Well, it’s summer in Texas…as evidenced by the fact that shortly before dawn it was already hotter outside than Europe’s current heatwave.
Mrs. InkBlot showed me the electric bill today, wherein they’ve secretly replaced our bill with the gross national debt to see if we notice. So I’m here today to ask a question, and get an answer or just some advice.
TXU Electric offers something called “Average Billing” where they take the average usage over the last 12 months and charge you for that. They claim it takes out the dips and spikes seen in winter and summer months, but that you still wind up paying about the same yearly.
My question: is this true? Would averaged billing result in any kind of noticible yearly savings or deficit? Or is it a trap that winds up in their favor each time? I’m not that good with the math, so was hoping some folks here might help me out.
More info is here: http://tinyurl.com/jfbm
Or if that expires, try here: http://txu.com/energyserv/resserv/english/avgbill/default.asp
Thanks,
InkBlot 
Is it true? Yes. Since you’re paying the same amount every month, there are no dips and spikes for the year. My electric utility applies a “fudge factor” to allow for greater than expected total use, so at the end of the year, you’ve probably paid more.
Then, at the end of your anniversary, the monthly payment gets readjusted based on the previous year’s use. If you owe money, that gets spread out over the next 12 months. If you have overpaid, then that is credited to your bill until it is used up.
Does it end up in their favor? Don’t know. And don’t really care. It’s worth it to me to know exactly what my utility bill will be every month for the next 12 months.
Just remember (true at least in my area) that the electric company will not allow you to owe them money. So going with the program means that you will have paid more at any given moment in time than you would have without going with the program.
Budget for it and pay it when it comes. Don’t bother with their gimmicks 
I did “average billing” for several years, it was convenient for me. This February I did a graph of the prevous years usage by month and compared it to the line made by the “average” bill. They were really screwing me.:smack:
I have been on an average billing plan for about five years now and it works great for me. It is much easier to keep to a budget when the bill is the same each month, rather than pay $20 in January and $200 in July. At the anniversary date of my enrollment the monthly amount is adjusted, if necessary. It has gone up a couple of times and down a couple. The change has never been more than a few dollars.
I can’t understand how anyone can get “screwed” with an average billing plan, unless there are vast differences in the ways electric companies administer them. My bill shows exactly what I used each month and the actual price, along with the average that I pay. If there is ever any doubt I can just pull out every old bill and do the math (which I did the first year), and everything will add up.
I think the idea of "getting screwed comes from the fact that–in a lot of the south anyway–you pay more than your regular bills for more months than you would have paid less. Southern winters don’t cause as big a spike in the utility bills as the summer spike. So, you could end up paying higher-than-actual for, say, 8 months of the year, and lower-than-actual for 4. That’s because the summers here are worse than the winters (which barely qualify as such.) However, there is the “buffer factor,” to consider, previously called the “fudge factor” in an earlier post. That’s to prevent the company from unforseen large increases in the wholesale rates.
I don’t trust the meter readers at all. My “therms” are up double over last year, but there’s one less person in the house and hot water is the only gas usage this month. Only showers, no laundry, so I think they skipped reading for a month or so and “interpolated”. I know they can do that, and it works out the same in the end, but it’s sneaky.
I lived in South Florida for about 8 years and while there, I averaged my electric bill. It worked very well for me because I was on a fixed income so I always knew about how much the bill was going to be. I do not believe that they ever made it in their favor. Florida Power and Light is a good organization and and would not steal money from their customers. They even came out and put a device on my electic system to help to lower the cost during peak hours. I like that system and wish they had it here in Colombia.
Average billing is great because I can pay the bill via Quicken when I want to – I don’t have to wait for their stupid bill to come, drop everything to pay it within their little 10-day window, and risk a late payment. They do constantly overcharge me, that is, way overcharge me. There are usually three months in a row where there’s no payment due. And then they raise the monthly rate due to their unfortunately wrong estimate!