Per-PMV Costs Quest...
 
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Per-PMV Costs Questions

(@basefilm)
Posts: 11
Active Member
Topic starter
 

Good afternoon! I'm considering moving to the VI from Minnesota. I've read and re-read The Settler's Guide book, watched the 'Living in de V.I.' DVD, and have been browsing the forums and other resources on this site. I've a couple questions I could use some help with...

What is the cost of electricity per kWh?
What is the cost of a gallon of gas?
Are gas prices expected to change because of the refinery closing?
(I'm not familiar with how refineries work, but if it provided the islands with a supply of gas that didn't have to be shipped in, it could mean an increase in the price of gas....)

The prices of different goods on https://www.vimovingcenter.com/cost_of_living are 3-4 years old. Are they still accurate?

Thanks,
Ted

 
Posted : February 26, 2012 5:26 pm
(@the-oldtart)
Posts: 6523
Illustrious Member
 

We still "enjoy" the dubious honor of paying the highest rate for electricity in any state or territory under the US flag and it has been thus for the almost 30 years I've lived here. I can't find my last WAPA bill as I write but I'm sure someone can quickly retrieve theirs and let you know the current cost/KW.

Gas prices have been rising again and the other day I paid $4.29/gallon. Prices are similarly rising on the mainland. I personally can't speculate on how much the Hovensa closing will affect our gas prices but no doubt they'll increase.

I haven't looked lately at the price of such as groceries on the VI listing but I would guess that unless they're able to update those prices consistently, many of them are outdated. Prices have shot up on day-to-day goods in the past year alone but, as I mentioned in another thread where a poster attributed the rising prices to local merchants "gouging", this is simply not the case. Prices stateside are rising equally as transportation costs based on increasing oil prices dictate.

Hope that helps.

 
Posted : February 26, 2012 6:47 pm
(@STXBob)
Posts: 2138
Noble Member
 

Gas prices have been rising again and the other day I paid $4.29/gallon.

To clarify, that price is for STT. It's higher on STJ. On STX, it was as low at $3.69 last week. Without Hovensa, STX prices are expected to rise to roughly STT levels.

For electricity, I think the current WAPA rate is 46 cents per kwhr on all 3 islands, or about 4 times the stateside average price.

 
Posted : February 26, 2012 7:18 pm
(@the-oldtart)
Posts: 6523
Illustrious Member
 

Gas prices have been rising again and the other day I paid $4.29/gallon.

To clarify, that price is for STT. It's higher on STJ. On STX, it was as low at $3.69 last week. Without Hovensa, STX prices are expected to rise to roughly STT levels.

For electricity, I think the current WAPA rate is 46 cents per kwhr on all 3 islands, or about 4 times the stateside average price.

The gas prices on STJ have always been higher than on STT and the prices on STX always lower than either.

I recall that we've always been in the general area of 4-5X higher on electricity rates than stateside norm.

 
Posted : February 26, 2012 7:39 pm
(@speee1dy)
Posts: 8867
Illustrious Member
 

our gas prices have always been the same or ( usually ) higher than most places in the states. This info from friends and family who live in the states. prices are expected to rise because of hovensa.
prices for groceries are about 1/3-2/3 higher than in the states. next time you go grocery shopping, give us a list and we will tell you what the prices are here
cost of all goods will most likely rise due to hovensa closing. .

 
Posted : February 26, 2012 9:58 pm
(@ChanelCinq)
Posts: 171
Estimable Member
 

Islands are so funny. So in Puerto Rico we buy gas by the liter and the distances on the freeway signs and the freeway markers are in kilometers yet the speed is MPH. Which is odd. You guys do gas by the gallon yet drive on the other side of the road.

So someone posted that electricity costs "46 cents per kwhr." Now when I look at my AEE bill in PR combustible energy is .17 cents (0.172969) per kWh and the other type (bill is in Spanish) is 0.05 cents (0.045878) per kWh. So would I just move the decimal point to figure out the price difference. There has been a lot of fluction thought. The combustible energey has been between .14 cents and .21 cents the last 6 months on the electronic copies I saved on my computer. The month it was .21 cents was August when you are running the AC the most. That was an awful bill.

So can someone explain the difference between the rate STXBob posted and the rates I am charged? How do they correlate?

 
Posted : February 28, 2012 4:59 am
(@stx-em)
Posts: 862
Prominent Member
 

Multiple the numbe of kwh of usage on your bill by 0.46. That's how much that amount of usage would cost here.

 
Posted : February 28, 2012 12:22 pm
(@ChanelCinq)
Posts: 171
Estimable Member
 

Multiple the numbe of kwh of usage on your bill by 0.46. That's how much that amount of usage would cost here.

I just realized on my bill here that the both types of electricity have the same number of KHW. So the .05 cents and .17 cents make .22 cents. So the USVI is more than twice that of PR. That does suck!!

One month when I lived in a different apartment with a roomate I had a 304 USD bill so I guess that would be 650 USD or so in the USVI. Granted we split it and it was an unusually high bill.

 
Posted : February 28, 2012 12:59 pm
(@STXBob)
Posts: 2138
Noble Member
 

You'll quickly get into the habit of conserving electricity in the USVI, so your bill probably won't double.

I read my electric meter every day so I can see which habits (and guests) are more expensive than others. I also use it to look for unexpected increases. Once, I tracked down a big increase to a broken dryer switch, where the heater stayed on even though it wasn't running.

 
Posted : February 28, 2012 1:29 pm
(@wenchtoo)
Posts: 102
Estimable Member
 

You'll quickly get into the habit of conserving electricity in the USVI, so your bill probably won't double.

I read my electric meter every day so I can see which habits (and guests) are more expensive than others. I also use it to look for unexpected increases. Once, I tracked down a big increase to a broken dryer switch, where the heater stayed on even though it wasn't running.

Sounds like a good reason to use a gas dryer.

 
Posted : February 28, 2012 4:42 pm
(@speee1dy)
Posts: 8867
Illustrious Member
 

sounds like a good reason to hang them outside to dry

 
Posted : February 28, 2012 6:20 pm
(@ChanelCinq)
Posts: 171
Estimable Member
 

You'll quickly get into the habit of conserving electricity in the USVI, so your bill probably won't double.

I read my electric meter every day so I can see which habits (and guests) are more expensive than others. I also use it to look for unexpected increases. Once, I tracked down a big increase to a broken dryer switch, where the heater stayed on even though it wasn't running.

Right now the land lord pays the electricity on the washer and dryer for 4 tenants. I have not turned the AC on since October, I don't really cook and I only have one energy saving light on at a time and my last bill was 75 USD. I can't conserve much more so it will be at least 150 and more with a washer and dryer. My last place I had a roomate and washer and dryer so that is why it was so much. And also most the hot months it was 200 USD. That 300 USD was not normal.

I started drying my clothes outside at my last place because it was too much and that brought the bill down a lot. I do a lot I laundry. I refuse to wear any item if clothing more than once. It's so nice having acess to a washer and dryer for free. That is a rarity in PR.

 
Posted : February 28, 2012 8:31 pm
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