Power bill - another rant

This is just one of those days where Guam is intolerable. We are paying $0.18/KWH for our first 500 kwh, and $0.24/kwh for everything above 500. Plus some fractions of cents, and some extra charges. 

To compare, Holland MI power company charges between $0.08 and $0.10 depending on the season. Houston seems to be between $0.10 and $0.13 - the higher charge is if you opt for wind power. 

Guam is such a boondoggle because they charge us for power AND for "fuel recovery" - ! Yes, when we pay for power, that apparently doesn't actually cover the cost of the fuel that creates the power, so we have to pay more on top of the power charges, to cover the fuel. 

It's like getting a cup of coffee at Starbuck's* and paying a "coffee recovery charge" on top of the cost of the cup of coffee - because not only did they sell the coffee to you, they also have to replace the coffee they sold to you. 

WHAT A RACKET! And of course there's no competition here. We can't get power somewhere else, and we can't not get power. We're stuck. 

Last month we made a special effort to keep our power bill down. We keep lights and aircon off during the day. We unplug the computer when we're not using it. We even turn off the water heater! But today I opened the power bill and found that we still used over 1500 KWH - over 150% of the US monthly average. How?! 

I'm not sure what more we can do about this, except just eat the cost. Spend more and save less! It's the Guamanian way! 

*not that there is a Starbuck's here, either...