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MN Renovator · 11-09-13, 11:34 PM

Other things matter too. In my area, CenterPoint Energy Minnesota Gas, has decided to essentially penalize low gas usage for those of us who use little due to our careful water use, heating, and those of us who actually insulate beyond code requirements.

I used 173 therms of gas from the 12 billing periods from the middle of 2011 to 2012 and spent $236.93 for the gas and that included $126 of service fees($10.50 per month). The utility filed a rate case to increase the service fees another $7 per month to $17.50. So basically my $236.93 that I paid before is nearly impossible to beat with efficiency savings because now if the rate case gets passed I'm paying $210 per year just to be connected to natural gas. In the summer, my cost of natural gas will actually be only about 12% or so of the amount I'm paying. The $236.93 that I paid before will now probably be roughly $300+ per year. Of course now if I add additional insulation, it becomes even less worth it for me so what I plan to do is once I get my house wrapped in additional insulation, a heat pump water heater will make sense and I will transition off the natural gas and be using a super efficient ASHP for building heat and the service fees from the natural gas company help my case. On top of all of that I'm installing solar PV to offset driving by the use of an electric car and all of this will be at least partially covered by energy sourced from my roof.

There are other motivations but if you are looking to lose natural gas or if natural gas is unavailable, the heat pump water heater can be financially beneficial. ..even in an area like mine where the natural gas is super cheap, but with the fees, only super cheap if you use a pile.

11-09-13, 11:34 PM	#30
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	Other things matter too. In my area, CenterPoint Energy Minnesota Gas, has decided to essentially penalize low gas usage for those of us who use little due to our careful water use, heating, and those of us who actually insulate beyond code requirements. I used 173 therms of gas from the 12 billing periods from the middle of 2011 to 2012 and spent $236.93 for the gas and that included $126 of service fees($10.50 per month). The utility filed a rate case to increase the service fees another $7 per month to $17.50. So basically my $236.93 that I paid before is nearly impossible to beat with efficiency savings because now if the rate case gets passed I'm paying $210 per year just to be connected to natural gas. In the summer, my cost of natural gas will actually be only about 12% or so of the amount I'm paying. The $236.93 that I paid before will now probably be roughly $300+ per year. Of course now if I add additional insulation, it becomes even less worth it for me so what I plan to do is once I get my house wrapped in additional insulation, a heat pump water heater will make sense and I will transition off the natural gas and be using a super efficient ASHP for building heat and the service fees from the natural gas company help my case. On top of all of that I'm installing solar PV to offset driving by the use of an electric car and all of this will be at least partially covered by energy sourced from my roof. There are other motivations but if you are looking to lose natural gas or if natural gas is unavailable, the heat pump water heater can be financially beneficial. ..even in an area like mine where the natural gas is super cheap, but with the fees, only super cheap if you use a pile.