26 July 2007

Electricity - EEEE lec-tricity

There is a lot of hoopla here in Texas about de-regulating energy bills, and what I understand that to mean is basically giving consumers a choice, although I found out they do not do that in the area I live yet. The "light bills" (as they call them around here) are ridiculous. We are paying almost $300 a month for our electric bill on a budget plan. My mother in law who lives alone and runs her AC only modestly - and other than her television, computer and a few lamps - runs hardly anything at all and pays almost as much as we do - more sometimes. Our house is quite a bit bigger than our house in WV was - but this doesn't account for an almost double electric bill. Fortunately we're in the shade in the summer - mostly surrounded by big beautiful trees that create a canopy over our house - and in the winter we have a fireplace to help with heating costs, but I have heard more than once others say their bills run as much as $600!!!! Where I come from that is a house payment (or used to be when we bought our house in '98) but not an electric bill. How do people afford this??
So I am curious - where do you live and how much is your electric bill? Please don't give me your address, just a general location. I am doing research! Lurkers come out - I need to hear from you!

10 comments:

  1. OK, here (and you know where that is- southern British Columbia) we pay about $300 every two months in winter and $100 every two months in summer. Of course since we don't have (or generally need) AC this likely isn't very helpful is it?

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  2. We average $200/mo.
    We have lived here just over a year and our lowest bill was $150, the highest $250. That is all year the heat costs as much as the AC no change in winter/summer rates like we had in PA.
    Also this house was built in 1985 and there is no insulation underneath it. We are in the process of completely remodeling due to the previous owners neglect and abuse. We are in TN but you knew that :)

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  3. Up here in central TX we pay anywhere from $100-$250 for electric, depending on the time of year. I think we may have had a couple of months nearing $300 last summer, when it was actually HOT. We live in a two-story house that is about 2600 sq. ft.

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  4. 300-ish every other month in the winter, 225-ish every other month in the summer for about 1700 sq. feet.

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  5. I'm in Central AL, with a gas furnace and two window unit ACs. (One of which is usually only run at night - it's in our bedroom.)

    I pay about $95 - $110 on the budget plan with Alabama Power. $300??!! I'd have had to declare bankruptcy!

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  6. We pay around $250 - $400 every other month depending on what months. It is typically higher in the Dec/Jan bill and in July/Aug (for our AC) Our very highest bill ever was last Jan/Feb when we had an incredible cold spell and it was $475 for both months combined.

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  7. Fort Wayne, IN as you may remember.
    130.00 during summer (pool and a/c on all the time)
    85-90 rest of the time. We heat with a pellet stove (uses wood pellets and corn mixture).
    120 during Christmas. (4 trees)
    Computer is always on and at least one tv most days. Dryer off and on--I have a clothesline.
    Not on a budget plan. This is straight usage.
    Tina

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  8. I'm in East Tennessee and our budget payment plan is $149/month for 12 months. I run my AC on 74-75 in the summer and around 68-69 in the winter. We have NO shade from trees either! We put in Champion windows a few years ago and have newer appliances ... all of these things help I think!

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  9. We're with Entergy just a tad SW of you, if you remember where I am, and our bills last month and this month were both approx. $162. We keep the thermostat at 80 degrees during the day and 77-78 at night. We keep lights off as much as possible during the day. I also have bought heavy blackout type (still look nice) curtains for the bedrooms, since we are rarely in them during the day. It blocks out heat during the summer and cold in the winter. We will use our fireplace this winter (has a blower thing on it and we were told by previous owners that we will probably get too hot when using it, LOL!)to keep us warm.
    We are all electric also.

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  10. With the increase in fuel costs, the "surcharge" or "adjustment" has been double that of the usage charge.

    That being said, we're happy that our last three bills have been around $210-ish. Much better than the previous $300-400 bills! (I have heard of modest homes-- but old-- where the summer bills have been $500-1500 a month!).

    We keep the thermostat at a cool 73 at night and 77 during the day. We have a propane hot water heater and furnace.

    We're currently with Entergy but I need to look into some other carriers.

    Marsha

    PS We also put in all new windows, a/c, insulation and front doors. Also helps to seal your house up-- caulk all of those cracks/window frames and expand-a-foam all the holes.

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Awaiting your words......
♥ Juls ♥