Interesting electric bill this month

[Horse with no Name]

For the last 3-4 months, my electric bill has been between $500 and $600.
I have done everything I can to bring it down, but it stayed at about the same thing. I have to say though, last year this time with a different electric company, it was averaging around $700 a month with my highest bill being $800'ish.
So anyway...with the heat of last month, I dreaded opening my electric bill. I finally did and it was....
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$130.00. Yes. The hottest month wrought me an electric bill of only $130.00.
I called the electric company--I want to make sure they did this correctly and I didn't want to get a bill next month for $1000.
So yes, they say it is correct. I ask why the difference.
They said because I must be doing something right. I did switch to those energy efficient bulbs, but somehow I don't think that was the difference.:eyes:Anyway, I ask if my bill has been being estimated.
They insist it was not. Of course I believe them.:eyes:
Will be interesting to see since it is cooler this month, if indeed my bill stays down.

[LynneSin]

1. Enjoy it through November

I think everyone is being lulled into thinking that energy costs have gone down and that it's safe to continue voting for Republicans. If repukes keep control of both houses - I could see the prices going right back up

[babylonsister]

2. Holy shit! Now I'm (sorta) looking forward to my bill.

Perhaps they've been overcharging you all summer, til now?
I really don't understand how a bill can drop that much during
the hottest month of the year.
Price gouging? I wish there was a watchdog group you could
run this by.
Anyway, congrats, I think!
And I gotta get me some of those bulbs! :rofl:

[mainegreen]

3. How on earth does everyone else get charged these rates?

I'd have to open the fridge, fire up all 5 of my computers and leave them on, turn on every light, go get the electric heaters and turn them on and leave them running non stop just to try and break a hundred dollars a month! We average about $25-$35 a month and we certainly don't try save electricy to much.

You people out there have some crazy electric rates.

[OwnedByFerrets]

9. Or some huge houses to cool. nt

[Horse with no Name]

16. I thank George Bush for this

he deregulated the energy companies here before he set off to destroy the rest of the country.
I have a 4-bdrm/2bath house. A little over 2500 sq ft.
And our bills SHOULDN'T be that much.
They just are.
One of my friends said for the price of his electric bills, he is going to quit his job and stay at home to enjoy that shit since he pays so much for it. Feels like he is getting ripped off having to work all day and miss it.:silly:

[SammyWinstonJack]

19. Yes and before he did that, my highest bill was $120 in August,

now $277, with winter rates of $150 that used run around $70.

[Warpy]

4. They probably did estimate the previous months

and the difference in your bill meant you were averaging around $500. The big reduction came when somebody finally took the trouble to get out of his car and walk up to the meter and read it.

[Buzz Clik]

5. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I changed all my bulbs to fluorescent some time ago, and it didn't even cause a wiggle in our bill. My motivation was half saving energy and half frustration with changing bulbs every few months. I quit changing bulbs, but no difference in energy costs.

It is possible that your electric company "smooths" your bill by averaging over several months. This prevents massive spikes and valleys in bill and allows for easier budgeting. It also means that savings measures don't show up for a while.

It's also possible that they screwed up in reading your usage, and next month will be, as you said, over $1000.

[Drifter]

12. Lights do not use enough energy ...

to be the center of energy savings.

If everyone could eliminate the use of lights, you would not notice the difference.

Don't get me wrong, I use energy efficient lights in my house (nearly exclusively), but not to save money on electricity.

It is the larger appliances where energy savings can be realized (Refrigerators, Freezers, AC, etc.).

Cheers
Drifter

[Buzz Clik]

17. Totally agree.

The biggest consumer of electricity in our house is the AC. We have an older home that had crappy windows and leaky or missing screens. Replaced every damned one of them. We cut way, way back on AC bills simply by being able to open the windows whenever we want. Our summer electric bill tumbled.

[BigMcLargehuge]

6. PSNH (Public Service of New Hampshire) cut rates by 15%

in late June. Our bill dropped from 100-125 down to 79-95.

Nice little surprise. They also removed some transport charges too.

[ThomCat]

7. That's awesome.

Congratulations, both on taking a bit of control over your consumption and on the reduced cost. :applause:

[nam78_two]

8. $800-700??!!!!

WOW! Isn't that a it excessive :wow:???

I always bitched and moaned about my bills which have been getting ever higher, but the most we ever paid is some 200+ dollars...

Do you have a biggish house? I am stunned that electric bills can get that high.
I have a reasonable sized apartment that I share and I was sure our local electric company was ripping us off, but apparently you can be ripped off more.

[Ursus Rex]

10. Same here in Atlanta, all summer

First time EVER in the South that my gas bill was higher than the power in the summer - power usually runs ~$175 - $200 per month, but the big difference this year is that there are just two of us here now (me & the kid - no longer have a spouse); I also turn up the thermostat to 85 during the day

I'm still trying to put back the difference between what I expected and what I actually had to pay, though, to offset the gas bills this winter

[izzie]

11. That sounds really odd.

I would set up one of your kids who is in math class to start going over those old bills. I would scream about bills like that. What do you do live in a 50 room home? My bills used to run 60 a month and I have never been known to turn a light off. From childhood of my father charging me 50 cent every time I left one on I am sure.Those 60 bills came from 5 years ago and Maine is known for its high rates. Now I just pay in my rent. You can figure out every bill with a little work as I had a husband that did it once. Takes a little time, info off the things you are running and call to get cost per from company and then lots of time. I used to have a friend that designed those power stations you see and worked for a power company and he said lights are not the thing that cost any how it is things with motors.

[catmandu57]

13. They're trying to raise rates here

The people who bought our electric company did it in anticipating enroning us, then enron got busted and they've been trying to sell the company since then. Our natural gas has went up, in spite of me doing everything but freezing us out last winter.

I'd enjoy it and cross my fingers that you don't get whammied next month.

[fed-up]

14. My electric was around $100, this month-$49 in Northern CA (no gas) nt

[earth mom]

15. I don't think they were reading your meter.

I have lived in this house for 6 years and am home most every day and I have seen the meter reader once! ONCE! Estimating our bills is one way for them to save money-less employees-now isn't it? :argh:

[lectrobyte]

18. If they are reading meters by hand, they may have made an

error, but don't worry, it all balances out in a month or so. Our electric bills in the summer are more in the 250 to 300 range, I'd be very surprised if I got one that was one fourth what I was expecting. It's a little cooler now, but not that cooler.

[meisje]

20. Someone was stealing your electricity

[Horse with no Name]

23. Impossible.

My nearest neighbor is not close enough. I don't have anyone that lives behind me.
Nobody lives across from me and if they did, there are two streets separating us.
My left and right neighbors are about 1/4 block away respectively.

[Subdivisions]

21. I would not stop there. There is absolutely NO WAY

some energy-saving light bulbs made up the difference and their failure to explain the discrepancy is indicative of shady dealings on their part. You can't run air-conditioning and get a lower electric bill. It's simply impossible.

[malmapus]

22. Yeah, when I was living in Santa Ana, CA I was seeing $400 easily

Which was stupid because we hardly even turned on a light (even at night would just have like one or two on. Were probaly the most energy efficiant folks. Plus we didn't even have an AC to speak of, not that it was needed living in the OC, or a heater for that fact. Electric company couldn't explain it, I asked them to check the meter multiple times and make sure it was reading correctly.

Then a few months after the fact, it dropped down to like $70. This was in 2003/4.