Random Thoughts - Part Deux [NO POLITICS]

[Cole]

Originally Posted by Sarlacc

And why does that matter? The total is the same no matter how it's itemized on the bill, right?

A long time ago in a country far, far away (The 70's, Norway) the hydroelectric power plants and the distribution grids were owned by the same companies. Delivery charges were non-existent, people paid by the kW/h, linear rates.
Of course they still paid for maintenance of the infrastructure, the more electricity they used the more they paid. Some argued that was unfair.
Then, they split up the companies ("why, oh why" is a question for another day. Not that anyone is interested in what I have to say about it. Not even Norwegians.) and now we pay for maintenance of infrastructure, flat rate per household and linear pr. kW/h.
And life goes on, it really doesn't make much difference.

That's not the point I wanted to make, I just needed some finger exercise. Sorry

My point is this: You are paying for maintenance of your "preexisting infrastructure". Your life would go dark pretty fast if they stopped all maintenance.
I'm not saying you need to quit complaining. But there must be worthier causes for complaint out there? Don't you have weather or something?

Then why label it as "delivery fees"? Why not call it "maintenance fees" or just build it into the price of electricity?

If I recall correctly, my dad mentioned he pays either the same, or right close to what we do in delivery fees. That's for a house (1800ish sqft) vs our apartment, which is maybe 700sqft at the most.

I'm ok with paying for maintenance, but just label it as such. Plus, I really don't think it's fair to pay more for delivery, maintenance, etc than what we consume. But, such is life and since electricity is such a vital service, I'll continue to deal with it.

Edit: there's tons of weather. Whether it's the weather I'm leaving, 7ish degrees Celsius or the weather I'm heading to, -5 degrees. The cool thing is that I have very little to complain about for the weather right now. Both temps are pretty mild. And it looks as though when I land out west, for the rest of time out that way (11 days) it's going to continue being fairly mild. Cant wait.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Cole

Then why label it as "delivery fees"? Why not call it "maintenance fees" or just build it into the price of electricity?

If I recall correctly, my dad mentioned he pays either the same, or right close to what we do in delivery fees. That's for a house (1800ish sqft) vs our apartment, which is maybe 700sqft at the most.

I'm ok with paying for maintenance, but just label it as such. Plus, I really don't think it's fair to pay more for delivery, maintenance, etc than what we consume. But, such is life and since electricity is such a vital service, I'll continue to deal with it.

Edit: there's tons of weather. Whether it's the weather I'm leaving, 7ish degrees Celsius or the weather I'm heading to, -5 degrees. The cool thing is that I have very little to complain about for the weather right now. Both temps are pretty mild. And it looks as though when I land out west, for the rest of time out that way (11 days) it's going to continue being fairly mild. Cant wait.

The "deliver fees" came about pretty much in the same manner that Sarlacc said for Norway. Ontario Hydro used to produce and sell the power. They only sell it through others now. The delivery fee is a percentage of your usage so it changes with how much you use. I pay about $200 a month with $90 being the delivery fee. Your dad's fee would be the same percentage of what ever his total is. When Hydro sold the power directly they just buried that fee in the price and when they started selling through other services it was broken out so you are not really paying more it is just shown differently. What really get's me is the "debt retirement" fee that they charge above all the services to eliminate the debt from their past poor business practices. No private company would get away with that.
I wish I only paid $44 a months and no gas or water bills! Maybe I need to look at apartments.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

The "deliver fees" came about pretty much in the same manner that Sarlacc said for Norway. Ontario Hydro used to produce and sell the power. They only sell it through others now. The delivery fee is a percentage of your usage so it changes with how much you use. I pay about $200 a month with $90 being the delivery fee. Your dad's fee would be the same percentage of what ever his total is. When Hydro sold the power directly they just buried that fee in the price and when they started selling through other services it was broken out so you are not really paying more it is just shown differently. What really get's me is the "debt retirement" fee that they charge above all the services to eliminate the debt from their past poor business practices. No private company would get away with that.
I wish I only paid $44 a months and no gas or water bills! Maybe I need to look at apartments.

Again though, in what universe does it make sense to charge more than 50% of someone's bill on just a delivery fee?

Sounds like Toronto Hydro really just wants to get paid regardless of what's actually used.

[Sarlacc]

Originally Posted by Cole

Then why label it as "delivery fees"? Why not call it "maintenance fees"

Probably because they've hired some bullshit market profiling firm to improve their image?

Originally Posted by Cole

or just build it into the price of electricity?

Well, that's the big question. Say there's two neighboring houses. In one there lives a large family and the other is a vacation home used 3 weeks a year. Keeping the lines up so they get uninterrupted electricity costs the same for both houses, so would it be fair that one pays 17 times as much as the other, for the same service? Or, is it more fair to split it up so both pay the same maintenance fees and they both pay for the power they use?

Originally Posted by Cole

If I recall correctly, my dad mentioned he pays either the same, or right close to what we do in delivery fees. That's for a house (1800ish sqft) vs our apartment, which is maybe 700sqft at the most.

I'm ok with paying for maintenance, but just label it as such. Plus, I really don't think it's fair to pay more for delivery, maintenance, etc than what we consume.

Well, that's easy to fix! Consume more!

Originally Posted by Cole

But, such is life and since electricity is such a vital service, I'll continue to deal with it.

Good. Very mature.

Originally Posted by Cole

Edit: there's tons of weather. Whether it's the weather I'm leaving, 7ish degrees Celsius or the weather I'm heading to, -5 degrees. The cool thing is that I have very little to complain about for the weather right now. Both temps are pretty mild. And it looks as though when I land out west, for the rest of time out that way (11 days) it's going to continue being fairly mild. Cant wait.

Awesome.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

That is pronounced as "bear". Only the southerners pronounce it as "bar"

Lived in the South all my life and have some relatives with the stereotypical thick backwoods Southern accent. I have never meet anyone off the movie/tv screen that pronounces it "bar". Most of us pronounce it with a y and a pause in it, "bay-er" There is only one true "bar" and it involves the serving of sort of alcoholic beverage....

[Dadhawk]

Ugh...Jury Duty day 1. The only thing I got to judge today was the uncomfortableness of the chairs in the Jury Assembly Room. All the cases assigned to my jury pool were settled before the jury selection.

Only four days to go....

[Cole]

Originally Posted by Sarlacc

Probably because they've hired some bullshit market profiling firm to improve their image?

Well, that's the big question. Say there's two neighboring houses. In one there lives a large family and the other is a vacation home used 3 weeks a year. Keeping the lines up so they get uninterrupted electricity costs the same for both houses, so would it be fair that one pays 17 times as much as the other, for the same service? Or, is it more fair to split it up so both pay the same maintenance fees and they both pay for the power they use?

Well, that's easy to fix! Consume more!

Good. Very mature.

Shouldn't the household that consumes the most pay for the bulk of delivery?

[Cole]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Ugh...Jury Duty day 1. The only thing I got to judge today was the uncomfortableness of the chairs in the Jury Assembly Room. All the cases assigned to my jury pool were settled before the jury selection.

Only four days to go....

I haven't been selected. My brother got a letter for it about a year ago. I think he just showed up for the first day, and wasn't picked to go on ahead. Or something like that. All I know for sure is that he didn't actually have to sit on a jury.

I feel like that would be a pretty good time. I'd gladly sit in on trial after trial during the winter time. I absolutely love judging people.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Cole

Shouldn't the household that consumes the most pay for the bulk of delivery?

That's the rental fee for the route to your residence, though it probably also includes maintenance. I can't say how it works for you, but my delivery charge remains relatively static - when the weather is perfect and I run almost nothing, it's half the bill. When the A/C is on all month, it's a significantly smaller portion of the bill.

I can choose which company 'provides' the electricity, but it has to go through the single company; they own all the infrastructure. So they put that on a separate line item now.

I can't wait till the internet works this way.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Cole

I haven't been selected. My brother got a letter for it about a year ago. I think he just showed up for the first day, and wasn't picked to go on ahead. Or something like that. All I know for sure is that he didn't actually have to sit on a jury.

I feel like that would be a pretty good time. I'd gladly sit in on trial after trial during the winter time. I absolutely love judging people.

Depends on the jurisdiction. In the one I'm in, you serve the full week, as long as they have cases, no matter how many juries you sit on. if you get picked for on Thursday you could end up back the following week.

This is the first time since I've been eligible (40 years) that I've ever been called for duty. I don't really mind, it makes the system worked, and as the supervisor said today, just our presence in the building makes cases get resolved because no one wants 6 or 12 people that don't want to be there judging you.

There has been talk in the past about allowing jurisdictions to have basically professional jury members, people willing to get paid (by the court) to be on juries. I'd do that as a part time retirement job. Like you, I like judging people and at one time I wanted to be a lawyer/judge.

Not sure my $25 a day makes me a professional.

[Sarlacc]

Originally Posted by Cole

Shouldn't the household that consumes the most pay for the bulk of delivery?

Well, according to Tcoat that is actually how it works in Canada. (In Norway it's based om the size and location of the house.)

I can argue about this for hours and then switch sides and keep going.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by Sarlacc

Well, according to Tcoat that is actually how it works in Canada. (In Norway it's based om the size and location of the house.)

I can argue about this for hours and then switch sides and keep going.

I'll have to watch the bills in the coming months and see how the delivery fee changes if/when we end up consuming more than 14 bucks of electricity in a month.

[Sarlacc]

Originally Posted by Cole

I'll have to watch the bills in the coming months and see how the delivery fee changes if/when we end up consuming more than 14 bucks of electricity in a month.

Don't follow leaders, and watch the parking meters.

[new2subaru]

The new Firefox update is VERY blue! *Rubbing eyes*