$310 electric bill

[tasha99]

WHAT!!??? Lol

It's been pretty cool in the pnw, whereas last year, we had a day in June that was 111 degrees. This year, we've only had a couple over 90 so far, and it's mid July.

 

[LYSE]

the bill says:

the electic costs $0.082683

supply costs $0.069395
and transmission costs $0.024211

those are all per kWh

Supply Charges: $155.46
(name of electric company) Charges: $151.86

I don't have an independent electric supplier, it is the electric company that is supplying my electric but I guess that's what they charge, it's insane that the supply charges are more than the electricity!

my bill from this same period last year was:

Supply Charges: $89.38
(name of electric company) Charges: $105.27

17.58 cents a kWh ...national average is 10 to 11 cents

So your actual usage is 151.86 but then they smack a markup 155.46???

That's a weird way to bill you, I'm on a small utility that buys its power from a larger one and even they don't do it that way, we just have a smaller flat fee for keeping the account open and what adds up to 11 cents a kWh

I would confirm what that 155 is...is it flat or is it based off usage, anyway to lower it like switching plans etc..

 

[Dan Murphy]

Got ours today for month ending 7/12 $150.36. We do have both an high efficiency AC and furnace (AC uses furnace blower), $116 supply, $55 delivery, $24 taxes and fees. kWh=11¢

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Just checked bill on the app, est for the month will be $68. And that's up from same month last year. But it has been very hot this year, not much rain
We have very cheap electric in this area.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I wish ours was that low last month.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

the bill says:

the electic costs $0.082683

supply costs $0.069395
and transmission costs $0.024211

those are all per kWh

Supply Charges: $155.46
(name of electric company) Charges: $151.86

I don't have an independent electric supplier, it is the electric company that is supplying my electric but I guess that's what they charge, it's insane that the supply charges are more than the electricity!

my bill from this same period last year was:

Supply Charges: $89.38
(name of electric company) Charges: $105.27

How many kWh did you use this month last year? How many for your most recent bill cycle?

Electric is up, but you could also have a separate issue. If your air conditioning is on its last leg, it may be be churning through electric trying to do its thing this summer.


Our bill gives us the comparison (you used x % more/less electricity than this time last year) as well as a chart that lines it up against temperature. Mine varies a ton based on that. This June, we were able to keep the air off and windows open for a solid week and we used 30% less electric than June 2021 when the air was on the whole time.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We're a fully electric household - no gas. We've paid $18 the past several months. Our solar panels provide all of our energy needs in the summer months and then some, and the $18 is just the standard connection fee to the electric grid. Credits from the summer months carry into the fall, but by late fall we're back to sourcing some of our energy from the grid (we seem to generate maybe 3/4 of what we need during the cooler months). Paid for our panels outright, so there is no leasing fee or monthly payment for those. Expected ROI is about 10 years, but I'm not truly keeping track of when the break even point occurs. We've had them about 5 years.

 

[DLgal]

Last month was $346 for us and it wasn't even hot. I'm used to that kind of bill during a month of 90+ degree weather, but it's been in the 70s/low 80s overall. I don't pay too much attention to the cost/kwh, but I'm guessing it's higher than it was a year ago. I know our natural gas had gone up, but that is a small bill for us year round anyway.

 

[barkley]

kind of curious-what are people's habits on heating/cooling? i know people that swear by turning off the a/c during the cooler evening hours to open all the windows, shutter the place closed in the morning and then turn the a/c on that it saves them but we've always found it (even when we lived in a place with regular daytime summer temps in the hundreds) less expensive to get the house to a temp with the a/c and then maintain that temp (if it cools at night we can open windows to aid in maintaining the temp).

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

17.58 cents a kWh ...national average is 10 to 11 cents

So your actual usage is 151.86 but then they smack a markup 155.46???

That's a weird way to bill you, I'm on a small utility that buys its power from a larger one and even they don't do it that way, we just have a smaller flat fee for keeping the account open and what adds up to 11 cents a kWh

I would confirm what that 155 is...is it flat or is it based off usage, anyway to lower it like switching plans etc..

I'm in SW PA and I think our electric is so expensive because it's coming from coal burning power plants. Not a lot of other options in the area, I just need to move out of the Pittsburgh area.

I can try to switch to a supply company other than the power company, but that's the only way to get the supply costs reduced (the $155 charge). That $155 for supply is the combined charges for supply and transmission, it's not fixed but it's based on usage.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Our bill has been a tad lower this year so far, but that's because it's been cooler so less AC. No price hikes yet, but we're expecting one eventually.

Where is it cooler? We have had so many 90 degree days this summer! Way more than normal

 

[DLgal]

kind of curious-what are people's habits on heating/cooling? i know people that swear by turning off the a/c during the cooler evening hours to open all the windows, shutter the place closed in the morning and then turn the a/c on that it saves them but we've always found it (even when we lived in a place with regular daytime summer temps in the hundreds) less expensive to get the house to a temp with the a/c and then maintain that temp (if it cools at night we can open windows to aid in maintaining the temp).

I just read an article about this. Precooling is both better for your HVAC and cheaper. The idea is, get the house as cold as possible at NIGHT (they recommend down to the low 60s if you can manage it) and then keep Shades drawn during the daytime hours and your AC shouldn't need to kick in until around 5pm or so, right about when energy prices lower.

This works really well when you have an energy efficient home. This is how we do things here, but our home is newer and super energy efficient and also doesn't get too much direct sunlight either. We have our thermostat set to 66 at night and 75 during the day. It doesn't come on until at least 4pm each day.

As for windows, we never open them. Terrible allergies. Plus, it increases the humidity in the house which makes it feel warmer.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

kind of curious-what are people's habits on heating/cooling? i know people that swear by turning off the a/c during the cooler evening hours to open all the windows, shutter the place closed in the morning and then turn the a/c on that it saves them but we've always found it (even when we lived in a place with regular daytime summer temps in the hundreds) less expensive to get the house to a temp with the a/c and then maintain that temp (if it cools at night we can open windows to aid in maintaining the temp).

I let the AC run all the time, we avoid opening windows in spring and summer because we all have allergies

 

[DLgal]

Where is it cooler? We have had so many 90 degree days this summer! Way more than normal

It's been cooler here in Orange County, CA. It's been a VERY mild summer. I think we have only had 2 or 3 days over 90, which is not typical for us this late in the summer. While the more inland parts of the state have been baking, we have been very lucky with super pleasant weather overall.

Right now, it's gloomy and overcast at just about 9am, which is usually a May/June phenomenon here. It's due to the coastal fog and will burn off around 10 or 11am, but it keeps the temps cool in the morning hours. The high today is forecast to be 82. Yesterday topped out at 78. We are heading to a water park today and I'm worried it will be too cold!

 

[barkley]

I just read an article about this. Precooling is both better for your HVAC and cheaper. The idea is, get the house as cold as possible at NIGHT (they recommend down to the low 60s if you can manage it) and then keep Shades drawn during the daytime hours and your AC shouldn't need to kick in until around 5pm or so, right about when energy prices lower.

This works really well when you have an energy efficient home. This is how we do things here, but our home is newer and super energy efficient and also doesn't get too much direct sunlight either. We have our thermostat set to 66 at night and 75 during the day. It doesn't come on until at least 4pm each day.

As for windows, we never open them. Terrible allergies. Plus, it increases the humidity in the house which makes it feel warmer.

our hvac folks say that it's much better for our unit to let it maintain vs. pushing it to cool the place down (or trying to warm it up in the winter). since we are home all the time i also find an advantage in being able to time using appliances that contribute to warming the house-i end up running loads of stuff in the dryer first thing in the morning during the winter b/c since the laundry room is adjacent to our hallway the heat travels to take off the chill, and in the summers it's running late at night so the a/c is'nt battling it and higher outdoor daytime temps. i finally got my oldest to try the temp maintainance method at the apartment by saying if the utility bill went up after trying it for a month i would cover the difference-did'nt have to shell out a penny. the blanaced payment plan the apartment is on ended up decreasing by 15% when they reevaluated it 6 months after we did the trial run on it

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

kind of curious-what are people's habits on heating/cooling? i know people that swear by turning off the a/c during the cooler evening hours to open all the windows, shutter the place closed in the morning and then turn the a/c on that it saves them but we've always found it (even when we lived in a place with regular daytime summer temps in the hundreds) less expensive to get the house to a temp with the a/c and then maintain that temp (if it cools at night we can open windows to aid in maintaining the temp).

We avoid switching between air and windows unless we're going to have a solid chunk of days where the temp is particularly high/low.

In the spring, this may mean tolerating a couple of days where the house, especially upstairs, is quite warm during the day. That time of year cools enough at night that it's fine by bedtime.

By contrast, we turned our air off for 10ish days in June when the highest high in the time period was only 82.

Once the highs are consistently in the mid 80s or above, the air just stays on even if we have a cool, rainy day here or there.

We're in NJ, air runs from about Memorial Day to Labor Day, give or take a week. In recent years, the late spring and early fall have had both higher highs and lower lows, so the unpredictability makes it difficult. Mother's Day was a cold, rainy 50s day where we wanted the heat and then a week later we had a 90s weekend.

 

[barkley]

In the spring, this may mean tolerating a couple of days where the house, especially upstairs, is quite warm during the day. That time of year cools enough at night that it's fine by bedtime.

we lived in a 2 story for 9 months in between selling one house and buying another. it was an insanely hot summer that year and a frigid winter for that region. i never mastered getting both floors to a reasonable temp at the same time (that 2nd floor was always uncomfortable). i learned from it that if i were to ever desire a 2 story i would want (1) separate zoned hvac, and (2) a second floor laundry (15 years later my now adult kids remember it as the 'fun house where mom let us throw our dirty clothes into the baskets from the top of the stairs' ).

 

[AlohaNow]

I always welcome our summer electric bills! We have a swamp cooler, instead of central air, so that saves a lot. I think the highest electric bill I’ve seen for us here was about $305 and that was in the winter. I’m always happy when it’s time to turn the heat off for the season. Our bill for July was $98.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Seacoast New Hampshire here. Our electric is projected to go up 50% in August. I paid $150 last week for June. If a/c usage is the same it will be about $225 and that is with the a/c at 75, cut down dryer usage, etc. Our State apparently approved that rate hike!

Our heating oil went from $1200 to $2000 in May when I buy a year's worth. The price has already gone up .40 per gallon since I bought so today it would be $2160. As soon as fall hits it will go up again, first snow the same and then the first cold snap who knows? Most people can't afford to buy it all at once and wait until those first oil bills hit.

Sadly, it will take years to turn this ship around and many middle class people will fall off the ladder after working their lives to maintain a decent standard of living. DH retires in two years. Scary!

 

[Meriweather]

$199 last month.
2 story 3500 sf house in Arizona.
It has been hot!!
We don't open windows.....allergies and it isn't cool at night.
Our AC is set to a timer and shuts off at 3pm-6pm weekdays (peak hours, so we get a break in price).Set at 77