Every home mining calculation depends on one number: the price you pay per kilowatt-hour. The trouble is that the rate printed in big letters on a marketing leaflet is almost never the figure that matters. Your bill bundles in delivery charges, taxes, and fixed fees that can double the advertised "supply" rate. To budget Malairte mining honestly, you need your all-in effective rate.

Find the two cost halves

Most bills split into two parts:

  • Supply (or generation) - the cost of the electricity itself, the number suppliers advertise.
  • Delivery (or distribution) - the cost of moving it down the wires to your home, set by the local grid operator.

Both are charged per kWh, and you pay both. A bill advertising "8 cents supply" can easily carry another 7-9 cents of delivery, so your real per-kWh cost is closer to 16 cents.

Calculate your effective rate

Ignore the marketing entirely and do this instead:

  1. Find the total amount due for the month.
  2. Find the total kWh used that month.
  3. Divide total cost by total kWh.

That single figure - say $0.19/kWh - already includes supply, delivery, taxes, and any fixed fees spread across your usage. It is the number to plug into mining cost formulas.

Watch for fixed charges

Many bills include a flat monthly "connection" or "service" charge of $10-25 that you pay regardless of usage. Because mining increases your kWh, it actually dilutes that fixed fee across more units - a small point in mining's favour. But do not let a big fixed charge fool you into thinking your marginal mining cost is high; the fee is there whether you mine or not.

Tiered and seasonal rates

Some utilities charge more per kWh once you cross a monthly threshold (tiered/block pricing), and some raise rates in summer. If you are on a tiered plan, your mining kWh may all land in the most expensive top tier, so use that top-tier rate, not the blended average, for marginal mining decisions.

Keep a running figure

Rates drift over the year. Recalculate your effective rate every few bills and keep the latest number handy. A miner who knows their true rate to the cent makes far better decisions about hours, undervolting, and seasonal shutdowns than one working off a half-remembered advert.