New Electric Bill Arrived: And The Total Is....

[AmigoArtistico]

I just got my new electric bill, and I picked it up off the floor with some trepidation.

According to the calculator in La Nación, for 600kWh from Edesur, my new bill should be $477 (compared to about $75 before the increase).

I tore open the top of the envelope, slowly withdrew the bill, looked down, and the amount (for 601kWh) was...

$140. My eyes are very bad. I put down the bill and rubbed them a bit. I looked again.

$140.

Not a 600% increase. Not a 500% increase.

About a 90% increase.

Just another day in the Dictatorship of Happiness. I'll never understand how they do things in this country.

Some interesting details from the bill:

• The new rates were only incorporated for 17 days of the bill -- out of 69 -- but this would not have had a serious impact on the cost of electricity. The fixed charge would have been higher -- $68 instead of $30 -- but the cost per kWh actually went down, meaning that the variable cost would have been $18 less, for a net difference of +$20 if the new rates had been applied for the entire bill.
• I received a subsidy of $144 (compared to a subsidy of $164 on the previous bill). Perhaps that will disappear when I get the next bill, with a full two months of the new rate scheme.
• However, even if the subsidy had been completely eliminated and I paid the new rates for the entire bill, the amount would have been $304 -- about a 300% increase -- well below the estimates published in the newspapers, and well below the amount I should have paid according to La Nación's calculator. And that, of course, is if they eliminate the subsidy, a subject which has not been addressed by the media at all -- at least not in the dozens of articles I've read on the subject.

Anybody else received their new bill? Any other unexpected surprises?

 

[estebandepraga]

Lucky you!

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

The 500% was for people receiving a large subsidy.

What was the unit price?

 

[Gringoboy]

So since we've never received a subsidy, does that mean our next bill will go down?
Or do pigs never fly down here?

 

[joeschmoe1920]

Why do you deserve a subsidy gringo ?

 

[EJLarson]

Why do you deserve a subsidy gringo ?

Because of his faithful service to the country as La Cámpora second-in-command to Máximo.

(Oops! Sorry! Was I supposed to keep that to myself?)

 

[Ceviche]

Thanks for the post.

I have been having sleepless nights thinking about the forthcoming elec. bill.

 

[Rich One]

You are extremely Lucky, a joke for 600 KWH, you still have subsidies and low rates....! What is your $/kwh rate...?

My last bill due Feb 2 /2016 was $462 for 395 KWH, the rate was 0,364 $/KWH

 

[AmigoArtistico]

The 500% was for people receiving a large subsidy.

What was the unit price?

My old fixed rate: $15.15
My new fixed rate: $68.39

My old rate/kWh: $0.364
My new rate/kWh: $0.322

While looking up these rates again, I discovered an obscure part of the bill that I hadn't noticed before. It's a calculation of the cost per kWh at the subsidized price. Based on the details of the calculation, I can see that this will be my last subsidized bill.

Next month, $300.

Out of curiosity, last month I calculated how much the same amount of electricity would cost if I still lived in Massachusetts. For 600kWh in the town I lived in, it would now cost AR$3150.00 (at 15 pesos/dollar).

We live in the twilight zone.

 

[AmigoArtistico]

You are extremely Lucky, a joke for 600 KWH, you still have subsidies and low rates....! What is your $/kwh rate...?

My last bill due Feb 2 /2016 was $462 for 395 KWH, the rate was 0,364 $/KWH

Rich One: 395*0.364 = $143.78

How the hell are you paying $462?