Saving Energy in the Yucatan
If you live here, you know about the CFE: La Comisión Federal de Electricidad. But no one calls it CFE here in Mexico. They call it by its first name only: Comisión, and everyone knows who they are talking about. Electricity is the most expensive utility in Mexico, at least among the expat crowd. Comisión has a great website, where they proudly proclaim, in both English and Spanish, that they are una empresa de clase mundial (A world class company). On the website, you can learn about their mission, find out the weather all over Mexico, read the history of the Comisión (did you know that as late as 1937, there were three different companies providing power in Mexico?), read their financial statements, and of course, pay your bill. Oh, oops! You can't pay your bill there... but they will refer you to a bank (Banamex, Banorte, Inbursa, Bancomer, HSBC or Santander) where you CAN pay your bill online. Of course, there is much MORE information on the Spanish side of the website, but really, the fact that there is an English website at all is rather impressive.
Usually, we have no occasion to read the website. We pay our bills, in cash usually, and we are grateful for reliable electricity. But the other day, due to personal circumstances, we learned something about electricity consumption here in Mexico, and we thought we'd pass it on. This is not something we would have ever known if we hadn't moved from one house to another and noticed a big change in our electric bill.
In our old office, we worked in a traditional colonial home that had been renovated. Due to a lack of windows, we ran two mini-split air conditioners all day, every day while we were working. We had a small refrigerator. We regularly paid bi-monthly bills of $8,000 pesos or more during the summer months. We figured this was just the cost of doing business.
Flash forward to our new home and office combined. We built this building with air flow in mind. We built higher ceilings, a second story, skylights that open, and a breezeway, so consequently, we have less need for air conditioning, even during the hottest summer days. In addition, this house and office are almost completely new: new walls, new wiring, new fixtures. Electricity flows unimpeded by faulty connections or old wiring. Our appliances are all new, so we have energy-efficient air conditioners and refrigerators (yes, we have two refrigerators). The house and office combined are at least three times larger than the former house and office, and yet the CFE bills have been less than a third of our former bills.
(Insert mental picture of us quizzically scratching our heads...)
We were extremely grateful for this... but also puzzled. We looked at the meter... yep, the right meter number is on our bill. The meter is turning. The reading on the bill is correct. We were a little afraid to ask, but we called CFE to understand why our new bills are so much lower. Here is what we learned:
If a house uses over 850 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per month, averaged over a year, it will get bumped from the "1C" Tarifa (rate) to the "DAC" Tarifa (De Alto Consumo, which means "of high consumption"). Once this happens, your rate climbs in three ways. First, DAC customers are charged a minimum of $65 pesos per month. Secondly, the Basico (basic) charge for DAC consumers increases from about $0.5 to $2.5 pesos per kilowatt hour (summer prices). The third whammy (that's the technical term in English for golpe) is that the government does not give you an Aportación Gubernamental (Government Subsidy). That aportación can underwrite more than two thirds of your bill every month, which is certainly not trivial. Take a look at our last bill, below, for reference.
If you find yourself still categorized 1C, know that you have to stay under 850 kilowatt hours of average energy consumption per month every year. You'll enjoy lower energy prices and a government subsidy if you do. If you use more than that for twelve months running, then be prepared for much higher energy bills and no subsidy. If you find yourself already in the DAC category, what can you do? Cut your energy costs down to under 850 kilowatts per month for 12 months, and the CFE computers will (supposedly) lower your rates automatically. If they don't, here's what you can do: Take another look at the copy of the bill below. See the column titled, Consumo kWh por dia? Multiply that number by 365 and divide by 12. That's your average monthly consumption. If the number is less than 850, chances are you qualify, so take a stroll down to La Comisión and ask them to change your Tarifa back to 1C.
If these policies aren't motivation for cutting energy consumption, we don't know what is.
ADDENDUM:
In investigating this issue, we have learned more about how CFE charges.
CFE rates each city in Mexico according to its average temperature. Merida is a "1C" city, whereas Chelem, por ejemplo (for example) is a 1B city, meaning it's average temperature is lower (in this case) and warrants less energy usage. The chart below shows the level of Kilowatts per month that the consumer must stay below in order to avoid being charged as a DAC (de alto consumo) customer.
1 up to 250 Kwh/month
1A up to 300 Kwh/month
1B up to 400
1C up to 850
1D up to 1000
1E up to 2000
1F up to 2500
To explain, if you live in Chelem (a 1B city), then you have to keep your consumption below 400 kilowatts per month in order to keep your 1B designation (and your lower rates and your government subsidy). If you live in Merida, you get to consume up to 850 kilowatts per month before moving to the DAC designation.
Any questions?
Editor's Update: We recently followed a Google ad to this wonderful YouTube page sponsored by CFE. It's in Spanish, but even if you don't understand it all, you will certainly get that CFE and Mexico are beginning a campaign to teach Mexican children about saving energy. Viva Mexico!
Website of Comisión Federal de Electricidad
Wikihow's How To Lower Electricity Bills in the Summer
Comments
L. Fair 16 years ago
How common are solar panels in Merida? Are they used at all on roof tops and, if so, do they contribute to or decease any (possible) leakage from the roof? Thanks for any reply! L.F.
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Yucatan Living - News: 16 years ago
[...] Exchange Rate Semi-Stable Below 10.0 MXP to 1 USD Expats aren’t having much fun these days and way too many of us are still looking wistfully back over our shoulders at 12:1. However, this doesn’t mean that Mexico is no longer a good "deal." It certainly is, and will continue to be. One need only look at Yucatan Living’s Events page to see that expats and tourists are weeping and wailing in the face of free, spectacular entertainment 7 nights a week. One need only look at the real estate section of the newspaper to see that we are complaining about high costs when the same size homes would cost us 4 times as much (if not more) north of the border. Whatever the current exchange rate, we’re sure glad we’re here! Since this news also includes a prediction that the situation will not change much over the next two years, we would love to hear any cost cutting measures being undertaken by our readers here in Yucatan. Don’t forget to read Working Gringa’s recent article about how to cut your electric bill. [...]
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John Powell 16 years ago
I manage about 8 properties here in town and I've not been able to find any logical explanation of the different bills I receive from one month to the next or from one house to the next. My smallest house in Ermita where no one was living for 6 months had the highest bills and I was in a state of shock and panic. I had the meter changed and that was not the problem. I turned everything off and unplugged everything and ran a line to my neighbors house that I rent and the bill there went up accordingly. I discovered 2 things. It is possible to have an electrical leak. And the 3 pumps that I run 24 hours 7 days a week in my koi ponds were about 7x too powerful. So I changed the little giants to tiny giants and now my bill is 1/4 what it was.
Recently the streets around the park of Ermita were restored by the city or state or someone who doesn't know how to spend $8,000,000 pesos. (or perhaps they do) The cables were buried and they put in all new electical and water meters. My water bill jumped from less than $100 pesos to $1200 pesos when they changed the meter. I had the plumber come and check for a leak and there were none. Japay came and read the meter and I had an appointment a week later. When I turned up 3 weeks later I had good news. they had put a zero in my between the 2 and the 8 and instead of consuming 28 cubic meters of water they had charged me for $208. So I got a refund but not an apology.
I'm looking forward to your addendum on substations and alternative energy. And is it just me or is there more bat poop being slung around town than before?
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mcm 16 years ago
Someone posted that they were having a problem finding the rate table on the CFE website.
Here's a link to the relevant page -- you need to "click" on the relevant rate (1C for Merida city), then enter the year (2008 is the default), the month that summer begins (abril), and the month for which you want rate info.
http://www.cfe.gob.mx/es/InformacionAlCliente/conocetutarifa/
Interestingly, outside of Merida centro (Cholul, for example) the rate is 1B, reflecting the lower temperatures outside the cement furnace within the Periferico.
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pjk 16 years ago
A very interesting and informative article.
Given the pricing structure you outlined I had considered solar panels to provide some additional capacity and keep consumption within a lower tarriff.
Unfortunately, it seems CFE does not make allowances for 'reverse metering' by allowing the homeowner sell surplus energy generated back to CFE (as of 2007). Hopefully, that will eventually change, at which time home solar (or wind) generated electricity maybe more economic proposition.
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Working Gringos 16 years ago
Oh, it's so lovely to be right :-)
Ian, we think that as long as the AVERAGE usage for the previous 12 months is below 850 per month, you will stay at the 1C rate.
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sky 16 years ago
Imagine how hot a 1F city must be...
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Ian 16 years ago
Hi Ellen,
Just to confirm your theory and actually clear CFE's computers of your suspicion that they might not follow through. I noticed that Panadero is once again in catagory 1C.
Considering the sizeable drop in useage there since you left the CFE computers did in fact return it to the lower priced catagory. The system works!
I know.. I know.. I am as shocked and as relieved as you are......
~Ian
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Ian 16 years ago
Hi Ellen,
What happens if you only go over the 850 per month for a few months (the hot ones) and return to below that? Would you stay at the lower rate?
~Ian
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Anny 16 years ago
Here's something else that I just began to take note of. Before, I thought that the difference between the summer and the winter rate was just a slight tap on the wrist. Now, with the charts you can pick up in the commission, I see that, if I had a bill of 414 pesos in April, in December I would be paying 1,033 for the same amount of electricity!!!! That's an incredible increase. The lower ranges and the high rangers have a slightly lower increase percentage wise, but if you are a moderate consumer, as I tend to be, you can get hit really hard.
I've been looking on the site and can't seem to find this chart listed on line, but I pick them up there at the counter in any CFE office. Of course, the commission says it's giving us a "break" for the summer; actually, I suspect that since there is a far lower consumption of electricity in the winter, they're just upping the price to make ends meet!
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Stephen Forte 16 years ago
Very informative article and a keeper for future reference. Sounds like building that new house was a great idea. I would like to do the same but finding a lot in or near Centro is a hard call. I really appreciate all the insights I get from your articles. Thanks
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