Got another email about a rate increase this morning. Are our electric rates the highest in the region?


Dear Customer,

We know you rely on us to deliver reliable electricity to power your home and business every day. We have an obligation to serve all our residential and business customers while maintaining affordability, as we work to strengthen the electric grid to meet today’s challenges and anticipate future needs of our customers.

OG&E has filed a proposal for review and approval by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) to replace two aging power generation units at Horseshoe Lake Power Plant in eastern Oklahoma County. These units have faithfully served our customers for more than 60 years, but as the units have aged, they have become difficult and costly to maintain – in fact, some parts are no longer available.

The OCC has scheduled a hearing for mid-October to discuss this project, and as part of its approval process, the Commission instructed us to share a notification with our customers, which you will soon receive separately by email or letter.

It’s important to note, if this project is approved by the Commission, our customers would not see any charges on monthly bills related to these new power generation units until they are operational, which is planned for late 2026. We anticipate the average residential customer would see an increase of $2.20 per month at that time.

The Horseshoe Lake generation project is a great opportunity to provide improved reliable and resilient electric service for you as we continue to plan for the future. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you and all our customers.

No, not at all.

https://www.chooseenergy.com/electricity-rates-by-state/

https://quickelectricity.com/cost-of-electricity-per-kwh-by-state/

I hope people realize Oklahoma has very cheap power costs. A lot of OG&E equipment is very old, which is partly why it has been so cheap.

Oh, and divide that $2.20/mo increase by how many KWH you use. That is the increase that will be apples to apples with the links I shared.

Y'all enjoy your rate increases. I'll keep on paying my $15/month access fee as my solar bill will remain unchanged until it is paid in full.

Y'all enjoy your rate increases. I'll keep on paying my $15/month access fee as my solar bill will remain unchanged until it is paid in full.

How fast will you break even on your setup?

How fast will you break even on your setup?

i can't speak for him, but at my current rate, i will break even in just 7 years and 4 months. quicker if the rates continue to rise.

If you want to know about solar this is the best site I have found. https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/ It would be about 16 years before I would break even and that is paying for everything up front. I'm sure many will tell me I'm wrong but I have check other sites and that is about the average.

If you want to know about solar this is the best site I have found. https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/ It would be about 16 years before I would break even and that is paying for everything up front. I'm sure many will tell me I'm wrong but I have check other sites and that is about the average.

There are a different variables. I don't know for example if that site is just looking at just solar with no power banks. The most optimal solution would be if your not living in your house during the day and its basically just sitting there dormant as a power plant. With my house I would still be owing OGE today as I sit here working from home.

i can't speak for him, but at my current rate, i will break even in just 7 years and 4 months. quicker if the rates continue to rise.

It's longer for me, like 10 years or so because I did a battery array as well. But I was meeting a client at home last Sunday and the power went out for the area, I went and switched off the AC breakers and everything just continued like normal.

--if you do a battery array and you want your A/C to work, you're going to need a pretty big array.

And it's also hard to do that math because energy prices have been pretty steadily increasing about 3% a year, so 10 years in or so and the math really starts to look good.

It's longer for me, like 10 years or so because I did a battery array as well. But I was meeting a client at home last Sunday and the power went out for the area, I went and switched off the AC breakers and everything just continued like normal.

--if you do a battery array and you want your A/C to work, you're going to need a pretty big array.

And it's also hard to do that math because energy prices have been pretty steadily increasing about 3% a year, so 10 years in or so and the math really starts to look good.

What equipment did you go with for your setup?

What equipment did you go with for your setup?

Enphase, 35 panels on the roof (A 15kW system) and a 10kWh battery. Wired up for a generator when I want to add one.

The companies we looked at, the rates were just too high even with that 12k payment. The ROI was still going to be like 15-30 years depending on what you made your rate. And all that was without battery capacity so you couldn't actually runt he house on the solar, only feed back to the grid. Yes, my OG&E bill would have been next to nothing, but i would have still been paying just as much in the loan payments and would have still missed out on the actual benefit of running off-grid. So we stopped in the tracks there. They all seemed to have the same offerings with only minor price or warranty differences.

The industry is still definitely stacked against solar, but I am seeing a lot more of it than I ever saw before. So people are definitely interested and are so pissed at OG&E that the rate is worth it to them.

I still don't understand how generation is not part of the cost of doing business. Why should we continue to have to pay more and more and more so many times a year (dont get me started on securitization) and then it's still not enough? 20 years of plant building and wind building and we're still not done. Haven't even touched the Mustang plant yet. But the Corporation Commission will, as always, just give them the rate increase and move on.

No, not at all.

https://www.chooseenergy.com/electricity-rates-by-state/

https://quickelectricity.com/cost-of-electricity-per-kwh-by-state/

I hope people realize Oklahoma has very cheap power costs. A lot of OG&E equipment is very old, which is partly why it has been so cheap.

Oh, and divide that $2.20/mo increase by how many KWH you use. That is the increase that will be apples to apples with the links I shared.

Ah I had misremembered the stat, Thanks! I had read the rates of increase had been one of the highest but not the final cost! (https://okcfox.com/news/local/electricity-prices-rising-faster-in-oklahoma-than-any-other-state-amber-integrated-retail-energy-supply-association-energy-mike-boyd-alliance-for-electrical-restructuring-energy)

The companies we looked at, the rates were just too high even with that 12k payment. The ROI was still going to be like 15-30 years depending on what you made your rate. And all that was without battery capacity so you couldn't actually runt he house on the solar, only feed back to the grid. Yes, my OG&E bill would have been next to nothing, but i would have still been paying just as much in the loan payments and would have still missed out on the actual benefit of running off-grid. So we stopped in the tracks there. They all seemed to have the same offerings with only minor price or warranty differences.

The industry is still definitely stacked against solar, but I am seeing a lot more of it than I ever saw before. So people are definitely interested and are so pissed at OG&E that the rate is worth it to them.

I still don't understand how generation is not part of the cost of doing business. Why should we continue to have to pay more and more and more so many times a year (dont get me started on securitization) and then it's still not enough? 20 years of plant building and wind building and we're still not done. Haven't even touched the Mustang plant yet. But the Corporation Commission will, as always, just give them the rate increase and move on.

Totally agree. The legislature needs to look at what costs should be recoverable. It annoys me to no end every time there's a strorm and they have to replace the power lines, they're in there begging for a permanent rate increase to pay for one time costs which could have been avoided had they buried the lines in the first place. And yeah, they're going to build these plants and then get paid back for them through depreciation, right? So are they double dipping?

Stitt is blowing and going about having a 9 Billion dollar rainy day surplus.

How about taking 1 Billion or our rainy day savings and pay this recoverable amount off !

That would be a nice tax relief for everyone.

Stitt is blowing and going about having a 9 Billion dollar rainy day surplus.

How about taking 1 Billion or our rainy day savings and pay this recoverable amount off !

That would be a nice tax relief for everyone.

Correction: Oklahoma Rainy Day fund savings has $1.3 billion.

Governor Stitt Announces FY 23 Revenue Exceeds Expectations, Deposit Made to Rainy Day Fund: https://oklahoma.gov/governor/newsroom/newsroom/2023/august2023/governor-stitt-announces-fy-23-revenue-exceeds-expectations--dep.html

How about Stitt passing some of that surplus about $50 million over to Oklahoma City, who kept the museum alive by partnering with the Chickasaw Tribe to finish the project and forking over 100 acres of OKC land.

How about fixing the metro interchanges, starting with 40/44?

Correction: Oklahoma Rainy Day fund savings has $1.3 billion.

Governor Stitt Announces FY 23 Revenue Exceeds Expectations, Deposit Made to Rainy Day Fund: https://oklahoma.gov/governor/newsroom/newsroom/2023/august2023/governor-stitt-announces-fy-23-revenue-exceeds-expectations--dep.html

How about Stitt passing some of that surplus about $50 million over to Oklahoma City, who kept the museum alive by partnering with the Chickasaw Tribe to finish the project and forking over 100 acres of OKC land.

1.3 billion was 2019 fy.

How much money does Oklahoma have in savings?
Our fiscally conservative approach has directly resulted in our state's savings account reaching a historic $4 billion.Feb 6, 2023

I swear I've heard him say 9 Billion. But earlier this year it says 4 Billion.

$4B is just not very much money. If you gave all the teachers in the state a $10k raise that would exhaust the fund within 10 years.

$4B is just not very much money. If you gave all the teachers in the state a $10k raise that would exhaust the fund within 10 years.

We should do it this.

Just went through a large power failure here in Yukon, and it reminded me of how much we rely on electricity for just about everything. I hear folks complaining about small rate increases and it makes me wonder if they realize the amount of personnel, equipment, and money it takes to provide us with power. Solar and wind is a fine supplement but won't work without a good old 60 cycle power grid, unless you invest in an expensive battery bank. During that last ice storm I was without electricity for almost a week, and it would take a massive battery bank to last that long. My money was better spent on a gas powered generator, which worked great the other night. I say "Thank you OG&E for the quick fix.

The only thing that causes the price of electricity in Oklahoma to go up significantly is the price of natural gas. The utilities can do better, but Okahomans don't really pay that much for electricity when compared to the rest of the country.

Just went through a large power failure here in Yukon, and it reminded me of how much we rely on electricity for just about everything. I hear folks complaining about small rate increases and it makes me wonder if they realize the amount of personnel, equipment, and money it takes to provide us with power. Solar and wind is a fine supplement but won't work without a good old 60 cycle power grid, unless you invest in an expensive battery bank. During that last ice storm I was without electricity for almost a week, and it would take a massive battery bank to last that long. My money was better spent on a gas powered generator, which worked great the other night. I say "Thank you OG&E for the quick fix.

And it'd have to be a bigger battery array than really most folks are interested in buying these days. I did a single 10kW battery, and it'll give me several hours worth of power if I'm able to shut off the AC. Solar is fine, but I think the better money spent would be on a generator.

Home BESS are getting quite good. They won't replace a CNG generator, though. They are useful for a few hours, not days. Anker has a good offering and has mobile units. Great option for tailgating now.

Just went through a large power failure here in Yukon, and it reminded me of how much we rely on electricity for just about everything. I hear folks complaining about small rate increases and it makes me wonder if they realize the amount of personnel, equipment, and money it takes to provide us with power. Solar and wind is a fine supplement but won't work without a good old 60 cycle power grid, unless you invest in an expensive battery bank. During that last ice storm I was without electricity for almost a week, and it would take a massive battery bank to last that long. My money was better spent on a gas powered generator, which worked great the other night. I say "Thank you OG&E for the quick fix.

It’s possible to do both. We have a gas generator for backup power, and solar panels to offset the insane price increases from OG&E. We are already saving hundreds of dollars a year even with the solar equipment loan.

Unless you just really love sending money to OG&E, or if your electric bills are already relatively low, solar is worth it.

I’ve had people say the dumbest things about solar (not lumping you into that category). I think it’s some weird ideological thing with a lot of folks here who are reflexively opposed to alternative energy.

I try to be patient but some of the things otherwise intelligent people say about solar are laughable. My wife and I enjoy showing some of these people our electric bills for like $12 to watch their brains explode.

And to add, we will soon have zero dollar bills, earning credits for next summer.

And to clarify, oklapatriot, you do realize that getting Solar doesn’t mean you’re off the grid, right? So, when the grid goes down, so does your solar power. This is when you have a choice of backup batteries or gas generator backup.

Wrapping up home construction and running the numbers on the solar decision now. Leaning toward NG generator now for backup then getting a year of electric cost to determine the right size of the PV array and battery. Since we went with a significant investment in insulation for the house, I anticipate our energy consumption to be lower than our previous, smaller house - until we add electric vehicles to the mix. (I think the combo of EV and your own solar power plant is where the cost savings really start to add up.) I definitely agree that solar is the best hedge against the inevitable increase in rates from OG&E but there are tons of considerations and it is pretty easy to get into something that will never provide ROI within a reasonable time frame. It will be pretty cool to be in town in Norman but off grid with no need to worry about the next power outage from weather.

And to add, we will soon have zero dollar bills, earning credits for next summer.

And to clarify, oklapatriot, you do realize that getting Solar doesn’t mean you’re off the grid, right? So, when the grid goes down, so does your solar power. This is when you have a choice of backup batteries or gas generator backup.

Depends on the microinverters. The Enphase IQ8+ inverters will work without an external power source, though they are slightly less efficient than the IQ7. But if a cloud goes over the house, you'd still be SOL... and in my experience, most of the time when the grid goes down, the sun isn't shining.

And to add, we will soon have zero dollar bills, earning credits for next summer.

And to clarify, oklapatriot, you do realize that getting Solar doesn’t mean you’re off the grid, right? So, when the grid goes down, so does your solar power. This is when you have a choice of backup batteries or gas generator backup.

Yes, I'm aware of that. I'm not against any type of alternative energy. At my age the ROI is too long and I don't want to pass the cost to my heirs. For some, it's a good investment. I did look into installing a system myself just for kicks. Most individual pieces of a solar system can be bought individually and installed for a much lower price then offered by the "traveling" sales folks. Of course you would need to have the knowledge and ability to do it yourself. Thanks for the reply.

Depends on the microinverters. The Enphase IQ8+ inverters will work without an external power source, though they are slightly less efficient than the IQ7. But if a cloud goes over the house, you'd still be SOL... and in my experience, most of the time when the grid goes down, the sun isn't shining.

LOL. When I was looking around at the cost on Amazon, I ran into this one, https://www.amazon.com/Inverter-Converter-Split-Phase-Charger-Batteryless/dp/B0BM8YHPTY/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2M6P19L6S4Z7&keywords=solar%2Binverter%2B10000w&qid=1695387620&sprefix=solar%2Binvertre%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.ac2169a1-b668-44b9-8bd0-5ec63b24bcb5&th=1, which is pretty reasonable for a 10KW unit.

LOL. When I was looking around at the cost on Amazon, I ran into this one, https://www.amazon.com/Inverter-Converter-Split-Phase-Charger-Batteryless/dp/B0BM8YHPTY/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2M6P19L6S4Z7&keywords=solar%2Binverter%2B10000w&qid=1695387620&sprefix=solar%2Binvertre%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.ac2169a1-b668-44b9-8bd0-5ec63b24bcb5&th=1, which is pretty reasonable for a 10KW unit.

I'm not really sure where the device you linked would fit on a system like mine. It probably wouldnt'.

Each panel and each battery in the array has its own microinverter. On Amazon, the IQ7 is about $130 each and the IQ8 is $145. The microinverters convert the power to 120VAC and all of that goes to a combiner which combines and automatically routes power from your devices and the grid to the home.

I'm sure different brands have different parts and maybe that inverter works with some other system, I've only ever seen an Enphase system up close.

I'm not really sure where the device you linked would fit on a system like mine. It probably wouldnt'.

Each panel and each battery in the array has its own microinverter. On Amazon, the IQ7 is about $130 each and the IQ8 is $145. The microinverters convert the power to 120VAC and all of that goes to a combiner which combines and automatically routes power from your devices and the grid to the home.

I'm sure different brands have different parts and maybe that inverter works with some other system, I've only ever seen an Enphase system up close.

You're right......I looked into the IQ7....interesting way to do it. Quick. The one I posted takes the total voltage generated by the panels and then does basically the same thing. The panels can be wired up in different configurations to generate different voltages, i.e., 24V or 48V.

You're right......I looked into the IQ7....interesting way to do it. Quick. The one I posted takes the total voltage generated by the panels and then does basically the same thing. The panels can be wired up in different configurations to generate different voltages, i.e., 24V or 48V.

All different ways of turning sunlight into money/electricity. What you posted is a central inverter and it's generally not something you're going to see in a residential installation. Mainly because in most residential applications, you have to deal with shade and with a central inverter, the panels are wired up like a string, I'm guessing in series or parallel (I think that covers the bases on how to wire multiple things up?).

In the central application, your panels will only perform as well as the lowest performing panel.

Also, central inverters last about 15 years compared to microinverters, mine which have 25 year warranties.

Probably the biggest issue is safety. With microinverters, you have a lot of basically low voltage lines and with a central inverter, you have some high voltage lines running across your roof.

Of course, there's a downside. With solar, you get the cool spaceship looking wall and with microinverters, you end up with at least one fewer mystery box on your spaceship wall.

Thanks for the explanation, and I thought you were a Lawyer, Lol. The microinverters are very interesting. At any rate, I was trying to point out how important electricity is to our daily life, and how much it costs the utility to provide us with this service. I won't complain about a small rate increase, with all things considered.

Now, don't get me started on cellphones.

nm

"The company is lowering residential customer bills effective November 1st. That's because natural gas prices dropped in 2023. The average residential customer will see a reduction of about $20.97 a month beginning on their December bills. The reduction is approximately 15.4% per month."

https://ktul.com/news/local/oge-slashes-residential-bills-customers-to-save-nearly-16-as-natural-gas-prices-plummet

Just in time for winter, when the AC isn't in use as much and electric bills will be lower anyhow. lol. Oh well, we'll save a little

Just in time for winter, when the AC isn't in use as much and electric bills will be lower anyhow. lol. Oh well, we'll save a little

If you are on the average billing, this is the time usage decreases and you actually likely have the largest balance owed. By reducing the charge, it will take them longer to get repaid. Instead of it being the negative you imply, it is actually a positive.