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What makes CutMyBill better than other solar cost and savings calculators for CenHud customers?

There are three key reasons that our CenHud solar cost and bill savings calculator is far better than any other solar calculator or solar estimate website on the net for CenHud customers;

  • Firstly, whilst most solar panels calculators are really good at forecasting the electricity production you can get from installing solar panels for your home (because they all rely on the solar production data) most of them just use a single generic state wide unit cost for electricity in their calculations. Our CenHud solar cost and bill savings calculator actually uses our database of each of the available CenHud electric rates plans to use more specific electricity cost data. Therefore we can generate much more accurate solar savings analysis.
  • Lastly, before we even consider solar savings, we look for any savings that can be achieved simply by swapping to a cheaper available CenHud rate plan. Our software looks for any available CenHud rates plan that works our cheaper for your estimated usage pattern. Generally speaking savings from swapping to a cheaper CenHud rates plan are only available to those who have larger monthly electric bills but given it only takes a phone call to achieve these savings it is by far the quickest and easiest bill cutting option where it is possible.
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Will installing a solar power system or swapping rate plans save me the most on my monthly CenHud payment?


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How accurate is the CutMyBill estimate of my power usage pattern?


The way we do this is we use electricity use profiles collected by the Department of Energy for each building type at each weather station across the CenHud service territory. Some of the characteristics of your home such as your average monthly power spend and the square footage of your home are used to refine this analysis.




Three Best Ways to Cut Your CenHud Bill



We hope this article helps you make a solid game plan to cut your CenHud energy bill. If you haven't already, we suggest you first read our article on how your energy bill works.

Introducing the Gilbert family

To illustrate ideas, we'll show numbers based on typical energy usage for a single-family home in Poughkeepsie, NY (the most populous city in CenHud's territory).

Meet our typical family from Poughkeepsie: the Gilbert family. If you look closely at their picture, you'll see that the dad is also reading this article. The mom and daughter are saving energy by just pretending their tablets are on.

family on couch with devices

Let's see how the Gilbert family cut their energy bill by 27%, or $45 per month.

What's a "time of use" rate plan?

As we wrote in the How Your Energy Bill Works article, you could voluntarily switch to CenHud's time-of-use rate plan.


Why does CenHud offer a time-of-use rate plan?

We could compare the energy grid to the freeway — it can be smooth sailing or bumper-to-bumper depending on the time of day. It's easier and cheaper for CenHud to provide energy outside the 2pm to 7pm "rush hour traffic," so time-of-use rate plans signal CenHud customers to use more of their energy during other hours.






Here are the rate details for CenHud's time-of-use rate plan (code name: 6):

Plan Name: Residential - Time of Use, 2PM-7PM (6)
Last Update: December 1, 2017
Fixed Charge: Service Charge: $27
Rate per kWh
Off-Peak: $0.104
Peak: $0.287
Weekday Times
Off-Peak: Midnight to 2pm, 7pm to midnight
Peak: 2pm to 7pm
Weekend Times
Off-Peak: All hours

Who's the time-of-use rate plan best for?

Three of the five expensive weekday peak-time hours are in the afternoon (the peak window is 2pm to 7pm), so it's better for families that are typically at work and school in the afternoons. It's not as good for those who work from home, or stop by for a leisurely lunch and siesta.



While many utilities now offer their customers hour-by-hour historical energy data (commonly called "interval" data or "Green Button" data), CenHud doesn't. If available, we'd use this historical energy data to confidently estimate the Gilbert family's energy bill on the time-of-use rate plan. We'll instead base our estimate on the energy profile of a typical family in Poughkeepsie.

Let's consider the Gilbert family's energy usage during summer weekdays, in the context of the time-of-use rate plan.

They use about the same energy during the expensive afternoon hours and discounted off-peak hours. So they aren't an ideal candidate for time of use.

It gets more complicated, because the time windows are different on weekends — and the Gilbert family uses energy differently across the week.

Here's how the math works out: The Gilbert family's average monthly bill on their current rate plan (code name: 1) is $164. Their average bill on the time-of-use plan (6) would be…drum roll…$154.

Is it worth switching rate plans to start saving $9.91 per month immediately? Sure, why not. And as we'll see below, switching to time of use will put the Gilbert family in a better position to save even more money going forward.

cut dollar bill



Is it worth adjusting our energy habits?


Recall that on the time-of-use rate plan (6), the summer weekday peak window (with the most expensive energy) is from 2pm to 7pm. The Gilbert family runs the dishwasher and clothes washer/dryer around 5pm. At the peak rate of 29¢, the combined cost for cleanliness is $25 per month (not including water heating).

After reading this article, the Gilbert family sets the washing machines to start at 7pm. The new charge is $9.12 per month — a $16 bill reduction. Is it worth it? It is for the Gilbert family!

Hello, "Smart Home"




To change to the time-of-use rate plan or get CenHud's take on it, you can.

Is it worth using less energy?


The Gilbert family children have been politely asked to turn off lights when leaving rooms about 17 trillion times. They're generally respectful, but for whatever reason this one doesn't stick. How much money would the Gilbert family save if the children always turned off their lights?

Three 30-watt lights get left on in empty rooms 2 hours per day on average. That's 5.5 kilowatt-hours per month (3 x 30 x 2 x 30.4) — which costs 89¢. Is it worth continuing the effort (or trying a smart-home solution)? Nope. The parents will let this one go for now.

What about energy efficiency?


The Gilbert family got a new refrigerator a decade ago, and plugged in their previous 1990s-era fridge in the garage (for those three sports drinks). Refrigerator efficiency has come a long way since the 1990s. In fact, their garage fridge uses over twice as much energy as their new Energy Star fridge. It'll cost them $14 per month to run it on their new time-of-use rate plan (or $15 per month on the standard rate plan).

Should they replace the old garage fridge with a basic $500 Energy Star fridge? They'd save $7.84 per month on their energy bill, but the related financing payment would be $9.55 per month ($500 borrowed, 5-year term, 5.5% interest). Their net loss in the first month would be $1.71. With the financing cost, the new fridge would pay for itself in 6 years (followed by years or decades of pure bill savings).

The Gilbert family decided they don't even need a second fridge. That's a $14 monthly bill reduction!

The Gilbert family's game plan so far


Their current average monthly bill is $164. Here's their game plan:

  • 1. Switch rate plans
  • Switch to the time-of-use rate plan (code name: 6).
  • Bill Reduction: $9.91
  • New Monthly Bill: $154
  • 2. Adjust energy usage
  • When: Once they switch rate plans.
  • Bill Reduction: $15
  • New Monthly Bill: $139
  • 3. Reduce energy waste
  • When: This week.
  • Bill Reduction: $9.98
  • New Monthly Bill: $129

One week later, the Gilbert family's new monthly bill is $129. They cut their bill by 21%!


Yeah Suzy, what about solar energy?

"Hmm…it's probably too expensive." The Gilbert family wanted to at least consider it, so they connected with a few local solar installation companies through Cut My Bill. They were happy to hear that solar energy is affordable — in fact, it's less than half the cost it was just ten years ago.

They learned that 18 solar panels would fit nicely on the sunniest part of their roof (at 250 watts per panel, that's a 4.5 kW system). Their solar system would bring their average monthly energy usage from 852 kWh down to 512 kWh. And it'd bring their monthly CenHud energy bill from $129 down to $62.



With the loan, their solar energy system would save them $10 per month. That's a 8% bill reduction over their energy bill after the other changes. And their savings would increase over time because energy rates go up while the loan payment doesn't.

The Gilbert family totally went solar.




Gilbert family conclusion

If they took no action, the Gilbert family would be paying $164 per month for energy. The rate plan change and energy adjustments got their bill down to $129 per month. With solar energy and the loan payment, the Gilbert family's new net energy cost is $119 per month. All together, they cut their monthly energy cost by 27%, or $45.

The Gilbert family is feeling good! Here they are monitoring their real-time solar production and utility energy usage.

family on lawn with devices
Energy bill reductions = tax-free income

That $45 of extra cash is actually worth $62. What? The Gilbert family has to pay income tax on money used for personal expenses (including their energy bill). Since they no longer need to pay $40 in taxes on the $102 they're not giving CenHud, that $102 is essentially worth $142 (an extra $40). After the solar loan payment, their net tax savings is $17. You're a champion for getting through this paragraph.


Your game plan



Find more about Central Hudson Gas & Electric electric rate plans.