Orion

Seconded.

That would be an extremely improbable occurrance, as Natural Gas prices and electric prices stay very similar throughout the year. There are a very large number of generating plants that run on Natural Gas, and as soon as the prices dip below that of the other methods for creating electricity, they run those generators, thus buying Gas and driving the prices back up. I cannot help you with a number, however. I believe AEP has a special tariff rate for that. You can "shed" load and charge the capacity rate back to AEP, however.

Best non-lethal protection = using your brain.

Natural Gas is indeed at all time lows in cost this year, however, as Gabe stated, that number can and will change every day, often every five minutes. Plus, you will be buying it retail most likely, and those companies add their own margin to the costs. The AEP bill provides you with some very good info, in the form of your Price to Compare. Do the metrics, if you can generate your own electricity for less than around 9 cents per kWh, then you will be ahead. Of note, AEP has a POLR clause. Meaning that if you leave their tariff, and then come back, you will be obligated to stay for 12 months before they will let you leave again. So, you can't switch back and forth every month based upon the cost of NatGas.

That is a beautiful color and car.

...and AEP turned around and pretty much refiled the same damn tariff, and then the politicking began in earnest. Mondays decision means increased rates across the board for ALL people in AEP through a non-bypassable rider added to your distribution rate. HOWEVER, the genius of it lies in this...AEP will get to collect it's capacity charges, so it should be appeased. The ACTUAL capacity rate will stay at the auction rate, so the other suppliers will still be competing on a level playing field. The consumer, who will face the prospoect of higher tariff charges, will still be able to go out and find a better rate from somewhere else and take advantage of that rate with no penalty. And the market remains open and competitive, which is best for everyone. As a total non-believer in the PUCO, I have to say, they made a very good decision this time.

I work with 12 different suppliers in Ohio (Including AEP Energy, so as not to seem like I am playing favorites) and I signed up for the FES residential program. Of the three that I was offered (Border, AEP, and FES), it had the lowest price and the clearest terms. If you live in AEP territory, that is probably going to be your best bet as well. If you have a business that you would like to explore the savings for, by all means, get in touch with me. More than happy to help walk you through your options. To expound a bit on the rate thing, it basically boils down to this. Capacity is a charge that all utilities have to build in to their pricing. It is essentially a fee to BE ABLE to provide power at a moments notice to the maximum amount of load possible in an area. (Gross oversimplification) As an analogy, think in terms of a boosted engine. kWh represents the AMOUNT of air that the engine is actually burning, in total. kW represents that PEAK FLOW of that air at any one point over a period of time in the engines life cycle. We don't alway drive our cars around at WOT, so the PEAK kW is usually represented by a spike in a graph, whereas the rest of our curve would be relatively flat. Utiliy companies have to ALWAYS be ready and able to provide that peak flow to you, however, and the method by which they charge us for this service is capacity. In real life, this is a fee for infrastructure, as AEP has to build the lines and susbstations to support this flow. All utilities in Ohio work within an Independant Systems operator called PJM. PJM has regular auctions for this capacity charge, because there are several energy suppliers who don't actually OWN any of the infrastructure, but are still required to collect the fee from customers and pay the fee to the utilities. The PJM auction price for all capacity in the State of Ohio for this year is set at $16. As Chief said, that is not always the settled total price, but that is the auction rate that the total price is based off of. AEP has underrecovered that cost over the course of the current rate case, and would like to be able to get their money back (as they are entitled to), however, the method of their filing was so structured in order to kill two birds with one stone. Not only did they propose raising the capacity rates (To the ungodly number that I mentioned before) but also structured it so that ONLY customers who had switched to an alternative supplier would pay the fee. So, had you left AEP for a better rate, AEP was going to hit you with this huge upcharge on capacity, in most cases bringing your new rate to one that was higher than what you had on tariff in the first place. In an open market, that cannot be permitted. The PUCO, dumbasses that they are, in January approved this tariff for AEP, with modifications. The public outcry at that point was so great that three months later, in an unprecedented move, the PUCO blew up the tariff and told AEP to start from scratch....

Sometimes, it's a good thing to have a lot of snow on the ground.

Well, that would be my guess, but I am not going to jump to conclusions.

Chief, do you mind if I ask who it is that you work for?

Chief, Ohio has been "DE-regulated" for something like 10 years. It just never made sense for anyone to shop because power was more expensive on the market than it was via utility tariff. That capacity rate is set at an auction. Everyone else on the PJM network pays the same rate. So, FE, Duke, and DP&L all charge the same for their capacity as did AEP, until AEP said, "Hey, I want a bigger piece". I am not arguing that a company should not be paid a fair value for the services it provides, but the value was fair before AEP asked for the bump. For the record, you are aware that the PJM auction rate is $16 per mW/day right now, and AEP initially asked to make $355 per mW/day? I'm not super great with percentages, but you don't have to be to know that's ridiculous. In the know, as a trader, you should get that that move was designed to do one thing and one thing only, limit shopping. Also, capacity charges have nothing to do with the cost to generate power, just to transport it, so your point that the "Clean Air" bills are forcing them down this road is rendered moot. Not sure what that last comment was supposed to mean, but I do not work for any of the utilities in Ohio, so I don't have a horse in the race. Nor did I vote for Obama. But ignorance rubs me the wrong way, and your posts reek of it. AEP Retail had shitty rates and was a substandard supplier to work with, which is exactly why AEP Ohio went out and bought BlueStar to show them how a retail energy desk is run. Ask Courtney Mehan how badass it was to work for them, when after being there for a year she bailed to go back to Natural Gas. We do agree on something, PUCO doesn't know what the hell it's doing. The new ruling was so well done that it surprised the shit out of me. I feel like someone must have come back in time and said, "Hey, do it like this".

Understandable, however, just yesterday PUCO came down with a ruling regarding capacity charges in AEP that was so good that it just about restored my faith in the system. i am reserving judgement untilt he rest of the rate case is settled, but trust me when I say that the new deal is SOOO much better than the old.

This is incorrect. AEP has a tariff in place, and your costs cannot be raised outside of what is permitted by that tariff as negotiated with the PUCO. The cost CAN BE raised via a fuel and purchased power rider, but that only happens quarterly. You will not see a one day increase in price just because. EDIT: Just read the tariff, and DP&L has the same rider, just called something different. Bellefontaine is not special. Because I don't know you, I am going to chalk this one up to "Miscommunication", and let you off the hook for "Speaking out of turn". I am in a charitable mood today.

Wife pickled some of our green cherry tomatos this evening. God these are gonna be good.... http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-02_21-31-30_902.jpg This is what they look like ripened. They practically pop in your mouth they are so juicy. http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_14-40-22_39.jpg

Harvested the potatos. This is the yield from six (!) plants http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-06-24_17-10-54_506.jpg Put some more tomatos in their place http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-09-25_608.jpg Took up some onions as well. these things were CRAZY strong when we ate them, delicious! http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-06-24_17-11-00_541.jpg Here is a panoramic to compare to the one earlier in the thread. http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-09-04_61.jpg It's a lot of work. Seriously, it's like a scond job. The food is just SO damn good though. The potatoes are amazing. Totally worth it.

Yes indeed. Here's the latest... The peppers are looking great. http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-11-07_126.jpg Got some big ones growing http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-12-48_646.jpg Eggplants and Sunflowers are getting big http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-11-22_347.jpg Onions are about ready http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-09-59_982.jpg Carrots and Salsify are getting ready to be picked as well http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-12-28_248.jpg Some of the first fruits http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_15-24-44_365.jpg Jelly Melons are enclosed, growing well http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-11-52_161.jpg Covered some of our brussel sprouts to help keep the bugs at bay http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-12-00_130.jpg On the other side of the garden (The new side) things are sprouting nicely http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-14-21_100.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-14-14_999.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-13-59_595.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-13-47_480.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/lhiannonshee/Garden/2012-07-01_13-13-25_443.jpg

Badass.

Dumb.

Call Ben at Golf Club of Dublin. Tell him DJ referred you.

How exactly does one "trade in" his phone on another new one?

The first two I can help you with, the third you are on your own.

Or how about I give you 20 bucks and/or a six pack of your choosing to do this shit for me? I am not interested in learning all there is to know about either of these procedures, I would just like my phone the way I want it. So, in the same way the guys who do not know how to or care to learn how to build computers come talk to me, I would happily reimburse someone for their time and efforts to help me out.

Unless it was a Miley Cyrus nude....

Nope, I just want all the shit off of it that makes it run any slower. I have been ocasionally getting popups as well, and want to end that shit. Since my contacts are stored on my card, and I have backup assistant, I am not worried about losing that stuff. I am a minimalist, and only want things on my phone that I will use.

Indeed, I thought it relevant.