WTF is up with my electric bill?

[sk8rlee]

Anyone else getting nailed with their electric bills lately? My bills used to be in the neighborhood of about $150 to $180 a month, all of a sudden it's WAY more. My December bill was somewhere around $290 and my January bill is just over $250!! I work offshore, 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off, so I'm not in the house very much, I'm single and, although I do have a roommate she spends most of her time at other people's houses so for the most part the house is always empty. In Dec I was only home for about 9 days, the other 22 days, or most of them at least, the house was EMPTY, same thing for January, I got off work on the 20th so I was only home for 11 days of last month. When I'm at work the only things running are the fridge and the heater set just warm enough to keep everything from freezing (AC in the summertime) and that's how it's always been. And what really pisses me off about it all is that I've spent so much time and money getting stuff like new windows and doors and energy efficient appliances to bring it down to that $150 mark from the $300+ that the bill was when I first bought the place and now it's right back where it started!!! So, to go back to my question, anyone else getting the ol' 'grounding rod up the dirt hole' from Entergy?

[2Evil4U]

Mine's about normal. I'm on DEMCO and am running right about $80/month right now. (2500sf house with gas heat & a wood stove.) My highest bill last summer was $230 for reference.

[thedrizel]

Demco, my power bill was higher at $120 and my gas bill was $185. That is up about 25% from this time last year. I just blame the C O L D!!!!

[ReSpEcT]

Demco, damn i wish i had that. Entergy is a mofo when it comes to price inflation. Last year i bought me a whole new central AC unit. Believe it or not, from the summer through the winter. My electric bill has been maybe $150. And thats cut in more than half since i had the old ac unit. My old electric bills use to be around the $400 range.......Its just amazing what $2k will save u in the long run.

[2Dogs]

Anyone else getting nailed with their electric bills lately? My bills used to be in the neighborhood of about $150 to $180 a month, all of a sudden it's WAY more. My December bill was somewhere around $290 and my January bill is just over $250!! I work offshore, 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off, so I'm not in the house very much, I'm single and, although I do have a roommate she spends most of her time at other people's houses so for the most part the house is always empty. In Dec I was only home for about 9 days, the other 22 days, or most of them at least, the house was EMPTY, same thing for January, I got off work on the 20th so I was only home for 11 days of last month. When I'm at work the only things running are the fridge and the heater set just warm enough to keep everything from freezing (AC in the summertime) and that's how it's always been. And what really pisses me off about it all is that I've spent so much time and money getting stuff like new windows and doors and energy efficient appliances to bring it down to that $150 mark from the $300+ that the bill was when I first bought the place and now it's right back where it started!!! So, to go back to my question, anyone else getting the ol' 'grounding rod up the dirt hole' from Entergy?

Do you have electrik heat and did you leave it turned up high? That would do it. Then again maybe they read it wrong. Take your bill out to the meter and see if the numbers are close. They misread mine all the time.

[I_FLY_LOW]

I think mine was kinda steep, considering I leave my heater set to keep the house at 60 all the time, since the cold snap started.
I have propane for heat, so the electricity just powers the ignighter, and blowers.
I have electric water heater, and dryer, as well.
add to the list 1 refridgerator.
I've not even turned the electric stove on, since the first house inspection, 3 months or so ago...

My bill was $138 for Dec 22 to Jan 22.
if you look at the breakdown, it shows the service used was only $67.
The rest, was bs fees, and the real chocolate starfish stabbing, is the fuel charge that they pass right on to us...

I bet your december bill shows your actual energy service used was around the 150-180 mark (give or take for how much gas was used, if you have nat gas service), and the rest was the bogus fuel charge...

So, do I think we're getting the shaft from Entergy, absofuckinglutely....

[mattc]

My highest bill is usually 80, lowest 30, with an average of about 50. It was 125 last billing period. While I was pissed, I wasn't surprised. I figure the extra use of the heaters was the cause, due to the really cold week or two we had, along with some extra cooking. I'm all electric in a TINY above ground place.

[chuckklr04]

Do you have electrik heat and did you leave it turned up high? That would do it. Then again maybe they read it wrong. Take your bill out to the meter and see if the numbers are close. They misread mine all the time.

Bingo!

Had the same problem for a while. Read the meter for a while. Made a journal of readings. Caught them on wrong readings.Complained about misread meters and Sharpied " I read my meter" on my meter.

Bill dropped in half.

Tell them to read your meter. I betcha they are averaging your bill, Make them stop!

[zeal]

so, do i think we're getting the shaft from entergy, absofuckinglutely....

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

roflmao

[sk8rlee]

Bingo!

Had the same problem for a while. Read the meter for a while. Made a journal of readings. Caught them on wrong readings.Complained about misread meters and Sharpied " I read my meter" on my meter.

Bill dropped in half.

Tell them to read your meter. I betcha they are averaging your bill, Make them stop!

Never though about the averaging thing, just thought that it was something that you had to request and I never did, guess I'll start keeping a better eye on the meter.

I am all electric, no gas at all, but as for the heater I set it pretty low (for me) when I'm gone, when I left a few days ago I set the heater to 65º....maybe that's still a bit warm for some of you but when it's that cold in the house I'm running around in sweats and a coat and a beanie cap and maybe even have the electric blanket going!! When I'm home the heat usually stays around 78º.

As for my current bill, here's the breakdown:

Energy Charge_________________________________137.28
Hurricane Offset Charge_____________@-5.779%_____-6.91
Fuel Adjustment____________2992kWh@$0.03864___115.61
Environmental Adjustment ____2992kWh@$0.000227____.68
Total Metered Charges __________________$246.66

LURC Hurricane Charge_______________@10.2381%__12.24
Current Monthly Energy Charges____________258.90

[2Evil4U]

78 is hot for electric heat. Given the cold snap and those indoor temps, I'd say the bill, while high, is basically understandable.

I usually keep my house at 60 at night and if no one is home and 68 max unless I'm using the wood stove.

[sk8rlee]

Yeah, 78 is warm but that's the way my body works, seriously, when it gets down to 60 outside I'm just about ready for the long johns. I'm one of those people that much rather run around in 100º weather than 50º/60º. But I was only home for just over a week with the heat at that temp, at that rate, if I were lucky enough to have a job that kept me going home every night I imagine my bill would've easily been over $400 and that's just ridiculous.

[lauren]

along with some extra cooking.


Sorry...

[LiteHeaded]

Most of the WST meters are now read electronically through the lines somehow. Power Line Communication (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_line_communication)

[sk8rlee]

Reckon that works with the old style meter? I noticed one of my neighbors has the new fancy digital meter but I still have the old fashioned kind with the little wheel that spends round and round, you know, the kind that you can actually read. Took a look at the neighbor's digital one and couldn't decipher anything one it, may as well have been hieroglyphics.