On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:17:54 -0500, EXT wrote:
Not so much "control", just a blatant method of raising the prices while
saying it is your fault it costs so much. Get used to doing your laundry and
cooking after midnight, that is when the rates you have now will kick in,
while the daytime and evening rates will skyrocket. We have these meters
here but the local utility hasn't started billing according to time of day.

I'm pretty sure ours is a flat hourly rate, no matter what time of day -
but the rate *does* change after n kWh on each bill. We've got the dryer,
water heater and the baseboards all on an off-peak tariff, so those are
pretty cheap no matter when they use them - but they're a bit
unpredicatable as to when they work...

My electric bill is now approaching $500.00 per month

Ouch. I don't think ours ever goes above $200, and that's with all the
electric baseboards (family of 5, couple of computers running 24x7,
electric stove - plus a fridge/freezer that's over 30 years old and
probably inefficient as hell...)

cheers

Jules