Title: The Fees That Raise Your Electric Bill - Consumer Reports
Headings: The Fees That Raise Your Electric Bill Even When You Use Less Energy
The Fees That Raise Your Electric Bill Even When You Use Less Energy
What’s going on and what you can do about it
Recent Proposals Regarding Fixed Charges
Utilities Have a Jekyll/Hyde Relationship With Efficiency
How Mandatory Fixed Fees Hurt Electricity Customers
Highlights of the 'Caught in a Fix' Report
Helping You Save Money When You Save Energy
Check your electric bill
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Content: There are many reasons a customer might have low energy usage: they may be located in apartments or dense housing units that require less energy; they may have small families or live alone; they may have energy‐efficient appliances or solar panels; or they may simply be conscientious about saving energy. Fixed charges disproportionately impact low‐income customers. In nearly every state, low‐income customers consume less electricity than other residential customers, on average. Because fixed charges tend to increase bills for low‐usage customers while decreasing them for high‐use customers, fixed charges raise bills most for those who can least afford the increase. Reduced incentives for energy efficiency can raise costs for all consumers. Increasing the flat charge portion of the bill instead of the variable portion of the bill means that a consumer's efforts to save energy may not translate into a lower electric bill, which reduces the incentive to invest in energy efficiency or distributed generation, in which power is generated at the point of consumption rather than from a central location.