Gas Bill-is this normal?

[vickalamode]

I recently moved out on my own, and while all of my other bills seem reasonable, the gas bill seems unreasonably high.

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment, the gas goes to hot water heater, heater, and stove.

To give you an idea of the gas usage...
Two of us live in the apartment. We each shower once a day for about 10 minutes each. We use the stove between 1-3 times a day for about 5-10 minutes each. We've been using the actual oven about once a week for about 20-40 minutes. I wash dishes in the sink (no dishwasher) once a day and the hot water runs for maybe 5 minutes total between filling the sink to soak dishes and for rinsing. We have not been using the heater the last 2 months since it's obviously summer, and we turned the pilot for the heater completely off about 2 months ago.

I don't think we are being very excessive in our gas usage. BUT, our bill still seems very high considering the amount of usage. And it's freaking me out because it's SUMMER and we haven't turned the heater on in 2 months.

Our last bill was around $100 with no heater usage.

This month its $80

It seems like their "delivery charges" are really unreasonable-they are MORE than the actual gas we used this month!

Here's what our bill looks like this month:

Delivery Charges
Customer Charge: $9.90
Distribution Charge Step 1 Used 46.705 therms @ $0.3086ea Total $14.41
Distribution Charge Step 2 Used 10 therms @ $0.2626 ea Total $2.63
Energy Conservation Service Charge $0.11
Distribution Adjustment Charge $13.67
TOTAL DELIVERY CHARGES $40.72

Gas Charges

Cost of gas Used 56.705 therms at $0.6569ea Total $37.25
TOTAL GAS CHARGES $37.25

TOTAL BILL: $77.97

We are in southeastern MA and use New England Gas if it matters.

Are all of these delivery charges normal? It seems ridiculous to me that the "delivery charges" are more than our gas costs! Also does the gas usage amount and price seem right? I'm just curious because when I was looking around at apartments I was asking different realtors about what I should expect on a gas bill and they were telling me about $50 for 2 people in the summer and about $100 in the winter.

Thanks for the help. I'm just trying to make sure I am not being charged too much since this is a new situation for me and I don't really know any different.

 

[sydneysmom]

That seems high to me..... we've got gas heat /dryer and in the winter ours averages MAYBE $ 87. for a 2500 sq ft house. our last gas bill was $18.62.... which is around what we average for the rest of the year.

You might want to call someone from the gas company. They can check to see if your windows and doors need weather stripping ....if you've got leaky windows and doors, that won't help w/ the bill. I would also have them check and make sure that the bill is only for your line and nothing that's a "public area". just to make sure... you never know.

but yeah, if you're really only using it right now for the stove and shower, it shouldn't be $100 !! call your gas company and get someone out there...it's free and they talk to you about energy efficiency for your apartment and how you can help bring it down.

 

[Debbie Jean]

I recently moved out on my own, and while all of my other bills seem reasonable, the gas bill seems unreasonably high.

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment, the gas goes to hot water heater, heater, and stove.

To give you an idea of the gas usage...
Two of us live in the apartment. We each shower once a day for about 10 minutes each. We use the stove between 1-3 times a day for about 5-10 minutes each. We've been using the actual oven about once a week for about 20-40 minutes. I wash dishes in the sink (no dishwasher) once a day and the hot water runs for maybe 5 minutes total between filling the sink to soak dishes and for rinsing. We have not been using the heater the last 2 months since it's obviously summer, and we turned the pilot for the heater completely off about 2 months ago.

I don't think we are being very excessive in our gas usage. BUT, our bill still seems very high considering the amount of usage. And it's freaking me out because it's SUMMER and we haven't turned the heater on in 2 months.

Our last bill was around $100 with no heater usage.

This month its $80

It seems like their "delivery charges" are really unreasonable-they are MORE than the actual gas we used this month!

Here's what our bill looks like this month:


We are in southeastern MA and use New England Gas if it matters.

Are all of these delivery charges normal? It seems ridiculous to me that the "delivery charges" are more than our gas costs! Also does the gas usage amount and price seem right? I'm just curious because when I was looking around at apartments I was asking different realtors about what I should expect on a gas bill and they were telling me about $50 for 2 people in the summer and about $100 in the winter.

Thanks for the help. I'm just trying to make sure I am not being charged too much since this is a new situation for me and I don't really know any different.

I looked at my last bill and the gas was $45 for a 2 story 3 bedroom house, all gas. The difference is that you were billed for 56.705 therms and I was billed for only 38.343 therms. Your number seems very high unless I'm missing something. There are 2 of us also and our typical routine is about the same as yours except I do laundry every other day and the dryer is gas. I would expect that would make my usage higher not lower.

Yes, delivery charges are about the same as the cost of the commodity, i.e. the gas itself. BTW, although I am in NJ, the cost per therm supply and delivery is about the same. The difference seems to be the number of therms you are being billed... seems quite high to me.

 

[Debbie Jean]

That seems high to me..... we've got gas heat /dryer and in the winter ours averages MAYBE $ 87. for a 2500 sq ft house. our last gas bill was $18.62.... which is around what we average for the rest of the year.

You might want to call someone from the gas company. They can check to see if your windows and doors need weather stripping ....if you've got leaky windows and doors, that won't help w/ the bill. I would also have them check and make sure that the bill is only for your line and nothing that's a "public area". just to make sure... you never know.

but yeah, if you're really only using it right now for the stove and shower, it shouldn't be $100 !! call your gas company and get someone out there...it's free and they talk to you about energy efficiency for your apartment and how you can help bring it down.

They should also check for leaks... and I wonder if since you are living in an apartment, whether you may be getting the bill for more than just your unit...

 

[disny_luvr]

I think that seems high. My gas bill for this month is $30.99. That's for a 4-bedroom, 2-story, 2300 sq. ft. home, all gas. I'd probably call the company.

 

[momto2inKC]

The only gas we are using is the hot water heater, everything else is electric in our house. Ours would probably be higher than yours if our stove was gas. It won't let me c&p the document, but here's what our charges were-
Current MGE Service Charges-
Fixed monthly charge $26.88
ISRS tax $.32
Total $27.204
Cost of Gas Charges-
39.00 CCF @ $0.71809 $28.09
Fees and taxes $4.27
Total for this bill $59.48

 

[miralys]

That seems high. It's what my parents pay for a total of four occupants in their house. Perhaps you could call the gas company and see if someone can help you troubleshoot the bill and try to bring it down in the coming months?

 

[plutolovr]

My DD lives in an apartment in Philadelphia and when she received her first gas bill she thought it was high too. She found out that she had a gas leak in her stove. They replaced the stove. She was paying for the gas that was leaking out. If your stove is old I would have the gas company do a leak check.

 

[RitaE]

When you call the Gas company also ask if the bill is from actual meter readings or if they've been doing estimates.

If they've been doing estimates it will automatically correct next time they do an actual reading.

It seems high to me too. We're of family of 5 and on months when we don't use the heat our bill runs around $50 or so.

 

[My3kiddos]

That seems really high to me. I would call the gas company and they should come out and check for a gas leak for free. I can't imagine what your gas bill will be come winter if it's that high now. Our gas bill is about $25 during the spring and summer. Here's a breakdown of what ours cost last month.

Customer charge - $12.35
Delivery charge - $2.43
Gas Supply Cost 1.3 Mcf @ 5.45510 - $7.10
Taxes & Fees - $3.03

$24.91

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

That is high. We only have our heater that is gas and for about 9-10 months of the year, we only pay $8 to $12 just to keep it on, instead of paying the $100 annual connect fee to use it for 2-3 months. In those 2-3 months, our bill is only $85 to $150, depending on how cold it is.

I would have someone come out and check for leaks.

Suzanne

 

[vickalamode]

Thanks everyone, I'm glad I am not crazy in thinking it is way too high for the amount I think we are using.

I'm going to call them in the morning and ask if they can come out to look at it soon. To check for a leak or to see if it's somehow connected to another apartment's gas line or to make sure we aren't connected to the coin operated washer and dryer in the basement (communal area). Luckily our landlord owns a construction company so even though our building is from the 1800's it's well insulated and has all brand new windows and walls so I'm not worried about heat escaping in the winter...although that's not currently the issue lol.

 

[vickalamode]

I called the gas company and they are going to send somebody out next Wednesday to install an electronic meter for free instead of estimating how much gas we are using...I knew something was up! They also told me that they will credit the overage we paid the last couple of months onto upcoming bills, hopefully they follow through on that because we probably overpaid the last 2 months by at least $75!

I'm still going to have them check the gas lines in the house though to make sure that we aren't somehow connected to anybody else's lines in the building. There are 5 other families plus the basement which is a common area and has coin operated washers and dryers.

 

[Riles_and_Gabe]

Thank you so much for posting this. I also live in MA and for the last couple of months I thought my bill was extremely high since we turned the heat off in March. I think I will also give them a call to find out what is happening.

 

[Sagginit]

i had the same issue with my last apt. they told us based on the usage we had to have a dryer/hot water heater on the meter (it was coming in at $80 a month and the only thing linked to our meter was the stove). our lease stated we did not have to pay for hot water and we could not use the dryer. we knew we did not have our own heater b/c if someone downstairs was in the shower we got cold water. much to my annoyance they said they could inspect the lines to tell us what was on our meter only with my landlords permission and then they could not make him change the lines (so let's say they did find out the dryer was connected, and this was in a part of the house we could not access, no one could force him to have the lines fixed for his laundry). i am sure your landlord will be reasonable if it is a multi-family unit but just be aware the gas company may not be able to have something taken off your meter. my roomate did not want to get in a fight so we just paid for the gas we were not using - budget buster . dislike. glad i have a new one.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I have not read all of the posts but what temp do you have your water heater set on. Also how old is the water tank. If it is older it more than likely is ineffiecent. Have your drained the sedament out of the water tank?

I use to work at a natural gas company and these are some things we would advise customers on.

 

[Tink-aholic]

When you say "gas"...do you mean propane? We live in NH and we don't even get a delivery in the summer. Last year, we went from February to October, but this winter was particularly bad, so I had a delivery in late March. I am not on the schedule again until Halloween. We use propane for heat, hot water, stove/oven, and dryer.

If you don't need the delivery, then you don't have the delivery charges.