Rates & Tariffs for Central Hudson in New York State
The price you pay for your electricity & gas with Central Hudson will be defined by the current rates & tariffs in place in the current month of your bill. These rates & tariffs will evolve regularly, and can be checked either on the Central Hudson website or on the official website of the New York State Public Service Commission. Here we make estimations of a Central Hudson typical bill.
Typical Rates & Tariffs
Rates: rates are set by the utility, in this case Central Hudson.
Tariffs: tariffs are set by the state. They include the sales taxes. as well as all the surcharges for the different programs implemented by the state (renewable energy, education, etc.).
Service Classification SC1
There are different types of service classifications for different customers (residential, commercial, industrial) and different types of usages (time of use plans for example). The great majority of residential customers are automatically assigned to the SC1 service classification. In this example we have used the SC1 rates & tariffs in order to make typical bill estimations.
Bill Estimation per House Size
Your usage will depend on the size of your home and the amount of people living inside. Here, depending on the amount of people living in your home, we have made estimations on your monthly usage, and your monthly bill.
| Number people in the house | Monthly electricity consumption of the house (kWh) (EIA - 2009 data) | Monthly bill ($) (January 2015 data) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 419 | 96 |
| 2 | 672 | 139 |
| 3 | 764 | 154 |
| 4 | 861 | 170 |
| 5 | 954 | 186 |
| 6 or more | 1044 | 201 |
| New York State average | 548 | 118 |
Bill for a typical 548 kWh usage
Your bill will be approximately 118$/month with Central Hudson, based on the New York State average electricity usage per month of 548 kWh.
Compared to other utilities in New York State, Central Hudson is slightly above average:
| Utility Company | Bill estimation for 548 kWh/month average NY usage (January 2015 data) |
|---|---|
| Central Hudson | 118 |
| ConEdison | 164 |
| National Grid | 92 |
| NYSEG | 83 |
| Orange & Rockland | 147 |
| PSEG Long Island | 134 |
| RG&E | 87 |
Detailed explanation of each charge
We have detailed all the charges (rates & tariffs) you might expect to see on your Central Hudson bill:
| Rate | Pro rata price ($/kWh) (January 2015 data) | Total price for 500 kWh typical usage ($) |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery rates | ||
| Basic service charge | - | 24 |
| Delivery service charge | 0.04963 | 27.20 |
| Bill credit | - | - |
| Merchant function administrative charge | 0.00183 | 1.00 |
| Revenue decoupling mechanism | 0.00162 | 0.89 |
| Miscellaneous charges | (0.00194) | (1.06) |
| Purchased power adjustment | - | - |
| Delivery tariffs (state surcharges) | ||
| Temporary state assessment surcharge | 0.00334 | 1.83 |
| System benefits charge | 0.00328 | 1.80 |
| Renewable portfolio standard | 0.00262 | 1.44 |
| Taxes (delivery) | 7% | 3.93 |
| Total electric delivery charge | 60.01 | |
| Supply rates | ||
| Market price charge (average price over 12 last months) | 0.08945 | 49.02 |
| Market price adjustment | 0.0053 | 2.90 |
| Merchant function supply charge | 0.00186 | 1.02 |
| Supply tariffs (state surcharges) | ||
| Transition adjustment | 0.0001 | 0.05 |
| Taxes (supply) | 7% | 3.78 |
| Total electric supply charge | 57.78 | |
| Total electric charge | 117.79 |
Distribution of rates & tariffs for delivery and supply
For the typical charges just described in the table above, here is a visualization of the distribution of the utility rates, the tariffs decided by the state, for the delivery and supply portions of the bill.
Description of Rates
Rates: rates are fixed by the utility company, Central Hudson here. They are what the utility charges you for the delivery and supply of electricity, and the related adjustment charges. Rates are divided firstly between electric rates, and gas rates. Then, they are separated between delivery rates and supply rates.
Delivery Rates:
Delivery rates are the charges per kWh which pay for the transportation of the electricity or gas from the source to your home.
- Basic Service Charge: a fixed amount you pay every month regardless of how much you consume every month, for your account to be active. This pays for fixed cost maintenance as well as reading your meter on a regular basis.
- Delivery Service Charge: an amount proportional to how much electricity you used. Pays for delivering the electricity from the point of production to your house.
- Electric Bill Credit (EBC): this charge is a credit (money paid to you) and does not exist anymore. This credit existed to reimburse customers various deferred balances in 2011 and 2012.
- Merchant function administrative charge: the MFC is usually a supply charge, but Central Hudson has created an administrative MFC, which goes in the delivery section of your bill.
- Revenue Decoupling Mechanism (RDM): Central Hudson and most other utilities in NY make yearly previsions on the revenues from the delivery service. If the targets for these delivery revenues are reached, the surplus is refunded to the customer, and if the targets are not reached, the lack is collected from the customers.
Other delivery charges
These charges do not appear on this bill estimation, but may still appear on a Central Hudson bill.
- Factor of Adjustment: this adjustment will depend on what type of meter you have. The type of meter you have will be defined by what type of customer you are: residential, commercial or industrial.
- Residential Time of Use: this is a type of charge that will be related only to customers signed up on a time-of-use plan. More information on this type of plan here: Peak & Off-Peak Rates
- HEAP Credit: the Home Energy Assistance Program assists some eligible households, by paying for energy costs, repairs which improve the house's resistance to weather, and other various repairs to stay warm in the winter, in order to reduce the risk of problems related to health and safety.
Supply Rates:
Supply rates are the charges per kWh which pay for the price of the actual electricity or gas you use in your home.
- Market Price Charge: This charge pays for the purchase of the electricity from the electricity supply companies. It is the price at which the electricity is offered on the market.
- Merchant Function Charges (MFC): this is a charge for Central Hudson's cost to procure the electricity (paying for the employees who buy the electricity at the best price for example). Central Hudson will not bill you this charge either if you choose an alternate supplier. Central Hudson also created an Administrative MFC for delivery.
- Market price adjustment: this adjustment can be either positive (the customer is charged) or negative (the customer is credited). Central Hudson can give you the price of electricity for the following month, usually starting the middle of the previous month. Nevertheless since it is impossible to predict the market trend in advance, if the market price is lower than expected, the customer will be returned the surplus, and if the market price is higher than expected, the customer will be charged the lack.
Other Rates:
There are other rates which the utility company will charge you, which are broadly called cost adjustments. These extra charges include the following:
- Miscellaneous charges: Credits and charges related to transactions with, for example, the grid operator.
- Purchased power adjustment: Usually a credit (money paid to the customer), this adjustment represents the long-term power purchase agreements that have been negotiated between Central Hudson and the new owners of its former power plants (indeed, Central Hudson had to sell its power plants due to the market liberalization).
For more information on the rates & tariffs that appear on your bill, and how to understand them, read our page Understanding your bill with Central Hudson.
Description of Tariffs
Tariffs: tariffs are state mandated. They are what the state charges you. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has utility tariffs for Electric, Gas, Water, and Telecommunication companies doing business in New York State. Tariffs can also be called State Surcharges, since they are charged by the state on top of what you pay to the utility company. They include the sales tax and the gross revenue tax, as well as charges which pay programs such as energy efficiency, renewable energy incentives, and other funds.
- New York State Assessment (NYSA): also called the Temporary State Assessment Surcharge (TSAS), this is a state-mandated charge which pays for the requirements in Section 18-a of the Public Service Law: energy conservation and utility service conservation.
- System Benefits Charge (SBC): incentivizes energy efficiency.
- Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS): this tariff incentivizes renewable energy goals set by the state of New York.
- Tariff surcharge or Gross Revenue Tax: a tax based on the revenue of Central Hudson.
- Transition adjustment: this charge is to pay for customers switching to alternate suppliers. It is an incentive for people to switch to alternate suppliers, and also to charge utilities which have a competitive advantage over these alternate suppliers.
More information on Tariffs / State Surcharges on the following page: New York State Surcharges.