Recently, I got my energy bill for the past 12 months. Over here it consists of 2 parts: one part you pay for the ‘network’, the delivery of energy, and the other part you pay for the actual purchase of gas and electricity. Part one kinda caught me by surprise because I had to pay about 70% more than the estimate (made by the energy company).
I didn’t do anything different really… nothing that drastic at least. So I checked the numbers -bear with me- and it turns out that I used a tad bit more per week than last year (2kWh/week), which comes down to about 7%. So where does the factor 10 come from?
I am fairly energy efficient: I use laptop computers, and hardly ever have more than one energy-saving light on in my house; I hardly ever use a dryer, and the largest energy hog is probably the electric oven. Anyhow I use less than half the electricity an average Dutch household does, and about 75% of the average one-person household (apparently it’s also about 15% of the average American house, and -to put things into perspective- 0.7% of Al Gore’s Mansion’s 2006 electricity usage). So by all accounts I use less than the regular amount of electricity for a citizen of a Western country.
The 70% increase turns out to be the result of a new calculation method that was introduced this year around here: The network bills by the day and by capacity, not by usage. In light of all the energy debates, the Kopenhagen conference and the drive to use energy saving devices, I as a below average user get stung by a new law that disfavors low-energy consumption households. By charging by the day, low-usage gets punished, average usage remains the same, and high usage gets rewarded!
I’d rather keep the money and spend it on something else, but it’s not that large an amount that it really bothers me. The underlying principle of punishing energy efficiency and rewarding high-usage households leaves me wondering… about who actually though this was a good idea, why on earth our socialist politicians – who worry about 20 cents for the ‘weaker members of society’ – are not up in arms, why the green parties didn’t see this coming. Maybe politicians don’t really care about energy consumption???
[The underlying principle of punishing energy efficiency and rewarding high-usage households leaves me wondering]
Are you saying the high-usage households bills didn’t go up? How are they being rewarded?
Either way you look at it, though, it’s good reason to push for renewable fuels. We won’t be at the mercy of oil and gas companies.
Hey Ben,
Thanks for your comment. I didn’t claim that the bill for high-usage households didn’t go up. A flat fee per day (this is just the delivery-costs) just disfavors people who use less than average, and favors higher than average usage.
Your plea for the renewable source in this case only makes sense if you are putting the solar panel, or the wind mills on your own roof.