SoCal Edison or City Clean Energy?

By an edhat reader

Can someone please help us figure out not only if it is better to switch back to SCE for both electricity generation and delivery, or to stay with the City’s clean energy delivery plan? We missed the opt out [didn’t even realize we had to] and feel that we are being overcharged as most of our usage is after work, etc.

We have tried to call both SCE and the city and are not having much luck at trying to figure this out. It appears that reverting back to SCE as a bundled customer, after the transition period, results in lower per KWH charges than staying on the clean energy plan, which appears to not only charge a higher per KWH rate, but also much higher rates during the “peak” times that we have no choice but to use most of our energy due to our work and other schedules.

Any help on this, figuring out the cheapest option, would be much appreciated. And we aren’t interested in a sales pitch for staying with the City’s “clean energy”. With inflation and high gas, we are simply trying to save money and stay within budget. Thanks so much community members!

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Written by Anonymous

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    • My understanding was that opting out would work out to be less of a rate increase in the long run. However, electric bills are so complicated they are effectively indecipherable. The only reliable way I have found to determine what they charge per kilowatt hour is to take the dollar amount of the bill and divide by the total usage. Beyond that bills are just pages and pages of gibberish that does not state the rate per kwh in any intelligible way, almost like they dont want you to know what it is. If you know anyone who lives in another state, ask them about what they pay for power. Work out what you pay per kwh using my formula above and compare. You’ll be shocked at what a raw deal we are getting.

  1. I opted out of the clean energy plan as I could not get clear information as to how it was different in the end. I also believe that the creation of a new ‘management’ bureaucracy cannot be good for costs. It seemed like a scam–a la Enron. After a few months of use it is my understanding from my bills (and they are hard to decipher) that SCE is providing more clean energy for a slightly less cost than the city plan.

  2. I asked to opt out, they opted me in anyway. I called, I nagged, I finally got switched back “after a mandatory period” and then I didn’t get any bill at all from SCE for 6 months, just letters saying they were having billing trouble. So I got hit with a massive bill to make up for the months of no bills, and now they are going to do the same thing with my business. I call, I can’t get through to opt out, I write and get no response. I believe it is a boondoggle adding an extra layer of bureaucracy to an already broken system, and here come the brown outs. And just wait until the electric car future gets added to the grid!

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