What’s your bill…?

They are now. Natural gas prices everywhere (literally went up and RIE announced a big rate hike that went into effect in the fall. But it’s literally a global issue right none. Not RI specific.

280

You can thank Russia for fucking up the “normal” supply of gas an oil

8% of us gas/oil was Russian imported Thank Biden for emptying the oil reserves. 3% being crude oil. In 2021, imports from Russia accounted for 8% of all U.S. petroleum imports, which includes the 3% share of crude oil imports and the 20% share of petroleum product imports

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=51738

Trying to point to the percent that we import is misleading. Gas and oil are commodities that are traded on markets globally. The fact that Russian supply is pretty much off the market for the west has raised prices globally regardless of the percent we import. Domestically produced supply is also effected by price increases. We also export our supply and sell at the increased global prices

I thought it was just me going crazy. My gas bill tripled last month and me and my wife always have the thermostat set to low 60s.

Ouch, mine did go up to 250 from 70 the previous. We are all feeling the pain

…it’s not that well insulated. I keep it at 69 during the day, 65 at night. Significantly lower gas bill.

you are not alone. the rates went up 150% in nov '22 for both gas and electricity. My normal 80 dollar electric is now 230. Yah thats almost triple. ouch. Gas over 300 last month. Our place is a 1950's cape with minimal insulation and old Windows. we turn the heat to 68 around dinner time otherwise its at 60 or off. I was on a mission to save electricity last month and got the electric bill down to 170. But I hardly did any laundry so catching up on it will cost me.

Hell, I got electric heat in the house we rent and the bill was 481$. Utilities in this state are down right insane. Thermostats set on 60

It's going to be an expensive winter. But based on future contracts for natural gas right now prices have come WAY down. From a peak of around $9 to under $4 now. That could change obviously but Europe is in a better place now than they were a few months ago. This is not really a supply issue. We have plenty of gas. The problem really is we're shipping it overseas because of the war and it's costing Americans big time.

Are you using a lot of hot water? $280 seems high! I'm single and my bill is $98 this month. I also keep t-stat in the 60s: 60 when not home during the weekdays, 65-67 from 5-10p, 60 overnight. Weekends I'll set it around 63-65 when I'm home during the day.

Edit: there is also the option of "balanced billing" but I'm not sure if it works out in the end... might end up paying more somehow. I don't trust how they calculate the average cost lol and I like the idea of paying <$30 for heat in the spring/summer months

natural gas just traded to a new low, lowest since June 2021 and NGRID is just rolling us

That’s numbers aren’t real. Electricity went up like 47 percent and gas went up like 15 percent

not true lol

Its always super interesting to check posts that are pro russia and pro gop or anti biden. They almost all are created after Nov 2020, usually right after.

This buffoon is dec 2020 lol. Its a little too obvious buddy, gtfo

Electric heat costs are brutal. I paid nearly as much for electric heat when I rented a 2 BR apartment as I do now for gas heating in a 2 story house. Plus the electric rate spike is much higher.

Dang! Yeah it really sucks. Utilities in this state are going to have to come down or people will start leaving fast.

This needs to be a pinned thread.

That's not relevant. The cost now is from what they paid months ago. The utility needs to pre-buy a certain amount to ensure there are no shortages. The price now only affects the future costs, it doesn't affect the cost to consumers now.

They told us about going to the protest / demonstrations but I believe all of maybe a classroom full of people showed up. :/

Is no one on the budget plan? We have been for years and pay the same amount every month. It gets adjust once or twice a year but at least we aren't hit one month with a crazy bill. It evens things out a bit.

My electric bill was 300 last year, 600 this year. Yup, I feel sick.

Also it’s weird that these supposed conservatives who are constantly screaming the market should solve everything are the first to blame Biden for not having a regulated and planned economy when the market doesn’t work in their favor. Either they are deeply dishonest or complete idiots that don’t have a clue about the very basics of economics

Our gas bill went up from $96 to $280 this past month. 900 sqft apartment and we didn't change any behaviors and don't take super hot showers. The usage was slightly up but not enough where I can see how it's almost a $200 a month difference. We have electric heat, too and it was cheaper than the gas this month.

Guess we shiver with cold showers the rest of the winter 🙃

Oh, right, the rest of the world is lying about their costs to help “Sleepy Joe” or some shit cover his ass, right?

Fuck right off

No Thank Biden & Mkee could lower this by doing a freeze for RI on the costs but he won't because he is also a POS

Our generous governor agreed to a 47% increase with RI Energy.

That doesn't sound right. My house is set to 70 and my bill is about $300. I use minimal hot water. It is an average size raised ranch.

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Curious why this was downvoted?

3BR 2BA 1600 Sq Ft home here with gas boiler / hydronic baseboards 3 zone. Keep it at 65-66 at night and 67-68 during the day.

Gas bill we just got was $220.

Our electric bill did go down from $79 to $74 which was nice!

Do you use gas for other things besides heat?

No actually. I'm not home most of the day. Come back from work, eat, watch TV and sleep. Even work some weekends. 😶

No

damn sorry to hear its so high... maybe try getting the plastic for the windows and thicker curtains? Idk theres something strange about that bill for 1000 sq ft

Keep voting democrat

I keep mine at 71 in the day and 67 at night and just got hit with $500 gas bill for Dec. And we just had a ton of insulation added in the fall.

I pay $8 a month for heating

My bill was $50 during the winter

What happens when you only use $45 in July? Does it even out for the winter months? I heat with wood but I've been curious because I know people who do that. Gas company clearly must make money on it or they wouldn't offer it.

Don’t forget about the F-U charge and the ‘just because we can’ charge https://photos.app.goo.gl/WArZZmH3LmojyYa49

One of my best friends is Joe Solar. You may have seen his billboards. Dm me if you want to get in touch with him. Great dude and will take care of you. He’s getting a lot of people in RI onto the solar train.

Thanks I will

Yeah that's all it does. Takes your total annual (estimated) usage and divides it by 12, so you end up "overpaying" in the summer and "underpaying" in the winter, but it's ultimately the same cost.

https://www.rienergy.com/RI-Home/Bill-Help/Budget-Billing

>Gas company clearly must make money on it or they wouldn't offer it.

Someone on here had said they tried to sign up and there was a surcharge, but I can't seem to find it on any official documents. It might be a program RIE is required to implement by the state, so it's not (directly) a money-making endeavor. But it still does seem of limited use to me.

>Either they are deeply dishonest or complete idiots that don’t have a clue about the very basics of economics

Why not both?

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What is included in my studio. I keep it at 74 and hang out in my undery

AND YET THERE IS STILL A GIANT PUSH TO GET EVERYONE ON ELECTRIC HEAT PUMPS, CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT THEY CHARGE THEN WHEN EVERYONE IS ON IT AND THEY HAVE TO UPDATE BASICALLY THE ENTIRE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.🤷🏻‍♂️ HEADED RIGHT BACK TO A MONOPOLY ON THE ENERGY SUPPLY TO RI

Delivery. Utility companies make money off the delivery and sell you the gas at cost. Something might have happened February last year that caused non-Russian heating gas to up but I can't put my finger on it.

Also I'm $70 for 1100 so you might want to check your insulation

Simply the bourgeoisie crushing the proletariat

Hello. Family of 3 here. Gas heat and gas hot water. I have 960sf ranch with a conditioned basement- so essentially I'm heating/cooling a 1920sf space. Insulation and air sealing was done in all my exterior walls, attic, and basement sills by RISE Engineering in 2021. The work is incentived by RIE so I only paid a portion of the total project cost.

My most recent electric bill came in at 89 and gas bill 139. I keep my tstat usually at 69/70.

My hvac system was recently upgraded to a high efficiency system. The HVAC guy told me changing your tstat temp is a waste of energy- just keep it at a constant temp between 68-70. Hope this helps.

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This is very heat source dependent. With forced hot air and a furnace, your statement is false. It takes <10 minutes to warm up a house with this system.

I'm sorry, but heating prices are not nearly this bad in many other places. Rhode Islanders are getting royally screwed here, and there's no sense in pretending it's not happening. People should be outraged.

Mine hasn’t increased, $103 this month. 1,000 sq 2nd floor apt 2 people. 2 showers daily, laundry daily I do 67 during the day and 60 at night

We're more dependent on NG than some states but any state (or country) that uses a large amount of NG is feeling it. You're being myopic. I'm not pretending it's not happening I'm just tired of the "everything sucks here because of x reason and everyone's going to move" thing that Rhode Islanders tend to drag out about literally anything here that isn't based in fact. Does it suck? Yes. Does it only suck for energy in Rhode Island? No. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/28/climate/how-electricity-generation-changed-in-your-state-election.html

Any place the grid is overly reliant on natural gas has seen a spike in utility rates this winter.

The governor though I am not a fan has little to do with it, there is a Public Utilities Commission that approves RI Energy prices.

Not the governor... The public utilities commission

Mine hasn’t gone up yet.

1/4 tank of heating oil is $485 this year. Looks like I'm standing in sunny windows.

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My house goes from 62 to 68 in less than 10 minutes.

Yes, that's how it works.

Can I ask how much your out of pocket cost was? I have been wanting to go through that process as well, I don't have a huge budget but want to be prepared.

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Maintaining 68 all day uses much more energy than heating the walls and furniture. Proof is the drastic cuts in my energy bills by using this method haha

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The article is behind a pay wall, but the link says 2020. Not sure how that would be relevant. Regardless, some Rhode Islanders are going to face eviction when they've used up their money to stay warm, and/or they're shivering in their homes to afford food, and the state is shrugging its shoulders. It's not an "everything sucks here" problem. It's a horrific situation for many people.

It was about 1k and the incentive level at the time was 75% covered by program so I only paid 25% of the total cost. Incentives have changed. I think right now only 50% of total cost is covered. If you want to be prepared by next winter, you should call for an assessment asap. The energy assessment is no cost.

Might want to check out how the Brits are doing with this. Or basically anywhere in EU. Even the west coast drought is increasing costs for hydroelectric powered areas here.

That's pretty warm, might want to lower your thermostat a few degrees.

Awww come on, it’s fun going over this every 5 days with the same topic.

Again, it’s heat source dependent. You may be correct for electric or hydronic heat which takes much longer to raise the temp of the room.

Temp rise, insulation, duty cycles are also important factors. Your blanket statement of maintaining 68 all day is better is incorrect.

The Governor could have stopped it with an emergency order...he seems to love that state of emergency for everything else.

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RI Energy is fucking us in the ass right now. My gas and electric bills are through the roof

Yep I rent a 1br, barely turned the heat on at all in December and the electric bill was still $200

That’s just insane. People aren’t going to be able to afford this long term. They will start leaving the state left and right.

Full Measure just headlined this issue today -

-#1 Seems NY State won't let the industry add pipelines to increase supply to the NorthEast

-#2 They have been increasing facility to export more LNG

-#3 Russia is barred/sanctioned from supplying NATO nations

so it's easier to just ship to other countries

Plan on saving a bit for the yearly adjustment they'll do, might get hit with a suprise bill this year.

It's the delivery rates that are insane imo, was the supply charge half as much as your delivery charge as well?

Yeah my entire bill was $160. $105 was delivery and $55 for supply. The biggest jump for me was peak usage. Most of my usage in previous months was off peak usage. Im guessing now that its winter its all considered peak usage and thus charged at a higher rate. I also had a big jump in distribution adjustment charges. I tried looking to see what exactly that is and it seems like its just something they make up to charge more.

Okay, so I'm not crazy. I've not seen any wildly different billing this year so I feel like an outlier. We are on a balanced billing plan but that still allows me to track actual usage compared to what we're paying per month.

We have an 1100 sf two-floor home, unfinished basement, fairly poor insulation. Our electric has been around $65 a month and our gas (heat and hot water) has been around $130-$160 a month since November. We keep the thermostat between 65-68. Only do cold water clothes washing. No dishwasher.

Was your delivery cost a similar ratio of your bill in past years before RI Energy took over?

I’m currently working with RISE to insulate my house and I can confirm it’s now 50% of total cost.

I bought my house at the end of February last year so I don't have anything to compare between National Grid and RI Energy.

F**K Putin...and don't forget Orban.

Oh suddenly...you have been peddling that crap for a while and it is still not true...

We have one person or another home all day...64 during day...63 at night ...totally comfortable....except when we had that super cold wave...would set to 65 and 66

Seems reasonable… I’m very curious about conflicting reports in this thread. I have the same living space as you, more or less similar tstat settings, and my bill is less than half of yours? Very odd.

This sounds more accurate. Odd seeing all the $200+ bills in this thread. Someone reported $400? I would shut my heat off and wear winter coat hat and gloves if my bill was ever that high. f****** that lol

Edit: I’d be curious to see people’s rent payments as a comparison. $400 is 1/4 of my rent payment. That’s bogus

Full Measure is garbage.

The reason for smart/programmable tstats is exactly so you can set them for specific time periods? Running your heat when not needed (empty house) is a waste of energy. It’s the single marketing point for smart tstats. Even if what you say is true, the heating system is still not running nearly as much to where it would be if it was on all day.

It is true...but ok...LOL

This is just wrong info. It’s a simple equation. (Time system is on)x(cost of heat) = heating bill. So decreasing the time your system is on will decrease your bill. The furnace doesn’t “work herder” based on the room temperature.

I think it’s even a metric like for every degree you lower your tstat setting can save 1% in cost. Go to the DOE website and research thermostats. “You can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply turning your thermostat back 7-10deg for 8 hours a day” Source: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/programmable-thermostats

“Facts” ≠ your opinion

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Not to be that guy, but a quick google search debunks this man… you’re saying in order to save money on heating, keep the system running 24/7. That just makes no sense

So what about the 8 hours/day 5days/ week you’re suggesting to keep it at operating temp? The heating system isn’t working during these hours? I don’t understand. Again, check out DOE website. Or just google your question. It’s debunked by multiple sources. Also, the reason for smart tstats is so you can set them for specific run times. It’s the whole purpose of a smart tstat

Is the gas heat forced air, hot water, or boiler

Department of Energy disagrees: "During winter, the lower the interior temperature, the slower the heat loss. So the longer your house remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save, because your house has lost less energy than it would have at the higher temperature."

Forced hot air. I rarely ever have my tstat set below 69. Hot water is gas fired also.

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Yeah mine as well ridiculous, went from around 70 to 256 now this month 418.. WTF

Smallest state and still the most corrupt

Switch! I got a bill over $1000 in November at $5.89 a gallon. Just got oil delivered at $3.69 a gallon from Kent County Oil.