Electric bill shocker...

[disny_luvr]

Today when I opened my electric bill, I was shocked, to say the least, at the price increase since the previous month. Last month I paid $82.34 and this month my bill is $215.09 That is one big increase! Ouch! Anyway, I can't think what I've done differently to cause such an increase. In fact, we were on vacation for one week during the past month. When we go on vacation we unplug almost all electronics. I was actually thinking my bill would be less. The only thing I can think of is our air conditioner. We've been running it a lot lately because of the heat and humidity, but I don't think it's running anymore now than the previous month. We usually keep our AC at 78 degrees, if that makes a difference. Can anyone think of any reason my electric bill would be so high? How can I possibly lower it for next month?

On a positive note, my gas bill is only $24 for the month. I guess the two bills will kind of balance the budget out.

 

[tinkmom2]

I am not even going to open my bill this month! With temps in the 80's and 90's I have had a air conditioner running almost 24/7. I will have to get a thrid job just for the air lol!

 

[Zoesmama03]

A/C at 78 could definitely cause high bill.

But 215 is not that bad. ITs not uncommon for us to have 250-300+ in summer with A/C set at 87 during day 85 from 8pm to 1pm(cheaper times of day on a plan we have) it drops to like 82 later at night for cooler sleeping temps though. A digital thermostat you can program is a great tool that can save tons. Some people thing turning it off when they go out saves but I don't believe that. Its only at 87 during the day because I am home and we have pets(2 cats) that are here and we gotta keep it decent for them anyway. 87-90 would probably be where I would set it for an away form home hours. It takes less to cool it back up from there than if you turn it off and it gets in the high 90s inside your home.

Of course this place is not well insulated either. I miss my nicely insulated place in Florida where all through summer I paid no more than $129 and that was including my sewer and water bills too.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

I feel your pain. Ours was $422 this month, but we have 2 systems running a/c 24/7. Are you sure last month's was an actual read? Perhaps they just estimated last month nd caught up this month. Sometimes that happens around here.

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

I feel your pain. Ours was $422 this month, but we have 2 systems running a/c 24/7. Are you sure last month's was an actual read? Perhaps they just estimated last month nd caught up this month. Sometimes that happens around here.

Yeah, that's what I was going to suggest. Whenever our bill seems to jump up, I check the bill statement and they've done an actual reading instead of an estimate.

 

[Belle5]

I am amazed by these low bills you are all shocked about...I haven't seen bills as low as what you are talking since we were newlyweds in a one bedroom apt. What I wouldn't give to see a summer bill under $400...

 

[Friendly Frog]

Maybe they estimated your bill last month and they estimated it a little too low. Then this month you would not only have a higher bill but also the shortage from the previous months estimated bill?

 

[Zoesmama03]

I was going to suggest a meter reading issue to. They could have estimated and caught up because meter didn't get checked or recorded it wrong. I have heard of some people the keep a log themselves so they can check the bill to be sure it is getting read correctly.

 

[Planogirl]

Last month our temperatures were often over 100 so our electric bill more than doubled. We had a cooler week or two this time so even though it's been over 100 again, I'm hoping for a more reasonable bill.

I hate summer electric bills.

 

[MoniqueU]

I can top you all, I got a bill for 1070 dollars last august keeping the thermostat at 79. Our rates here in my part of california are triple the rates my friend in Alabama pays. We were thrilled to see a bill this month for just 500. We do have two systems and I am home all day but I think no matter where you live if you need heat or air they screw you. My natural gas bill is always super cheap, one month I got one for 14 bucks. In the winter it rerely goes over 180 and that is keeping it at a nice temp. But here we NEED air so they have us over a barrel. I keep the thermostat as high as I can tolerate but sheesh. It has been over 100 the last few days and muggy. My air kicked in about 5 this morning.

Also to the OP we got a high bill one month when we were on Vacation witheverything off too. I never did get it squared away and it still pisses me off. I really don't believe ourelectric company is that honest. I have nothing to base this on other then comparing my bills to our neighbors and the spikes they have seen while the utility company claims they havent raised rates.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I feel your pain. Ours was $422 this month, but we have 2 systems running a/c 24/7. Are you sure last month's was an actual read? Perhaps they just estimated last month nd caught up this month. Sometimes that happens around here.

My Budgeted elec.bill is 200/mos....I have NO idea what the heat/ac will have done to that this summer...and for now, I'd rather be oblivious and deal with it when it comes....................

 

[SamSam]

We keep our thermostat at 80 and our electric bill still jumped from $80.00 to almost $400.00. Yikes! I'm not sure what I can do to reduce it, but I'm definitely more aware of turning off lights, etc.

 

[disneylove69]

We were just switched to "Smart Meters" and my bill went way up. PG&E says it's more accurate then the traditional meters. Any one else get these and notice that the numbers on the meters do not go back to 0?

 

[IDoDis]

Many people in dry climates run swamp coolers which uses water to cool the air vs refrigerated air. Our summers are hot. We had temps over 100 in early June and they are hovering in the mid to upper 90s and low 100s now.

Our electric bill is $35 more this month than last month. It is $123 this month. Now if we have humidity which is not very often (it's usually around 10 - 15%) then the swamp cooler is not as effective. It also cools off by 30 degrees at night since we are at a high altitude, which helps.

 

[Swimalie]

I have noticed since we moved to Virginia that our bill that we get in June is around $60 and then one we get in July is well over $150. We keep the air on 78, like you but it runs so much more when the temps are hitting 90+ every day and in to the night. Our August bill will be our highest one so we're not done yet.

 

[Halbleib1]

Today when I opened my electric bill, I was shocked, to say the least, at the price increase since the previous month. Last month I paid $82.34 and this month my bill is $215.09 That is one big increase! Ouch! Anyway, I can't think what I've done differently to cause such an increase. In fact, we were on vacation for one week during the past month. When we go on vacation we unplug almost all electronics. I was actually thinking my bill would be less. The only thing I can think of is our air conditioner. We've been running it a lot lately because of the heat and humidity, but I don't think it's running anymore now than the previous month. We usually keep our AC at 78 degrees, if that makes a difference. Can anyone think of any reason my electric bill would be so high? How can I possibly lower it for next month?

On a positive note, my gas bill is only $24 for the month. I guess the two bills will kind of balance the budget out.

We have been running our a/c since april and it has been set to 68 degrees. Our bill is only slightly higher from last year. Still over 100.00 but not much higher from the year before. We have met-ed though and we have not been deregulated just yet. If you have PPL they deregulated at the end of last year so their rates have gone way up. It was reported on wgal 8 news that their rates have gone up about 60%. At one point in time they were one of the cheapest electric providers in the state. You might want to look into the electric choice program and switch to a cheaper company.

Gas on the other hand is pretty affordable. We heat with gas and our bill was not more than $50.00 this past winter. We live in a 3 story town-home that is just under 2000 sq ft. so very cheap compared to other sources.

Thanks to the state deregulating the electric companies we all are going to see higher rates. The point of deregulating was supposed to be so that our rates went down based on the companies being able to freely compete but that is not what has happened with it. I am not looking forward to the end of the year when met-ed is deregulated.

A tip to help lower your bill some OP: if you have not changed/cleaned the filter on your a/c in the last month you should do that. A dirty filter will cause the unit to work harder and cost you more money in electric. This should be changed/cleaned every month.

 

[shaylahc1]

Our bill was over $400, up from $250 or so last month. In all fairness it hasn't been less than 90 degrees for the high in over a month, and many times the temp hovers in the mid 90s during the day. We have a large home and keep the thermostat set at 74.

 

[Halbleib1]

If the OP has PPL electric from what I understand they have smart meters and so no need to read the meter anymore. I know when we lived in the Harrisburg area they had them than. It is automatically reported to them. Therefore no estimating anymore. We do not yet have a smart meter where I currently live so they still come out to read our meters however the only time our bill has ever been estimated is in the winter when they do not want to walk through the snow to get to the meter to read it.

OP if they did estimate your bill it will say so on it and if that is the case you can read your meter over the phone to them and they will adjust your bill right away. I have done this in the past with my gas bill.

 

[Halbleib1]

I can top you all, I got a bill for 1070 dollars last august keeping the thermostat at 79. Our rates here in my part of california are triple the rates my friend in Alabama pays. We were thrilled to see a bill this month for just 500. We do have two systems and I am home all day but I think no matter where you live if you need heat or air they screw you. My natural gas bill is always super cheap, one month I got one for 14 bucks. In the winter it rerely goes over 180 and that is keeping it at a nice temp. But here we NEED air so they have us over a barrel. I keep the thermostat as high as I can tolerate but sheesh. It has been over 100 the last few days and muggy. My air kicked in about 5 this morning.

Also to the OP we got a high bill one month when we were on Vacation witheverything off too. I never did get it squared away and it still pisses me off. I really don't believe ourelectric company is that honest. I have nothing to base this on other then comparing my bills to our neighbors and the spikes they have seen while the utility company claims they havent raised rates.

I do not know if it is the same for you but here in PA the electric company puts the rate per kilowatt hour on the bill. We are currently paying 8.02cents per kilowatt hour used. (This is the number you use when shopping around for an electric provider here in PA.) We use on average 820 kilowatt hours a month. Of course on top of that you have state taxes and fees etc. The generation charge is the highest with distribution charges a close second followed by transmission charges.

In California with the electric issues you have had out there you are probably paying a lot for generation charges.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Today when I opened my electric bill, I was shocked, to say the least, at the price increase since the previous month. Last month I paid $82.34 and this month my bill is $215.09 That is one big increase! Ouch! Anyway, I can't think what I've done differently to cause such an increase. In fact, we were on vacation for one week during the past month. When we go on vacation we unplug almost all electronics. I was actually thinking my bill would be less. The only thing I can think of is our air conditioner. We've been running it a lot lately because of the heat and humidity, but I don't think it's running anymore now than the previous month. We usually keep our AC at 78 degrees, if that makes a difference. Can anyone think of any reason my electric bill would be so high? How can I possibly lower it for next month?

On a positive note, my gas bill is only $24 for the month. I guess the two bills will kind of balance the budget out.

Has your power company (PPL?) begun preparing you for when PA price caps on electricity expire? I have First Energy/Met-Ed and they have not done so, nor do I think they plan to, but I have heard that PPL was considering it, at least in the Allentown area. I think the state is still working to keep a price cap in effect.