That’s the subject line of an email I got from BGE – our electric company”
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I opened the email expecting either:
(a) a lecture that I will be personally responsible for high gas prices and the climate-induced end of the world because I drive a mid-sized SUV, or
(b) a congratulatory note profiling me (post-grad degree, blue state resident) as a likely Tesla owner.
Neither was the case.
It was an emergency alert that my electricity usage had spiked … and my relative efficiency had dropped from the “good-great” borderline, all the way down to the orange “fair” category.
“BGE is sending you this alert to let you know that you are using more energy than usual and may be trending towards a higher bill.”
As the subject line indicated, they naturally assumed — since temps have been COOLER than average (i.e. relatively low A/C usage) — that the likely suspect for a drop that drastic had to be in-home EV charging.
Interesting, right?
Well, in fact, my Tesla-owning son had had been visiting and occasionally overnite charging the car’s battery.
Not a big deal once we ID’ed an outlet that wouldn’t trip a circuit breaker or dim the house lights.
Recollecting, I did get one “What the hell is going on at your house?” email from BGE … but, I didn’t connect the dots.
BGE’s EV email did that for me.
Interesting that BGE assumed that EV charging was a likely suspect of high energy use.
Hmm.
What does that suggest we’re in for this summer when temps finally rise above average and HVACs are running full-steam.
Blackout warnings are already being headlined.
Add EV charging to the mix, and Biden have his next “Putin’s fault, nothing I can do” crisis.
That may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back re: Biden’s “incredible transition from fossil fuels”…
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PS Remember when red used to be the color assigned to the lowest performing category? Now, to be politically correct, it’s orange.
Hmm
Wonder how orange became synonymous with “bad”?
Think about it…
The Homa Files 
June 13, 2022 at 8:12 pm |
If you had a noticeable spike, it likely was not your son’s Tesla. I have a Tesla, and the battery is a 75 KwH battery. The largest batteries on the Model S and Model X are 100 kWh. In South Carolina, I pay about $0.115 per kWh. Your son probably does not charge from completely flat to completely full – that is bad for the battery. Assuming he charges from 20% to 80%, that is a max of 60 kWh. Even if you pay $0.20 per kWh, your sons uses about $12 to charge his car when he visits.