Residential Solar Los Angeels-Rising Edison Bills Serve as Incentive for Homeowners to Install Residential Solar Panels

Many homeowners in California were surprised to see that their electricity bills have doubled in the summer of 2006. Southern California Edison, which serves 4.4 million households across the greater Los Angeles region said that customers use about 31% more electricity in the summer and that many of them had doubled their usage in that year.

"Consumers could find that their July bills have actually doubled or even tripled because of previously planned rate hikes and the utility's sliding rate structure", said Lynda Ziegler, senior vice president for customer service at Edison. In 2006, Edison had a 15% increase which was charged to consumers who used more than a modest baseline set by the California Public Utilities Commission.

This means that homeowners who were accustomed to paying lower rates because they don't use much will be charged as if they do. A typical household that pays around $80 a month saw a jump in their July bill of over $260. This tiered pricing was designed to encourage conservation because the lower electricity usage, the lower rate per-kilowatt-hour is applied.
Edison's residential customers will continue to see a jump in their electricity bills which is why many have turned to residential solar Los Angeles. Although the increases won't be quite as dramatic for DWP customers, officials say that the increases are on their way. DWP saw increases of about 30% in July of 2006 but some households saw that their bills almost tripled for running their air conditioners around the clock. Unlike Edison, which uses tiered pricing, the DWP charges the same amount across the board.

The electricity bills will continue to shock customers who are already suffering for the charges they racked up during in previous months. Many consumers also saw their power disrupted when transformers with a high electricity demand burned out. These are problems that can easily be avoided with the help of expert residential solar installers. Consumers that depend on a utility company can expect to pay more in the next years sure to the big jumps we have recently seen in the electricity bills.

A better way to encourage electricity is by installing residential solar panels Los Angeles. By utilizing sunlight appropriately, the solar panels are able to generate enough energy for your household appliances. The panels are made of photovoltaic cells which converts natural sunlight into direct current electricity. The electricity then flows into an inverter where the DC Power is converted to alternative current. This AC power supplies electricity for all of your household electrical needs.

For references, please visit http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/05/local/me-bills5