar amounts. See if there's a sudden spike in WHs that caused the meter to torque itself off the wall. Also look at the rates charged. Was he on budget billing, and the utility grossly undercharged him for several months and is now making it up?

If usage is the same, then the 'problem' is in the billing side of the equation. If it did spike, then it's time to look for a cause.
 
well there are things that need attending like new timer for outside lights, and electric heaters but its a really small office. one floor maybe 1000 sq ft. IT has 3 phase 120/208. I was wondering if it would be cheaper if it was single phase?
 
Last edited:
tonyou812 said:
what does meter multiplier mean? The acual electrical usage was 247 KWH. and is multiplied by 9......?
Click to expand...
If it's multiplied by 9, the meter is only reading 1/9th the electricity consumed, and you need to multiply to get the real readings. Common on big services. Nine is weird, but some sort of multiplier is often used.
 
081130-2020 EST

tonyou812:

Take several recent bills. For each of these divide the total bill for the month by the KWH used that month. This tells you the cost per KWH. If it is in the $0.10 to $0.12/KWH that is what I would expect in our area. Your area may be different.

After you determine if the cost per KWH is what you would expect in your area, then study whether the number of KWH per month seems reasonable for the loads this customer has.

.
 
So rent a meter and slap them on it for 30 days. Do a cost ratio study! ?

What, When, Where, Why. Crunch the numbers! :roll:

15 days would give you a pulse!
 
So at 247 kwh that would be $381.47 (Oct bill) divided by usage and that would be about 1.54 or 15 cents per KHW. I know for a fact he needs a new timer for outside lights and a look around to see what else needs attention. I have a feeling that a circut or two might be crossed with the liquor store next door.
 
tonyou812 said:
I have a feeling that a circut or two might be crossed with the liquor store next door.
Click to expand...
See if he'll let you shut his panel down for 1/2 an hour. Go next door after that time and say to the other tenant, "You guys having any electrical troubles over here like we are"? :) That's my usual script.
 
mdshunk said:
See if he'll let you shut his panel down for 1/2 an hour. Go next door after that time and say to the other tenant, "You guys having any electrical troubles over here like we are"? :) That's my usual script.
Click to expand...
I was tottaly thinking that. I bet the minute I turn off the main breaker in the law office that dude from next door is going to come over and start complaining his fridge is off!
 
tonyou812 said:
I was tottaly thinking that. I bet the minute I turn off the main breaker in the law office that dude from next door is going to come over and start complaining his fridge is off!
Click to expand...

Unless he's aware of the situation-
Cause then it'll be the fridge, the computer server, the base board heater, and anything else they dared to plug into it while trying not to blow the circuit.
 
I would call the poco and let them walk me throught the calculation process. We have a small commercial class that only get billed on kwh and a flat customer charge (two parts to the bill so you can divide $ by kwh and get an accurate rate) and the next step incorporates a demand charge. Someone at the poco should be able to solve this for you within minutes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top