Freaking out over my electric bill/meter...

You need to thank the Lord that you don't pay what I pay per KWH of electricity used! I pay 18 cents a KWH after the first 100 KWH. The first KWH costs me 8 cents a KWH. If I used the amount of electricity that you use a month, I would be broke! I would have to pay $677.68 for the the electricity used in December and January. This cost does not include all the fees and taxes that they add to my bill. I have a fit if my bill gets above $100. They will be increasing my electric costs if the state government is successful in permanently shutting down my states only nuclear plant. IT STINKS! I hate having to be the power NAZI in our house, going around and shutting off everything that is not in use, but that is the only way we can keep our bill within reason.

Here is a good description on meter reading

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

My bill went down. It was $12.79 last month. $11.11 this month. Totally electric house.

PREVIOUS CHARGES: Account Balance Amount Due

Total Amount Due at Last Billing $ 12.79
Payment 12/28/10 - Thank You 12.79 CR
Previous Balance $ .00 $ .00

CURRENT AEP CHARGES (1-800-672-2231):

01/24/Tariff 022 - RESIDENTIAL SERVICE
Service Delivery Identifier Number: 0014-0060-7845-3914-1
Generation Service $ 3.52
Transmission Service .53
Distribution Service 3.24
Customer Charge 3.82
Current AEP Charges Due $ 11.11 $ 11.11

Total Amount Due . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 11.11

Due Date Feb 09

$0.33 is your average daily cost for current electric service071-448-628-07

Price To Compare

For tariff 022, in order to save you money a new supplier must offer you a price
lower than 6.0 cents per KWH for the same usage that appears on this bill. You
may contact AEP at the phone number shown on this bill to receive additional
information, including a written explanation, about this Price-To-Compare.


Due date does not apply to Previous Balance Due.See other side for important information.



USAGE:
Service Period Meter Reading
Meter Number From To Prev CD Pres CD Multiplier Metered Usage

190346775 12/21/1001/24/11 01738 R 01806 E 1.0000 68 KWH

CD - Read CodeE =Estimated Reading 34 BillingNext Scheduled Read Date 02/22/11
R =Rf Read

Month Usage Month Usage Month Usage Month Usage Month Usage Month Usage
Jan 10 27 Mar 10 4 May 10 19 Jul 10 44 Sep 10 52 Nov 10 58
Feb 10 4 Apr 10 12 Jun 10 32 Aug 10 45 Oct 10 57 Dec 10 85
Average Monthly Usage: 36 KWH Total Usage (Past 12 Months): 439 KWH

That's a good idea! Many years ago my first husband and I had an outrageous power bill and we KNEW it was the meter. Power company sent someone out to check the meter and my ex went with him. Guy showed ex that the meter was running properly. Ex told him that was odd since he'd thrown all the breakers in the trailer!

Yeah...they put in a new meter within the hour and we got a refund based on prior months' usage.

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I'm running so far behind I thought I was first!

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Personally I'm jealous of your low bill. I too work from home as a computer geek. I have 3 laptops (not desktops) running all day long 7 days a week. 1 of the 3 runs 24x7x365. Add in routers and printers and all the other stuff that goes along with it my bill gets pretty big. A low month is 1200kwh's, winter months get into the mid 2000's with horse and chicken water heaters and lights.

But, the big difference for me is that I pay .10 per kwh instead of your .06 per kwh. Oh, to be so lucky

i used to read meters for a living, first of all you read a meter from right to left, if the number on the end has not passed 0 the number before it cannot move, sometimes meter readers jump the gun, which cost you money, some meter readers have even guessed. they use a handheld computer if the guess the number and it doesnt fall in line with average use the computer kicks it back, all the meter reader has to do is put the numbers in again backwards and the computer takes it and thats what you are charged. if mines way off I go read it. remember from right to left, and the last number has to pas zero, before the one before it can change, so if the last number is right before the zero, then the number before it even if it looks like 4 for example , it cannot be 4 until the last one passes zero. so its still a 3. do you see what im saying> alot of mistakes are made like this, now if its a digital, and you bill is way off you can have them come check it. also remember anything you use with a heating element, dryer, hair dryer , electric stove etc uses alot.

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"The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you."

I thought power rates only went up in Nova Scotia! We just had rates raised by 6% this January. Bills are sent out every two months here. We are told to expect increases the next three years.
Our bill is low compared to our neighbors and family but I keep cutting back usage. The 12 gallon hot water heater has the heat turned down low. Any lower we will shut it off. I went back to cooking solely on the wood stove. No lights are turned on daytimes. I have a fridg and freezer. The freezer is in the back porch where there is no heat.

We have a tv but it is unplugged when not in use. There is a light in the barn we seldom use. I have a lap top which is unplugged when not in use. My husband has a computer he use to write on.When not in use it is unplugged. That is the extent of our power use. Still our last bill paid in December was almost $80 which was $20 more than the previous two months!

Friends and family say their bills range from $180 to $300 for two months but they have more things using electric.
We will try to keep power but if it keeps going up we are planning to do without it.

That was my first thought... some deadbeat neighbors sneaking an extension cord over to an outside outlet somewhere. I'd turn everything off, shut off all the breakers, and see if the meter still spinned. Then turn each breaker on, one at a time, and see how fast it spinned.

You either have a phantom load or a bad meter. Checking every breaker individually will eliminate actual load hogs.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

I can't afford to run A/C in FL....it triples or quadruples my bill.

We have had trouble with the power co since they put in the remote meters. After Amy and I got married her grand ma got a power bill for 600 dollars. She had one AC and all gas apliances and lived in one room.

THey just rolled over and paid it. I got one that high and raised hell. I got it dropped back and the meter changed. The power co doesnt remote read the 3 phase on my shop. My bill is about 40 bucks a month. It was over 100 one month. I had even turned the mains off for the month as I was busy farming.

I had a bill with the stated numbers on it and they didnt match the ones on the meter. I got a month free power for not pursuing it plus a new reader. TVA had an extra amount of usage during December when they set the next years rates from usage. Were getting a 70percent increse in rates. I hate seeing the wife leave a light on or the space heater in the bathroom.

why do they deregulate monoplies free market/deregulated market only works with direct compition
i bet the areas that have both a comercial and co-op power are not paying as much.. the areas with cable internet/phone/tv and telco fiber tv/phone/internet dont pay as much as we do. we only have regional 3rd rate telco and cable option and we get gouged.. we need to start a movement

look up you can get a 400 amp meter to 'verify' thiers for like 400$ given the overcharges they pull it will be worth it

You are all fortunate, our electric rate is about 14, 15 cents a kWh. Ouch.

I have two 1500 watt stock tank heaters, both of which I had to plug in direct for a few days last month due to temps, otherwise they are on timers. A 60 watt bulb and a heat lamp going with the chickens-heat lamp nonstop, light is on a 14 hour timer. We also have 600 watts worth of lights that are on once a day, maybe fifteen minutes up there, plus three low wattage fluorescent bulb that cost 14 an hour.

In the house, we have two fridges, and two freezers. (Got a new fridge last year and the electric bill went down over $50 a month, btw) Four overhead fans going nonstop, plus the wood stove fan, plus another fan to move heat around. Most of the lighting is fluorescent bulbs now. Oil fired hot water heater/furnace, does not run too much since its a monster on fuel-gallon an hour!

Plus a computer, a couple large screen TVs, outdoor lighting on the house and then there is the attached garage....a lot of time is spent out there.

Last bill: $279. This is before I fire up all the shop light fixtures which I will be doing shortly because I start plants for extra $$. I also have a 600 watt HPS on a track that will be used starting in about two weeks.

I'm on budget billing at $208. Even with that big bill, I still have a $560 credit remaining, so hopefully it will work out by the time the budget billing cycle rolls around in May.

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If the company guesstimates usage, it's no big deal... they know about what you're average use is, and expect that.

NEVER EVER guesstimate your own usage. Pa did that for a couple of months out at the barn... it was when he was working 24/7/365 for two years and frankly didn't have the gumption to drag himself down to the barn (100 yds away) and get the reading. He just figured there'd be some 'usage' and added a little bit each month. Well (you see it coming, right???), the Co-op was out changing poles, and checked the meter. They saw it was incorrect, and figured it'd done circled around. Pa had to pay the difference.... several hundred bucks, which basically extended his 24/7 another month or so.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Boy do I know where you are coming from. For a few short years I also had 3 stock tanks using 1500 Watt heaters in them. One of those tanks was 150 gallon one. Plus going to work at 5 AM I also had my car plugged in which is also a 1500 Watt heater~!
Now I am down to one miniature horse, using a 60 gallon bucket which uses own 35 Watts and will not get a calf for a few months yet, so it will be only one winter I will be using that 150 gallon stock tank. And being retired, I do not plug the car in anymore, so that helps a lot. But any 1500 Watt heater, be it, to keep the water from freezing, or a room warm, they suck Electricity big time. And I have a electric hot water heater, and a electric stove, so I use quite a bit even without using heaters in stock tanks. Plus I am on Satellite so not only is the TV on (200) watts, but the satellite receiver, plus the stereo receiver for sound. And on most of the time. And sometimes on for 24 hrs.
My rates are just under 10 cents a Kw, so I am not as bad as some, that is for sure.

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That makes me feel a bit better. But I'm STILL gonna figure this out. We want to do some solar and batteries eventually, and you have to start like all those who do that say: use less electricity. I'm going to see if our electric co-op will let us borrow one of those meters - I think our refrigerator is a problem, even though it's only 2 years old.

That happened to my stepsister. My brother had to go over there and follow the nice orange drop cord to her neighbor's window. Sheesh. He didn't try that again after a chat with my bro.

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The three divine teachers of man: worldly calamity, bodily ailment, and unmerited enmity, and there is but through God alone a deliverance from them. Maine Farmer's Almanac