checking the electricity usage from last week, i've figured out the following:

both halogen type j bathroom lights - 0.24
just 100 W - .11
just 150 W - 0.13-0.15

*just fan - 0.1
fan + grow lamp - 0.24
fan + led - .06

both kitchen spotlights  - 0.04
just halogen kitchen spotlight. - 0.04
led kitchen spotlight < 0.01
two kitchen leds - .02

inside hallway (two halogens, 1 led) - .10

*given that the led is negligible, i must have had something else interfering with the fan,initially. later testing seems to uphold the second reading, indicating the fan alone was probably half the initial reading.

since fixing the lights in the bathroom, my usage has fallen back to more normal levels, which is around 3.5-4.0 kwh. that should give me a monthly bill around $30.

so, what am i going to do? am i going to pay this thing?

well, i'm guessing the bill is going to be around $60 in total, and that i should get about $20 on the rebate, indicating it should be around $40. but, that amount is entirely in fees.

likewise, the first bill only used about $7 in electricity, and the rebate would have covered it, but it's $47 due to service fees.

i've done this analysis before. the problem is not that the cost of electricity is high, it's that the utility company is adding on service fees and gauging customers for no apparent reason.

if i don't pay the bill before wednesday, i'm going to have something like $100 owing, and it's all going to be in service fees. i'll have paid the cost of the actual electricity. this is really ridiculous.

i'm considering paying for the setup fee and letting the oesp catch up ojn the rest, which i'll be able todo by being extra careful with the laptop. even if the laptop is only running around .07, which is probably a little low, that's still 1.68 a day, which is about 45-50% of the daily total. if i can cut that by a third for the first couple of months, it should help me catch up.

i just don't want to reward then for the service charges. rather, i want to cut usage to compensate for them.