Our electric is and has been pushing us to the brink of selling. Anyone in Oregon sub meter or any ideas? Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!!!
You are not alone. This has been happening across the country. There are several options. I'd be happy to chat about it if you like! Sandy
We called the PUC and they are no help. We want to be fair to our customers because of varying sizes of homes. It seem like a daily rate or by size is looking like our options.
A daily rate based on 30 amp or 50 amp service would be typical of many RV parks. The rate is usually rolled into the daily site rate for short term stays.
Thanks for the response. My mother and I are trying to get a rate figured out. So based on the amperage and not the size of the home?
You could install individual site meters if you don't mind the cost, but an average rate based on current capability would be more practical and less costly. Parks with individual meters still usually use average daily rates for short term stays with metered rates only used for monthly stays.
Again thanks for the input! I’ve been banging my head on the desk trying to figure out how to get this figured out. We average between 3500-4250 and have hit 5k with 31 spaces. It’s killing us.
You can buy after-market adapters that will retrofit your existing electrical service at the sites and that will allow you to meter the sites. Some parks can afford to do it all at once. The basic adapters run $60 to $250. Some parks have actually charged their guest for the adapter giving them the choice of an exact billing or an estimated billing,(for long term stay guests). Some parks will buy several and then place them on the different rig sizes or customer types (because we all know the guys who have 3 a/c and run them with the doors wide open) and that way they are able to get a more realistic average. I agree with others that you meter the long term guests and just raise your nightly rates by a consistent average for the transient traffic. Also, while you can't raise the electrical rate in most states, you can charge a service fee. This could be done over several months to also offset the cost. Hope this helps.
Just to be clear, the states that control sub-metering rates usually don't allow raising the rate above your cost, but of course you can raise your rates until you reach that point. And as said, most allow a nominal service fee to be added.
Don’t over think it. Just raise your daily rates a few dollars. Contrary to what some people post and believe, the average RVer isn’t that price sensitive. If you are getting good occupancy at $50.00 you won’t suddenly be empty at $55.00 or even $60.00. Just don’t get gimmicky and try to nickel and dime guests over utilities. Your competitors are facing the same issues and I suspect they will be raising rates right along with you.
Thank you again. We don’t want to make a profit off electricity we just want to lower power cons This helps a lot! We have a lot of 40’ with electric everything. Fireplaces and accent lights outdoors and they are gone all day. It’s fine, we just can’t afford it. I forward theses to my mother who should be long retired. She’s a worker! This was my dad’s dream to have a successful, friendly and beautiful park. Mom and I are trying our best to fulfill that. We really do appreciate the help!
Thanks for the input. I like this approach. Northeastern Oregon and Southwestern Washington are growing so fast. We are behind the times I guess. Our shop burned this spring and set us back a few months. Much appreciated
I don't own a rv park, but using your 31 space park and if your all rented for a 30 days span as in a month, that is 930 day rentals. If we use your $5000 high electricl cost and divide the 930 days rental into that isabout $5.30 per spot per day for the power. Like others have said, price the nightly rate to more than cover that cost. If your monthly electric bill comes in lower, you win. I would not spend the money to meter each site, as the cost to buy and install those meters would take years to maybe pay for itself. Plus not being able to make a profit on metered powerwould be the second reason not to invest in those meters. Just my opinon.
It's really as simple as raising your rates enough to cover your expenses plus a reasonable profit margin. If that rate reduces your occupancy to an unacceptable level, then either your expenses or profit margin need to be cut or you need to find additional sources of income.
