TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Moving to Baja Full/Part Time

I know utilities are expensive south of the border and I have heard of some mainland summertime bills being extraordinary....
I am wondering, with all the intangibles, what I can expect with my family when I move....better get some efficient fans and a few solar panels....

Oh yeah....ask an easy straight forward question why dontcha?

Rates off my December bill, billing dates October 3 - December 3, 2010:

26 dias de Verano (Summer Rate)
Concepto ...... kWh ...... Precio ..... Subtotal
Basico ........... 151.6725 .... .625........ 94.79
Intermedio ..... 138.3275 .... .726 ..... 100.42
... Suma ........ 290.0000 .................. 195.22

33 dias Fuera de Verano (Off Summer Rate)

Basico .............. 82.5000 ....... .707 ..... 58.32
Intermedio ..... 110.0000 ..... 1.177 .... 129.47
Excedente ...... 160.5000 .... 2.489 .... 399.48
... Suma .......... 353.0000 ................... 587.28

TOTAL .............................................. $869.01

There are summer & non-summer rate schedules.....both the kWh base & the rates change in each usage tier. Then, to complicate things a little more, there is a government subsidy for summer months. All I can tell you about the subsidy is that it's on a sliding scale, the lower the usage, the higher the subsidy, the lower overall usage, the higher the subsidy.

According to my December bill, Total cost of Production on the electricity I used was $2,315.82, and the gov subsidized or reduced my bill by $1,533.02, then they added 11% IVA to get to a total bill of $869.01. Keep in mind, we're talking 2-month billing cycles and pesos here!!

My personal historical 2-year kWh usage:

.................... Feb........... April ......... June ........ Aug ...... Oct ..... Dec
2009 ............ 604 ........... 573 ......... 638 ......... 805 ...... 728 ..... 559
2010 ............ 648 ........... 653 ......... 679 ......... 673 ...... 645 ..... 643

The August - Oct. 2009 usage spike was when I installed a mini-split in the master bedroom to reduce the humidity which had caused a horrendous case of prickly heat. I doubt that unit has a cumulative total of 20 hours total usage for the 2 years it's been installed.

That said, you can control your bills by controlling your usage....for the most part. A neighbor, who shall remain nameless, moved here during the hottest summer months, they have 3 A/C units in their casa....Master bdrm, living room & second bdrm. They ran all 3 A/C round the clock for the first 2 months. They also left all the exterior lights on every evening when they went into town for dinner, turning them on in broad daylight, so they'd all be on when they got back home in the dark....because returning after dinner all those lights made their casa look so pretty! Their first bill was in excess of $36,000 pesos!! They have since changed their ways.....but even after they changed their usage habits, their bill is typically in excess of triple what mine is. I got their bill by mistake a few months ago & thankfully before I regained consciousness & could pick myself up from the ground out by my mailbox, the CFE guy had come back to pry their bill from my clutched hand & replace it with my own bill!!

There are many way you can keep your usage within reason, energy saving appliances, teach everyone in the family to turn lights off every time they leave the room, I put glass blocks in windowless areas which have a tendency to be dark during the day....my laundry area & my master closet. The light from that small area of glass blocks reduces the tendency to automatically reach for the light switch when entering those areas. As does the skylight I put in the small bano which sits in the center of my casa.

You could go total or partial solar. I was going to have my two single greatest energy users....my energy-saving refrig & the pool filtration pump on solar....until I got 3 quotes for those two items alone...all 3 quotes came in over $20K USD! Alright Marty, who took the emoticon away??? But if you can do your own installation, it'd be much more feasible & affordable!!

Gracias Marty!!! I searched for the little blighter & couldn't find it! Thanks for knowing THUD = faint!

What gets most people is not understanding the CFE rate system, which is tiered and designed to heavily reward low usage. It's not just that you pay more to use more, you do so almost exponentially beyond a certain amount. IMHO the best estimate you could get would be by determining your current kWh usage per month, then plugging it into the BCS rate system.

The rate depends on several factors:
Quota (over vs. under 200 kWh /mo in winter or 400 kWh /mo in summer)
Season (Winter = Nov. through April; Summer= May through Oct.)
Tier (Básico, Intermedio, Excedente)
Monthly adjustment
Staying out of the DAC -- see below.

Go to this page and start plugging in the relevant info:
Conoce tu tarifa
Tarifa 1D is the rate for BCS. Temporada de Verano = summer season (May through Oct.) and Temporada Fuera de Verano = winter season (Nov. through April).

Let's say that in September 2011 you use 600 kWh. You'd pay as follows:
Básico 175@0.647 = 113.225
Intermedio 425 @0.971 = 412.675
Total 525.90 pesos

But if you used 800 kWh, the additional 200 would be at the Excedente rate:
200 @ 2.569 = 513.80
Total 1,039.70 pesos

So those last 200 kWh would cost you almost what you paid for the first 600 kWh. That's one way it gets you.

Using 800 kWh in November 2011 would give you:
Básico 75@0.731 = 54.825
Intermedio 100 @1.225 = 122.50
Excedente 625 @ 2.585 = 1,615.625
Total 1,792.95 pesos

Contrary to popular belief, you can easily get a high bill in winter, because the tier cutoffs are lower. The one time I had anything billed at Excedente was a result of using the fans in a hot November.

If you average above 1000 kWh /mo over a year, you get bumped into the DAC (high consumption) rate until your average drops again. That's a fixed rate of 72.38 pesos plus 3.451 /kWh in summer or 2.72 /kWh in winter. You really don't want to go there!

On the DAC rate, using 800 /kWh in September would get you a bill of around 2,833.18 pesos for that month. Billing is bimonthly, so two months would be getting close to the $500 USD you mentioned.

My bills average about 400 pesos per two-month period, but I have a smaller house than Legs does, fewer (or smaller) gadgets, and no AC.

Thanks to all ... a great break down .. it all helps...

Awesome replies.....I am going to have to step up my game when I get down there....seems like a place that lots of smart people immigrate to.
Thanks you gals!

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

... Alright Marty, who took the :thud: emoticon away??? But if you can do your own installation, it'd be much more feasible & affordable!!

It got bumped to the 2nd page by a new entry.

It's code is :faint :

I also think that if you go into the highest tier for a certain number of months / over a certain % that they put you on a higher rate plan - at least that is what happened to a friend in Rosarito as I recall.

Just another good reason to consider installing solar to handle some of your heavy day use. Eventually CFE will get out here to where we are but the long term plan is to keep the current system up and running and only use CFE at night...

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

I also think that if you go into the highest tier for a certain number of months / over a certain % that they put you on a higher rate plan - at least that is what happened to a friend in Rosarito as I recall.

That would be the DAC. From the CFE site:

4.- Límite de alto consumo

El límite de alto consumo se define para cada localidad en función de la tarifa en la que se encuentre clasificada:

Tarifa 1: 250 (doscientos cincuenta) kWh/mes.
Tarifa 1A: 300 (trescientos) kWh/mes.
Tarifa 1B: 400 (cuatrocientos) kWh/mes.
Tarifa 1C: 850 (ochocientos cincuenta) kWh/mes.
Tarifa 1D: 1,000 (un mil) kWh/mes.
Tarifa 1E: 2,000 (dos mil) kWh/mes.
Tarifa 1F: 2,500 (dos mil quinientos) kWh/mes.

Cuando el Consumo Mensual Promedio del usuario sea superior al Límite de Alto Consumo se le reclasificará a la Tarifa Doméstica de Alto Consumo.

Originally Posted by kate

Cuando el Consumo Mensual Promedio del usuario sea superior al Límite de Alto Consumo se le reclasificará a la Tarifa Doméstica de Alto Consumo. [/i]

And what are the rates once you have been classified as ¨alto consumo¨?

Just about triple 1D per KWH

Gotta make my posts more engaging or something

Originally Posted by kate

If you average above 1000 kWh /mo over a year, you get bumped into the DAC (high consumption) rate until your average drops again. That's a fixed rate of 72.38 pesos plus 3.451 /kWh in summer or 2.72 /kWh in winter.

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

And what are the rates once you have been classified as ¨alto consumo¨?

Here let me help.....

Originally Posted by kate
DAC = a fixed rate of 72.38 pesos plus 3.451 /kWh in summer or 2.72 /kWh in winter.

Say what???

We had problems with a refigerator and had it worked on twice to no avail. Our electric bill doubled that billing period,so i read the meter and took the reading to the Comission, She computed the numbers and explained if I continue at that pace my bill would be more next period.
Solution, I bought a new refigerator that day. the next period my bill was back to normal which is and has ben for the last 7 years
1,800.00 Pesos a bllling period. We dont scrimp but on the other hand we dont flood light the neighborhood. 30 years ago I had a all electric house in Houston Tx. and my bill averaged 300.00 dls. a mo.

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Say what???

Funny, I didn't think it was eyes that were the first thing to fail on you younger model old farts!

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

Funny, I didn't think it was eyes that were the first thing to fail on you younger model old farts!

Say what???

My last bill was consumo kWh 317, Tarifa 01, $476.00 pesos. The mind blower is down at the bottom Costo de produccion $1,236.36, Aportacion Gubernamental $825.94, good old me $476.00.
I didn't know the Mexican Government liked me so much?

Maybe different area Lake Chapala

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

I also think that if you go into the highest tier for a certain number of months / over a certain % that they put you on a higher rate plan - at least that is what happened to a friend in Rosarito as I recall.

Just another good reason to consider installing solar to handle some of your heavy day use. Eventually CFE will get out here to where we are but the long term plan is to keep the current system up and running and only use CFE at night...

We too are currently totally off-grid solar powered, however the city says that some day we will have power out to our house (yeah right). When/if they do, does anyone know if CFE will "buy back" power from us that is generated during the day as in the US? It would be nice not to have to maintain the battery bank.

ncampion

I understand that CFE will not buy back KWH but give credit for future billing.

Also I understand for one to be accepted in the program you cannot have batteries as part of the system.


Even though we are on the grid I was thinking about installing a small system to reduce hydro costs, but figured that the payback period was way to long with the cost of hydro down here.
It has been awhile since I reading the info and without promises I will see if I can find a link.

I have a neighbor who has "on-the -grid" solar. CFE will not buy back power, the only credit you get is running the meter backwards.