MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
I got an e-mail from Florida Power and Light informing me that they would be withdrawing $30 from my bank account to pay the hangar electric bill. That is about twice what it is for a month, and most of the usual $16 or so is the fixed charge; I only use about 35 KWH a month over there. I wondered if the problem I found with the GFI not being bolted down in the receptacle was worse than I thought and we had more than a momentary short.
No, turns out that henceforth FPL will charge you for at least 239 KWH/Month, even if you use only 30 KWH, or even if you use none at all. That also applies to people who have solar power systems that can give them a net cost of $0 by selling their extra power back to FPL; they'll still have to pay for at least 239 KWH/Month.
In at least one state here you pay a minimum monthly fee if power is "available" to your property - meaning the lines pass along your boundary. There was a big stink some ten years back when a large eco-village that was totally off grid and in the middle of nowhere was sent a bill because the power company ran the lines for a great distance right up to the boundary just so they could gouge them. No other customers on the line. I am not sure if the politicians did anything about it. Unlikely.