Why is it fair that that CenterPoint Energy charges more for some usage – is the company just making more money on the extra usage?
There are many low-use customers for whom the rate design is intended to benefit. Our best estimate is that 80 percent of our residential customers will pay approximately the same or less if we strictly isolated the IBR and compared bills to the traditional method of charging for gas costs. The actual commodity cost of gas typically fluctuates monthly. The purpose of the IBR is to lessen the financial burden on low-use customers while encouraging high-use customers to conserve. It is important to remember that all customers can be rewarded for conserving under the IBR. The majority of our customers will realize a lower annual natural gas bill than they would under traditional practices. Under the new IBR structure, the average customer began benefiting from the gas price rate reductions in July and paid less for the cost of gas then CenterPoint Energy paid. Current increases due to higher use are offsetting those reductions. The average residential customer that uses approximately 900
Related Questions
- Does CenterPoint Energy simply adjust the number of days to make sure that the total usage is elevated to a higher tier cost?
- Why should CenterPoint Energy be able to take more than 30 days to read a meter if it pushes usage into a higher block?
- Is it really worth spending the extra money on an ENERGY STAR® qualified, high-efficiency heating system?
