Blink, price per kilowatthour seems pricy

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Epi117

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Messages
122
Location
Portland, Oregon
Decided to use blink card, since i still have $30 on $100 card i got last year.

$1.50 for 25 miles seems like a lot. Think it was 35 cent per kilowatthour

Oregon commercial rates about 8 cent a Kwh
Residential about 12 cent

http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_6_a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seems like a bit much, fair would be double the rate. Maybe its me.
 
I think 8 cents is too much of a generalization...

Here is the commercial rate sheet from PGE...

http://www.portlandgeneral.com/our_company/corporate_info/regulatory_documents/pdfs/schedules/sched_083.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Basic charge $30 or $40 (single or 3 phase) - how many chargers are there? DC Fast charger?

Transmission charge: $0.91 per kW of monthly on-peak demand...That could be $20 if there are a few Level 2's or $60 if there is DC Fast charging involved

Distribution charges: $2.65 + $1.95 of monthly on-peak demand...So about $40-45 for a few Level 2 stations or about $100 if DC Fast charging is there

Energy and System usage charges: 6 or 7 cents per kwh total depending if on peak or off peak

There are other rate schedules that add other components, looks like a few percent...

Summarizing above - some rough numbers: For a few L2 stations, it would cost $30 + $20 + $40 + 6 cents per kwh + a few percent for fees/programs
If they dispense 500 kwh per month, that would be $120 plus fees (call it $140 for 500 kwh). That works out to be 28 cents per kwh. Of course, these are rough numbers.

If there are DC Fast chargers involved, it would cost $40 + $60 + $100 + 6 cents per kwh + a few percent for fees/programs.
If they dispensed 1,000 kwh, that would be $260 plus fees (call it $280 for 1,000 kwh). That works out to be about the same 28 cents per kwh (higher fixed fees but more throughput).

To the cost of the energy bill, don't forget to add:

* insurance
* back end network
* customer help line
* billing
* maintenance
* administrative costs
* revenue share with host
* credit card fees
* PROFIT

Looks like they charged you roughly 11 cents / kwh above and beyond their energy costs for all of those items above including profit.....

I did all of this to show you that they are not raking in as much money as you assumed...It's a tough business.....
 
Epi117 said:
Decided to use blink card, since i still have $30 on $100 card i got last year.

$1.50 for 25 miles seems like a lot. Think it was 35 cent per kilowatthour
You think that's bad? I checked on a few stations in the Bay Area at http://www.blinknetwork.com/blinkMap.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and for Blink (Plus) members, L2 charging is 49 cents/kWh. DC FCing is 59 cents/kWh! :roll: :evil:
 
cwerdna said:
You think that's bad? I checked on a few stations in the Bay Area at http://www.blinknetwork.com/blinkMap.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and for Blink (Plus) members, L2 charging is 49 cents/kWh. DC FCing is 59 cents/kWh! :roll: :evil:
It's way cheaper than eVgo's a-la-carte pricing - like half the price. I picked up about 20 kWh on a trip using two QCs and a L2 station for about $11. A single eVgo QC session costs about $10.

And if my usage helps to encourage Blink to keep charging stations working when I need them (which isn't all that often), then great!

I happily paid those prices on a trip over the weekend compared to the alternative which was to drive the ICE.
 
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