Several people @ Playa Encanto are bathing in cheap electic bills, from our newly established electrical system. We have been getting 2 month bills in the amunt of 100 to
140 pesos.(U.S. $8 to $11).
My question to the forum is this a bait and switch CFE ploy? Are the rates eventually inceased. We have heard that there are levels of consumption at which the killowatt/hr. rate is inceased. (i.e.) 500 750 1000)
We just just don't think that this sustainable? Or is it just the xmas season gift?
Several people @ Playa Encanto are bathing in cheap electic bills, from our newly established electrical system. We have been getting 2 month bills in the amunt of 100 to
140 pesos.(U.S. $8 to $11).
E bills for "Outsiders" are ,are like 8$ day. E is one of the most expensive items in RP... they do have a three tier system. Locals, Foreign Locals, and Foreigners....
Just ask Russ how much he pays.. 8-)
I have a fair bill, not too cheap not too much I pay for what I use, why do you ask?
There is indeed a tiered system and I exceed my low tier at times. The billing is very transparent and it is not difficult to understand. I dont know what the question is? I can scan my bill and show you the tiers. It is not gringo negative I assure you! I pay less than a Sonoran property because I use less. My wife and I watch our energy use closely. We all know that a kw of juice in Mexico cost more than in the US so we dont waste electricity. If you leave the AC on or the lights, or use a dishwasher or whatever you should pay your share. If you know what it cost and you have lots of money then use whatever you want. We know what it cost and we dont have a lot of money so we are very careful!
Since I haven't seen their (E) (lectricty) bill I cant tell you anything about it. If I had a 8 dollar a month bill I would be happy I might even be (E) xcited so to speak. It could be prorated or a short bill cycle or a mistake, but I doubt as one poster put it that it is some kind of bait and switch ----good grief people.
Everybody knows (E)lectricity is expensive in Mexico compared to the golden land up north but if you know that then you plan accordingly. If your friends can get off the grid more (E) power (ha ha) to them. In my (e) xperience it cost more to go off grid than to remain on grid. but whatever and back on point russ, it cost what it cost use what you can afford to pay. I dont think that CF(E) has the Sonoran project broken down into owners that are Nationals and those that are from the USA or Canada thus changing their billing rates accordingly --- that is just paranoid small brained thinking. Many people who live fulltime in the beach properties are Nationals not foreigners.
... of course not. But I bet that no one at Las Conchas has "Apoyo del Gobierno" on their E bill. It is based on address and it is very simple to segregate someone that lives in the Condo Strip, Encanto or Las Conchas from someone that lives in a 5K home in town.
Apoyo is the subsidy from the haves to the locals. The other tier is Usage. You are a local that has Usage because you have the Luxury of the blender and dryer..... Bottom Line, three tiers. Foreigners, Locals and Foreigners that live local.
People, you need to understand that the world is not against the USA nationals, CFE does have teirs in their charges and yes it is separated into residential and commercial and that is it all the other charges you find in the bill is just the same as in any other country in the world, all charge "Basic Service", might be $8 to $11 for those in Encanto, then again it might be a miss read, caca happens!!
By the way the basic charges for electricity in Tucson seem to be $5
One thing to remember , In Playa Encanto you are NOT allowed to have a 220 volt water heater, range or dryer. A/C 220 volt is ok. That's the rules set by CFE a long time ago. That's why mine was $ 105.00 peso's.
thanks for all of the posts; I really think that the reason for our extremy low elect. rates is this;
"Apoyo del Gobierno" which is a discount from the bill. When elect. was installed CFE required that we had to file a Mx. street address.
All of billing has are street address on them. So my gringo status has been altered to a national residence, I always knew I had some Mx. blood running thru my body and now it is paying off.
tankless propane water heaters for smaller vacation houses are the way to go...
Terry C said:
One thing to remember , In Playa Encanto you are NOT allowed to have a 220 volt water heater, range or dryer. A/C 220 volt is ok. That's the rules set by CFE a long time ago. That's why mine was $ 105.00 peso's.
This idea that electric (CFE) charges are somehow related to nationality is pure nonsense. The Apoyo is applied across the board. The statement shows the cost of producing the electricity, then the portion (apoyo) of thecost of production that the government absorbes for everyone. Then there are three levels of use defined, basico 75 KWH, Intermedio 76 to 125 KWH, then excedente, which is usage over 125 KWH. The standard, unsubsidized rates per KWH are 731, 1.225 and 2.585 by level of usage respectively. During the summer (verano) rates are directly subsidized by level and reduced to .531, .873 and 2.577 by useage category respectively. During summer you then save .200 on the first 75 KWH, .352 per on the next 50 KWH and .008 per KWH on KWHs used over 125. The less you use the more you save and the less your charges are. You can see that the big users of (E) whose usage moves far into the excedente high rate category of use during the summer discount months will show very little impact of the seasonal rate reduction.
Yes, those that use a lot pay a higher rate and consequenty get a higher bill but usage at the first two levels is the same for everyone. If you can keep your usage under 75 KWH you pay the lowest rate in both summer and the rest of the year.
Commercial rates are significantly higher but I can't quote numbers.
Note that the information posted from the other forum is for a different part of Mexico and may not apply to Sonora. For example, the lowest rate, Basico, here in Penasco is 75 KWH not 68.
The idea to get a second meter is a good one but I'm pretty sure that CFE only allows one meter per lot as shown by a Bank Trust or Title. And yes, you have to provide those documents to get a meter and account.
My understanding was that having more than one meter violated and agreement with CFE unless they approved the change (IE extra houses on property) I have a trailer park that had 5 trailers on it. The original layout only let me put one meter in and the combination of the 5 trailers made it very expensive. CFE came out and designed a way for me to use 5 meters a couple of years ago and it cut the overall electric bill by 2/3 at least. On the other hand I have a large house in town with 5 tons of heat and cool installed (mini splits) and pump system, electric water heater and a blender too. I cant ethically install another meter on my house according to the CFE rules, if I did they could refuse service. I am sure many have added meters but I cant find a legitimate way to explain it. If I rent a room out then I could do it but until then.......
That's what CFE told me also regarding the community center, even tho its made up of several lots. I am going to ask the again as we now have several buildings on the property, especially with the new kitchen.
If you want to meter a rental you can buy a simple, easy to install submeter for the rental area, assuming that the entire area is fed by a single pair of wires as where a seperate breaker box exists servicing the rental space. This does not solve the rate category issue but at least you can collect from the renters.
That's what CFE told me also regarding the community center, even tho its made up of several lots. I am going to ask the again as we now have several buildings on the property, especially with the new kitchen.
You should be able to get one meter per lot. We can run the lines from the meters if you can get them installed. See if you can get one meter per lot. Maybe we can help you with that.
this info comes from a local mexican friend, I am not sure if it is 100% right or not as my next stop will be to CFE to clear some problems I am having, as a normal rule CFE will only install one meter per lot unless you have rentals in the same location you live but as explained before will not do anything for your bill reduction, just separate the tenant bill part from yours, if you have a double lot then you have option to get a second meter, expensive, which will really help with lowering your bill as a whole, re-wiring for and existing home is the most expensive part unless it was built with that in mine, I know of a couple of homes built with that already in mind, large homes.