My electric bill--Wow!

[mjbaby]

Our house is 3500+ sq. ft. (200 year old farmhouse) and we have electric for everything but heating, which is oil. Our electric generally doesn't top $90 and that's even with using more electric means for warmth to shift costs from the oil - things like electric blankets, ceramic heaters and so forth. Here is SE Pennsylvania we only use AC during the very hottest months of the year, and then only in three or four rooms in the house which we can close off. All things considered, I'd say we have it good!

 

[DaisyD]

Daisy, I have BGE too and find that their budget billing plan is very helpful. We're all electric, too, 5000+ sq ft home, and we pay only...(well, i just checked the bill and don't know what we pay...rate stabilization BS, and all). Anyway, back before the rate increase and stabilization mess, we paid $180 (+/-) every month year round. It really helps avoid $700 spikes and keep the budget predictable. You might consider it.

Our bill is around the same amount all year anyway unfortunately even without the budget plan. We have an inground pool, hot tub, and the A/C running all summer. Our bills are usually $350 summer or winter. I expect the summer one to be just as high as the winter one too now. Crazy!

 

[3PrezGirls]

I would love to know how you get your bill so low. Ours is budgeted at $189 a month. We live in a 2000 sq ft townhouse and we're in the middle so we have the sides to keep the heat in. How can I lower my monthly payment. Unplug things?? Like what???? I mean we do have lots of things plugged it does that really make a difference????

 

[Marie17]

WOW WOW WOW - That's less than what I pay for garbage service each month.

If I had an electricity bill that low I would have been without power for 28 out of 30 days of the month.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Also they may of estimated it. I know that has happened to me before and I get shot down the following month with a huge bill..

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I'd call and ask it that's an actual bill or an estimated bill. My house is 2400 sf and my bill runs $380+/- in the winter and $550+ in the summer.

 

[kellia]

Maybe they had estimated your bill for a few months and finally got an actual, and they had over estimated? I'd definately watch it!

OMG- I cannot believe how much you guys pay for utilities! $700!!! We live in Michigan in a 1300 sq. ft. house, so we use a lot of heat (gas) in the winter, and run our a/c in the summer, though probably not as much as you. But our budget plan is only $207 for gas AND electric each month! I know you guys have higher wages but that is ridiculous!

 

[curlybop]

I agree, maybe it was estimated in months past. Last spring, I received an electric bill with over $200 credit. I called them, thinking they applied someone else's money to our account. No - turns out they estimated for the months of Dec. - Feb. instead of actual charges, and yes, they overcharged us a lot during that time. So, for about 2 months, we paid nothing for the electric bill due to their laziness.

They installed different meters about 3 months ago, so I hope it doesn't happen again. All our billing should be actual usage from now on.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We have a 2,000+ sq ft home and had a bill last November of $9.38. It ended up that the bill was correct. We were at Disney for 9 days, that was for 21 days of use. Our bill last month was $61.00, I screamed at the wife and kid for leaving the lights on too much.

I have a home office, somebody is at the house nearly 24/7. Our total utilities last year were just over $1,900, that includes water, sewer, trash, electric, and gas.

 

[minnie1928]

I would love to know how you get your bill so low. Ours is budgeted at $189 a month. We live in a 2000 sq ft townhouse and we're in the middle so we have the sides to keep the heat in. How can I lower my monthly payment. Unplug things?? Like what???? I mean we do have lots of things plugged it does that really make a difference????

The biggest thing I did was convert all my lights to CFL bulbs. Next thing, plug all my computers/TVs/etc. into powerstrips. When I'm not using the item, they get turned off at the strip. Many things continue to draw power while they are "off". For example, I would open the door to my entertainment center (housing the TIVO, dvd player, vcr, stereo receiver) and the air inside would be very warm....and everything was "off". Anything that has a clock display (think VCR, coffeepot) draws energy 24/7. Any item that has a big black plug (think cell phone charger or cordless phone unit) draws energy as long as it's plugged in.

I purchased 2 Smartstrip powerstrips a few months ago for my entertainment center. Now whenever I turn off my TV, it automatically cuts the power to my dvd player, vcr, and stereo. My DH insists on leaving the pc on 24/7, but I rigged a Smartstrip up so that whenever I turn off the monitor it cuts the power to the printer, speakers, and some other large box under the desk (some type of speaker thingy).

Around the same time that I did these things I also purchased a new washer (Neptune washer up and died!). After all these things were done, my bill has been consistently 30-40% lower than last year (even factoring differences in #of days on the bill, average temp, etc.). I have easily recouped the amount of money that I invested.

 

[vhoffman]

Well, I'm not so naive as to think that $20.11 was an accurate bill. We're prepared for a bigger bill next month, just was nice to get a bit of a breather on our bills. I'm dreading ac weather, just around the corner here in Texas. It get hot like you wouldn't believe here. We need the ac from about April until Oct-Nov. Those bills run high. Last summer we had two back-to-back dillies--$500 and $700

This summer we're a bit more prepared with some better insulation, heavier drapes, weatherstripping, etc., but still, it just reaches a point where you need the ac and it costs to run it. period. I actually can "weather" the weather better during a cold spell, you can always put on an extra blanket, sweater, etc., but there's not much you can do about the heat. Especially since I'm a SAHM, someone's home all day with the ac on. I might find out of the house places for at least part of the day to keep the ac off, like the library, pool, mall, but that's only for a few hours. It probably costs more to re-cool the house after a few hours leaving the ac off than to keep it on at a high temp all day. Nights aren't much better here--usually in the 90's, can't turn off the ac and sleep with the windows open, we tried it, I woke up actually almost choking it was so hot and humid. Well, maybe we should move to Canada!

 

[ampooh]

I don't see how any bill is that low and be accurate. You know it isn't though is why you have prepared yourself for a hig bill next month. I work for an electric utility. It cost 15.00 a month to just have the meter setting at your home.

I think you need to check your meter. Make sure it isn't stopped. We have turtle meters here that read across the lines every day so you can see if there is a major change.

On this side of that call I'd be having your meter reread.

 

[WETWHISTLE]

OMG my water bill isn't even that cheap!!

I live in a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath townhouse my electric/gas bill was $225 last month.

UGH!

 

[danitom]

I think it matters where you live to. Our house is only around 1800 sq ft and we are paying $200-$250 a month lately in Alabama....it is HOT!!! You ALREADY have to run your air pretty constantly.....we have gas heat too.....never seem to need it (much).....

 

[vhoffman]

I don't see how any bill is that low and be accurate. You know it isn't though is why you have prepared yourself for a hig bill next month. I work for an electric utility. It cost 15.00 a month to just have the meter setting at your home.

I think you need to check your meter. Make sure it isn't stopped. We have turtle meters here that read across the lines every day so you can see if there is a major change.

On this side of that call I'd be having your meter reread.

Oh, yes, I know....its too good to be true. At least it gives us a little breather. We are prepared for a biggie next month. And I will call the electric company to check the meter. Just nice to have a samll bill, even if only for a little while...............

 

[nordkin]

I don't see how any bill is that low and be accurate. You know it isn't though is why you have prepared yourself for a hig bill next month. I work for an electric utility. It cost 15.00 a month to just have the meter setting at your home.

I think you need to check your meter. Make sure it isn't stopped. We have turtle meters here that read across the lines every day so you can see if there is a major change.

On this side of that call I'd be having your meter reread.

I also work for an electric utility, in metering as a supervisor over the people who investigate high and low bill complaints, and you are exactly right. Our minimum, just for having an active meter on a premise (house), is around $15.00. I would also have the meter reread and if the reading is accurate, I would request a meter test and ask for the results. Our rates and tariffs say 98% to 102% accuracy is acceptable.

 

[shelly3girls]

We had this happen last year. The meter reading was correct. The only explanation that the utility company could come up with is that the meter was read wrong the month before. It has now happened twice to us. When one of the larger numbers is getting ready to turn the reader misreads the higher number as the correct number by accident. For example 5799 might be read as 5899 b/c the 7 has almost rolled to an 8. Both times it happened during a high billing month so I just figured it was an expensive month (our bill is outrageous, $600 this month) then got a pleasant surprise the next month.

 

[dpratt68]

I had this happen one year. I too called and questioned it and they reassured me it was correct. Luckily I wrote down the name of the person i spoke to because all of a sudden 5 months later they slammed me with a bill for like $700. I fought it explaining that I questioned it earlier and that I was continually told it was correct. After fighting it to a top supervisor they adjusted the bill and basically had to eat their mistake. KEEP NOTES

 

[PatriciaH]

We have an 800 sf condo and our electric runs about $100 a month! We rarely run the heat or air except in July/August/September and use natural light a lot. I know it is expensive here but some of your bills are so much lower.

 

[nordkin]

I had this happen one year. I too called and questioned it and they reassured me it was correct. Luckily I wrote down the name of the person i spoke to because all of a sudden 5 months later they slammed me with a bill for like $700. I fought it explaining that I questioned it earlier and that I was continually told it was correct. After fighting it to a top supervisor they adjusted the bill and basically had to eat their mistake. KEEP NOTES

You were lucky. That never would have happened with my company. I don't understand how it happened 5 months later if the meter is read every month. The basic stance of my company is, you used the electricity, you need to pay for it. I am one of those top supervisors in my company and I would have given you a courtesy credit of ~$50 for the inconvenience, but that is it. We are not trying to rip anyone off, we are a business and like any business we can not give our product away for free. We have employees to pay and expenses to run the business.