Free Electricity at night.

[KA9JLM]

They have ads here for Free Electricity at nighttime.

Has anyone tried that ? You have to sign a 1 or 2 year contract here around Houston.

I guess if you have a electric car to charge then it may be good to have.

I pay .10 per KW 24/7 and that seems fair.

I would hate to change providers and hose things up. I do not have a electric car to charge, But I do set the air conditioner lower at night.


Free Electricity at night seems like a "Unlimited Internet plan" that has some limits, after you sign a contract.


What do you think ?

[NA0AA]

Have you read any of the paperwork or just the headline?

I would assume that this is some sort of interruptable deal where they have an RF link and can shut down your A/C during the day anytime they need to shed demand, etc.

And what is the 'daytime' rate, and when are the "night" hours? If night is from 11 pm to 6 am, your savings could be a negative number....

I'm sure it's got more catches than an extra tall corset....

[KT1F]

If this article is accurate then they are doing it because they have excess wind generation at night.

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/05/18/...ity-rate-plan/

Sounds pretty good to me.

[K8MHZ]

If this article is accurate then they are doing it because they have excess wind generation at night.

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/05/18/...ity-rate-plan/

Sounds pretty good to me.

Then why is a signed contract needed? In case people change their mind and just start paying again?

[KT1F]

Then why is a signed contract needed? In case people change their mind and just start paying again?

"Free" is probably a bit of marketing poetic license. There's probably some sort of commitment or something. That doesn't mean it's bad.

[K8MHZ]

"Free" is probably a bit of marketing poetic license. There's probably some sort of commitment or something. That doesn't mean it's bad.

What type of a commitment? Why would you have to sign anything to get something free? Obviously, it's not free. My guess is there will either be an increase in the rate over the 10 cents, or there will be added costs in the fine print.

Case in point:

There is a company in Michigan that advertises natural gas for a lower rate than the gas co. and promises a locked in rate for 5 years. You have to sign a three year contract or pay a huge termination fee.

What they don't tell you is that in addition to the rate you pay for gas, additional 'service charges' are put on the bill and can make the actual total payment twice as high as if you were still getting it from the gas company. They also don't tell you that the gas company still owns the meters and still reads them so you get nailed a fee for that, as the gas company charges the rogue company to do so, which then bills the customer for it.

The REAL fun part is that since the gas company still owns the meters and lines and does the readings and issue pops up, you get referred back to the rogue company which explains that they can't do anything about what the gas company owns or does and you get bounced back and forth like a ping pong ball trying to deal with them.

Also, our gas rates have been dropping every year, so you end up getting locked into a high rate, not a low one.

[K8MHZ]

Another thing to beware of is that your current provider (I love calling power companies that!) may have plans to do this in the near future without increasing your rate or having you sign a contract. The company that is trying to get you away from your power company may already know that and be looking to cash in on it by getting you to sign a contract with extra fees and or higher rates that you can't get out of.

If a product or service is so great, then why would they want to legally bind you to using it for extended periods of time whether you end up liking it or not?

[KT1F]

What type of a commitment?

I have no idea. I'm just making a general comment that if this puts excess wind energy to good use then that sounds like a good idea but definitely read the fine print before you sign up.

People say that plugging your electric car into the grid means it mostly becomes a coal powered car which is probably true but this turns it into a sail boat which I think is kind of cool.

[K8MHZ]

I have no idea. I'm just making a general comment that if this puts excess wind energy to good use then that sounds like a good idea but definitely read the fine print before you sign up.

People say that plugging your electric car into the grid means it mostly becomes a coal powered car which is probably true but this turns it into a sail boat which I think is kind of cool.

Last year I took a class on solar PV installation. The teacher joked about electric cars and called them coal burners. The truth is we (W. Michigan) are shutting down the coal plants and using natural gas. Many coal plants are being converted into coal / NG hybrids in order to take advantage of the best deals for fuels. Our BC Cobb plant is like that. I haven't seen the coal conveyor running in at least a couple years now, but they still have huge piles of coal on the property if they decide to fire up a coal burner.

We also have several dams and are planning for wind turbines. A 100 mega watt wind facility is being built about 5 miles from my house. The migration studies should be done this year and construction in full swing by 2014.

[KW4MW]

If it sounds to good to be true . . . . . . . . . .