Puerto Vallarta Forum (PV Bulletin Board)

our electricity bill this time 9641 pesos.....(2 month)...and we hardly ran the a.c........ouch!!!!

I put a piece together on CFE rates here:
-http://www.vallartascene.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=11839

People there did not seem too interested. I was surprised. CFE uses doublespeak to justify their rates. They set rates to recover their costs. But rather than using the term surcharge for heavy users like is the practice NOTB, they imply that DAC rates are somehow their real cost.

Surcharge rates kick in in PV at 75kwh usage a month, a very low level. We are rated as 1B, and 1A is the least subsidized rates.

By way of comparison, places like Mazatlan and Lake Chapala are deemed hot areas and can use 2.5 times as much electricity and are subsidized by PV users among others.

It is much more complicated than that and their web site is confusing and inaccurate. The English version will not help you at all with understanding their rates.

well, we had our property mgr challenge the rate. they sent a meter reader back out and oops, sorry, we misread the meter. the correct bill is 1700 pesos. only an 800 dollar difference. scrutinize every bill is the moral of this story.

Yes, the electric pricing is outrageous in PV -- I used one mini-split for one month out of two and the bill was 8000 Pesos.

I am in a new place now and really worried about summer s i now have 5 mini-splits -- the owners have told me it is not that bad but I think they said that just to rent the place. If my CFE bill is as much as my rent I am out of there.

I have heard about "fixing" the meteors but if you get caught they some how figure out the different and make you pay for that...or I guess the owners will have to.

I am wondering why more people are not switching to Solar? Surely the cost of equipment must be less over time than paying the electrical bill? Anyhow, I found one company that installs solar power systems in Puerto Vallarta -http://puertovallartasolar.com If anyone knows of other options, please post.

Vallarta Sun Worshipper wrote:I am wondering why more people are not switching to Solar? Surely the cost of equipment must be less over time than paying the electrical bill? Anyhow, I found one company that installs solar power systems in Puerto Vallarta -http://puertovallartasolar.com If anyone knows of other options, please post.

Have YOU looked into the cost of solar? Conversion to 120v / 240 v to run an airconditioner (which is where a lot of the power goes), is unreasonable. You found the site but did you look at it? A lot of the people that live here full time are on fixed income (granted it may be higher than yours or mine)and if they are living off investments we know where they stand in todays economy. A large out lay of money is just not possible for most and there is the issue of where to put the collectors in your condo/apartement/townhouse.

sure, I appreciate that, but not everyone is that pinched.

My point is, if paying 600 x 12 = 7200 a year in electrical, over a 5 year period with no increase in rates which is unlikely, thats a whopping 45,000 out the door with no return on investment, minimum.

I dont know costs here for solar, but in US it is around 10,000 for each 1000 watt generation capacity. So, to power a 3000 watt AC unit would take a 30K investment

Most home owners in US do not generate 100% on Solar, rather, they go 50% or 75% and this drops their utility rate category to the bottom rung.

Also, the solar kicks in when the AC is on high, so that ability syncs with demand.

Personally I don't have all the numbers figured yet, but I think it is the way out of this mess. I have never been much for conserving energy.

My family and I are moving to PV in the next 2-3 months and solar energy is definitely something I will be looking into.

kcowan wrote:I put a piece together on CFE rates here:
-http://www.vallartascene.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=11839
...
Surcharge rates kick in in PV at 75kwh usage a month, a very low level. We are rated as 1B, and 1A is the least subsidized rates.

By way of comparison, places like Mazatlan and Lake Chapala are deemed hot areas and can use 2.5 times as much electricity and are subsidized by PV users among others.

It is much more complicated than that and their web site is confusing and inaccurate. The English version will not help you at all with understanding their rates.

PVRPV has also posted an explanation on their blog:
CFE Bills Explained
No new news but it does emphasize the fact that they are hard to understand.

I am looking for a DC powered air pump that can connect to a charge controller. Note that the solar panel is five watts and theres a 9ah battery and a 10 ah controller (pvm i believe).

Vallarta Sun Worshipper had said exactly what i mean. why people are not aware about this renewable resources in front of us. last year our family made a trip to PV fully equipped with solar devices like oven, solar charger, refrigerator. It was a nice trip and was a low budget trip.we brought all this solar stuffs from one shopping site which is very reasonable.
if anyone needs this kind of solar equipment can visit the sites.

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=s ... head=solar
magesolar.com