At 00:42 3-7-01 +0200, I wrote:
>Second, there is the difference in energy prices between our countries. If
>the car fuel prices are any indication, energy is a *lot* cheaper in the
>US than it is here. As a result, the incentive to be energy-efficient is a
>lot bigger here: we're talking several hundreds of guilders per year!
>
>Just so I compare prices: how much do you pay for 1 kWh of electricity and
>1 m^3 of natural gas? And how much in fixed costs?
At 13:20 3-7-01 -0500, Dan replied:
>my electric bill is about $0.10/kwh)
And at 15:28 3-7-01 -0500, he replied:
>I just got my natural gas bill. The base cost is $10/month, with about $1
>per hundred cubic feet of gas on top of that. That is about $0.35 per cubic
>meter.
This confirms what I already thought: energy prices are indeed
significantly lower in the US than in The Netherlands.
My electricity bill comes to approx. 35 cents/kWh, my gas bill comes to a
whopping 120 cents/m^3 -- in both cases, approx. 3.5 times what Dan pays.
(Fixed costs and Energy Tax are included in these amounts). And that's just
the latest bill.
When the Utilities company sends me the annual bill, they also include an
estimate for next year's bill, based on my energy consumption over the last
few years, and the prices for the next year. Based on that estimate,
electricity comes to 39 cents/kWh and gas to 133 cents/m^3.
Now, the total amount is still relatively low because this was only a
two-person household, and we do try to be energy-efficient. However, if we
could manage (through increased energy-efficiency) to lower usage by only
20%, that would still save me a few hundred guilders per year. A comparable
household in the US would only save 20-30 dollars per year.
Larger Dutch households (which use more energy) could easily save
substantially more. If those households can reach the (on average) 45%
reduction in energy consumption that is said to be possible with those new
energy-efficient houses, they could save up to NLG 1,000 per year(*). With
US prices, the savings would probably not exceed $100 per year.
(*)Quite a lot of money, when you consider that Joe Average's net income
pretty much tops at NLG 2,500 per month.
Obviously, we have one hell of an incentive to be energy-efficient...
Jeroen
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