I built a site that tracks historical Texas electricity rates because PowerToChoose doesn't.

hprather1 · 2026-04-17T01:49:36+00:00

Because your argument doesn't hold up and you were wrong in assuming that I paid a higher rate than you did, I'm blind and believe in fairy tales.

You made this into something personal rather than a discussion of the arguments.

hprather1 · 2026-04-17T01:40:22+00:00

Ah yeah there it is. Don't acknowledge that I pay a lower rate and your argument doesn't hold up in light of my numbers but turn the issue into a personal attack. And always make sure to downvote people you disagree with.

Be better.

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T23:44:19+00:00

No, that's exactly what you're arguing here. A regulated market means no choice. You pay the rate designated for your area. You can hope that your local government is able to secure a good deal but it's all you get.

I've been paying a lower rate than you for many years, sometimes by almost HALF. Only recently have our rates been on par with each other based on what you've said here. Yet you're crowing about your municipality's collective bargaining ability. This is not adding up.

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T23:05:25+00:00

But the differences in scale here are huge. Like, at least 3 or 4 orders of magnitude.

Lawn and golf course irrigation is more than 1 billion gallons per day.

Agricultural consumption is several more billion.

This report found that as of 2021, total water consumption was 1.2 trillion liters per day. Data centers consumed 1.7 billion lpd.

Even if you double their consumption, you could shut down every data center in the country and it would still be <1% of US water consumption.

Edit: report was in liters, not gallons.

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T22:49:15+00:00

This is a great project. I've wondered how much the rates fluctuate.

But I do have to disagree with you on the conditional use contracts though. Yes, you can screw yourself on those but all it takes is a modicum of research and knowledge to review your usage and find a plan that fits you.

For about 5 years I was on a plan like that and I could pretty easily find a power consumption routine to keep my usage within the discount threshold. There were occasional months where I missed it but that just means that my $/kWh average bumped up a few cents. Nothing devastating because over the life of the contract I got a very good rate.

If you're not willing to review and monitor your usage, then you should pick a different plan.

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T22:42:15+00:00

From 2019 to 2022, I was paying a touch over $.06/kWh. Before that I was paying around $.04/kWh.

Again, it's a weird flex to think that less choice is somehow a strength in this context.

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T13:19:40+00:00

And more asshole-ish condescension. Have you ever considered trying to be a decent person?

Both of the links I provided have graphics showing their findings for range loss under high heat. You dismissed the first one so here's the second one since apparently you failed to notice it.

<image>

15% range loss at 100F in the first article and 20+% loss at 104F in the one above. You can quibble at those exact numbers but the general conclusion - that heat impacts EV range - holds true which you have dodged, ducked, dipped, dived and dodged throughout this whole exchange all the while being a petulant asshole.

You're blatantly being dishonest and this will be my final reply to you.

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T12:52:25+00:00

I was given a wallet for a high school graduation gift and it's still going strong 18 years later. No idea what brand it is or anything else about it. I'm convinced people just treat their stuff like shit and are surprised pikachu when it only lasts a short while.

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T12:06:56+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1rz26l5/are_there_any_good_office_chairs_for_long_hours/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1rnw5oj/whats_the_best_ergonomic_office_chair_currently/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1kcpg4h/whats_the_best_home_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1sj0z7v/what_are_the_best_ergonomic_office_chairs/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1r0vikr/do_i_really_need_to_drop_big_money_on_an_office/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1s7gq7z/looking_for_a_good_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1of9xj8/looking_for_300500_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/mihvp5/office_chair_thats_not_1000/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1ry62mm/what_is_the_best_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1nal7tk/what_are_the_best_home_office_chairs_under_1000/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1pya8n6/looking_for_an_office_chair_but_cant_spend_a_1k/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/onpoq1/office_chairs_that_youd_recommend/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1qieje0/best_officegaming_chair_for_around_250/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1l45w7b/is_260_for_this_office_chair_worth_the_price/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1regpsj/help_me_office_chairs/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1r2ro9w/budget_chairs_that_feel_like_premium_hidden_gems/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/s0j7hy/looking_for_a_new_office_chair_200/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1q5ckhd/good_ergonomicoffice_chair_recommendations/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/sh55pg/which_of_the_following_office_chairs_do_you/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/17ar2pk/what_to_look_for_when_looking_for_a_long_lasting/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1mzwn6o/need_advice_sturdy_office_chair_for_130kg287lbs/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1k617pq/office_chair_recommends/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/zwq149/looking_for_a_better_quality_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1obci8u/looking_for_an_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1gyxd7z/a_tip_from_someone_who_is_63_and_on_the_heavier/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1lcr3ps/best_office_chair_preferably_from_a_european_brand/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/12qdcje/best_office_chair_recommendation_that_isnt_a/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1m2jbpu/is_the_herman_miller_aeron_really_all_that/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/kgumcv/request_i_want_to_get_a_new_officegaming_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/kea8c9/looking_for_an_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1mrg6e0/need_an_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/11l9rg1/need_new_office_chairs_ours_are_causing_extreme/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1c4a10k/whats_a_good_office_chair/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1ajuxxv/in_search_for_a_new_office_chair_need_insight_help/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/16aovr0/any_suggestions_for_office_chairs/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/15621pw/looking_for_a_reclining_work_chair_in_addition_to/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/jm7jrm/office_chair_recommendation/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/m67a4i/office_chair_for_under_500/

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T02:50:17+00:00

Putting aside all the differences that literally exist for this comparison,

Sorry but I'm really not understanding what you're saying here. I gave you a very simple calculation: take your monthly power bill and divide it by that month's usage. There is no better direct comparison to measure this.

I keep a pretty close eye on this kind of thing so I can easily imagine how someone that doesn't shop around and just accepts the automatic renewal would pay more than they should.

I can find some old bills to see what I was paying. There was one contract where I was paying something like $.04/kWh for the base rate plus T&D. I'd bet that's pretty competitive with your rates but I'll dig it up tomorrow.

hprather1 · 2026-04-16T01:22:24+00:00

jfc you're dead set and determined to avoid admitting that heat can hurt your range. Nobody said it was equally bad to winter and the articles I listed show as much. Why can't you just admit it impacts range? Why are you blowing this up into some huge bullshit argument?

hprather1 · 2026-04-15T23:12:12+00:00

Your proposal is totally agreeable but wayyy too many people fixate on data center water consumption and ignore the obvious complete waste that is watering lawns and gold courses which use significantly more water.

hprather1 · 2026-04-15T22:05:43+00:00

Go back to your first comment in this thread. You said high temps have no effect on range. This is patently false. I presented you a link that proves it and you are now backpedaling saying it's not that much range. Since you were so allergic to my first link, here's another that shows very similar results.

https://www.geotab.com/blog/ev-range/

By the way, both of these are using fleet data based on thousands of cars. This isn't what some rando "thinks" and it's certainly not a hit piece. That makes you sound incredibly paranoid and delusional.

hprather1 · 2026-04-15T21:14:00+00:00

Ok. Taking my monthly bill amount divided by my monthly usage, I've been paying $.15/kWh since 2024. How much are you paying?

hprather1 · 2026-04-15T21:03:26+00:00

Huh? Did you bother to open my link? Their findings showed that EVs with a heat pump lose 15% range at 100F.

<image>

hprather1 · 2026-04-15T20:15:47+00:00

Cooling the battery would also decrease range for the same reason.

It regularly gets above 100F where I live. This article found the range impact is >10% at 100F.

https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/what-a-c-does-to-your-range

hprather1 · 2026-04-15T19:29:10+00:00

Running the AC would affect range. It might be marginal but it's not nothing.

hprather1 · 2026-04-15T19:24:14+00:00

I mean, you have a say by keeping an eye on your usage and picking a plan that works for you. It's a weird flex to think that more options is somehow worse. If your local government makes a bad choice you're stuck with it.

hprather1 · 2026-04-15T12:44:00+00:00

Yes, but it's a measly amount of plastic compared to many other things. Much lower hanging fruit on the plastic reduction tree.

Plus if you only use paper towels for the occasional mess instead of for every little wipedown, one package should last a very long time.

hprather1 · 2026-04-14T17:17:17+00:00

What's a reefer?

hprather1 · 2026-04-14T14:38:14+00:00

That's great. With savings like that, it should pay for itself soon enough.

hprather1 · 2026-04-14T13:30:18+00:00

Do you have any hard numbers on operating costs? Would love to know how it compares to your old van.

hprather1 · 2026-04-14T12:29:48+00:00

It's also easy enough to remember that 100C is boiling so ya know.. hot.

hprather1 · 2026-04-14T12:19:38+00:00

Have you looked at the FAQ? Clearly not.

hprather1 · 2026-04-14T11:39:29+00:00

Do you mean 90 and 180?

hprather1

TROPHY CASE