Living in Mexico has a lot of benefits, you can live in the most beautiful places. And know people that is always kind to expats. Eat the tastiest and diverse food. But one of the most important benefits is the savings that you can have. We have already talked about the cost of living in general. Also about the grocery shopping difference.
Todays topic is the energy costs in both countries. In this article we intend to compare the energy costs between USA and Mexico during the most expensive seasons.
Heating Expenses in the USA
As we all prepare for the arrival of the coldest season, we must be aware and ready to be in shock when we see our energy bills if we use natural gas to heat our homes. National Fuel informed about their supplier predictions for home heating costs for this upcoming winter, and the increase is crazy.
According to National Fuel spokesperson Karen Merkel: “Unfortunately, your natural gas bills are following the trend of pretty much every consumer expense, and product and winter heating season bills will be substantially higher than customers are used to paying.”
National Fuel predicts the average natural gas residential customer will pay $1,023 this year from November through March. That’s a 50 percent increase.
And you may ask yourself why we have natural gas in the US. Evidently, it’s the entire industry and the whole world that impacts the supply cost of natural gas.
The Russian war in Ukraine and European countries cutting off Russia as a significant natural gas producer for them brought the United States to export now more liquified natural gas via tankers to Europe.
Last year there was an increase. Unfortunately, compared to the previous two years, natural gas supply costs have increased more than double. So that’s why bills are going to be substantially higher. The highest since the winter of 2008-2009.
The push to drop fossil fuels such as coal in the whole country leads to natural gas-fired power plants that are now generating over 50 percent of our electricity. That’s according to the New York Independent System Operator, which coordinates electric power generation and distribution by utility companies.
So, with rising demand and prices, we now see something called energy poverty.
Well, we don’t have to say that Mexico has higher temperatures during the winter. The climates are so diverse that we cannot compare the entire country. But we can compare it with the southern-east part of Mexico, where the weather during the year is warm and delightful.
However, as we are comparing energetics expenses for heating during winter in the US and summer cooling expenses in the Yucatan Peninsula, let’s get started.
Energy Costs: Electricity in Southeast Mexico
This is important since electricity is the most expensive utility in Mexico.
CFE stands for the Federal Commission of Electricity. This company supplies power for the entire country. That means no matter where you move, you will have a CFE bill. The CFE provides power to 35.3 million customers, representing almost 100 million people, with about 1 million new customers a year as the middle class expands and young people move into new homes.
CFE Rates
Since CFE is the electric company for Mexico, the entire country is divided into areas with different electric rates. As some regions of Mexico are hotter than others, they get a lower rate since they need to use more energy to keep their homes cool.
The hot season goes from April to September. During those months, you can enjoy government subsidies. Many people use roughly the same amount of energy throughout the year. So, when the subsidies are taken away, bills can jump up and surprise people.
The following map illustrates this. You can see Playa del Carmen is in tarifa(rate) 1b. Since Playa Del Carmen is in the 1b area, the energy rates are as follows. You can visit the official CFE website here for more information about electric bills.
There is a slight difference in summer rates. Don’t forget IVA(tax) is added to your bill. Bills come every two months or monthly, depending on where you live.
Basico: up to the first 250 Kwh, the price is .826 pesos
Intermedio: from 250-450 kwh the price is .956 pesos
Excedente: over 450 kwh the price is 3.286 pesos
So, the more power you use, the more you will pay. This seems fair, and for most people living a simpler life, this means energy is more affordable. People who use air conditioning always will pay more, and usually, people who use it can afford to pay for the service.
Most Mexican households or apartments pay around 800-1000 pesos for a two-month bill. People who use a lot of air conditioning expect bills to be from 1000-6000 pesos every two months.
When we wrote this article, 1 United States Dollar equaled 20.12 Mexican Pesos.
That means that the electricity bill for those that use a lot of air conditioning costs from about 50-300 USD per two months. 750 USD for the whole season if your air conditioning runs 24/7.
Comparison of Energy Costs Mexico vs USA
As you can see, your energy expenses would be around 40% less during the summer in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, than during the winter season in the coldest places of the United States. Many Americans and Canadians come every year on vacation for the winter. Many more already own a property in Mexico, where they spend their winter season and rent it for the rest of the year. Finally, every year more and more buy a home and stay because they have seen they can save a lot of money just by moving to Mexico.
Why not own a home in Playa del Carmen, Mexico? Either if you just want to spend the winter season and rent it for the rest of the year, or you want to retire and live there year-round, it will be the smart thing to do.