I was out of town for a month… only 2-3 days of the billing cycle, I was actually in my apartment to use the power.
Before leaving, I turned off all lights, unplugged the fridge, fans, computers, AC etc… I covered all my bases.
I just received an electric bill for about $120!
This is ridiculous!
I’m trying to see if these charges are legitimate or if my usage was read wrong. I live in a 1 bedroom apt with a living room (small to medium) a tiny bathroom and small bedroom.
I live in Illinois (not sure if that matters) the electric co. is Ameren CIPS
the breakdown of the bill is as such:
Former Space Heat acct: $32.90 total
Electric supply: $76.30 total total
taxes $9
Total kWh: 1148.0000
Summer KWh: 359.0000
Non-Summer kWh: 789.0000
Type of reading: total kWh
Usage: 1148.0000
Does this seem outrageous or are these legitimate charges?
(Sorry if this is more of a IMHO question. I couldn’t decide)
What is the kWh reading on your bill, and what is actually on your meter (allowing that there have been several days of consumption since your meter was read)?
The amount of your bill is not outrageous based on the kWh consumption. However, it could be a bad meter read.
Does a person actually read your meter? If so, it could be that the meter was flagged as having an abnormally low usage based on your historical usage, and the reader entered a higher number.
If a person doesn’t read your meter, and the reading is supplied electronically, it’s possible that the software thought that that reading was unusually low, and estimated what the usage should have been based on seasonal trends and your usage.
Do they read the meter every month? If they use estimated readings most of the time and you’ve been underpaying the last 6 months, you could just be getting hit with the difference now. Or they might be estimating this one and charging you based on typical past usage, in which case when they do come read the meter you’ll have a billing period come in very low.
Earl Snake probably has you answer. If the refrigerator was unplugged and everything else was unplugged then consumption should be minimal. The fridge is the big consumer of electricity when you are away (air conditioners when you are present).
If the power company says the reading is accurate then have an energy audit done. Someone could be tapping off your power. It is possible that in an apartment complex some common areas such as hallway lights could be running through your meter or a neighbor may have tapped your line. If you find something like that you could have hit the jackpot for a big payback.
Your usage is prorated? Or your kWh charge? It’s not unusual when there’s more than one rate effective during a billing month that the amount is prorated between the two rates based on usage.
If it’s the usage that’s “prorated,” again, maybe it’s actually an estimation. (Seems like a strange choice of wording, but still possible.)
Read your meter and compare it to the bill. Mistakes happen, and sometimes apartments in a unit get wired wrong and you could be paying for a neighbor’s window air conditioner.
Because they couldn’t or didn’t read your meter. They made an estimate. In your case, it may have been a very poor one because they assumed you were home.
If they read it the next time, and you didn’t use the juice they billed you for, they will adjust the bill. You might even get a refund (if you pay the billed amount now).
This used to happen to my family with gas meters, which were inside the house and no one was around to let the meter reader in during the day. Until we solved the problem by getting blank reader cards to fill in ourself and mail to the gas company, they estimated our consumption and billed accordingly.
I get billed quarterly by Toronto Hydro. One time I got a bill that was way out of whack; my quarterly usage had been around 300-340 kW·h; this bill had 740! I paid it, but called to ask what was going on. Apparently they had estimated my usage that quarter. It had something to do with the fact that they had just replaced my electric meter with a ‘smart meter’.
So when the next bill rolled around, there was a whopping great credit on it. Not only did I not have to pay anything on that bill; I paid less on the following one as well!
Incidentally, by replacing two old CRTs with a flatscreen, replacing a tower PC with a laptop, and plugging all of my electronics into power bars and turning them off when I leave the apartment, I got my quarterly usage down to 260-280 kW·h consistently.
Not sure… at the bottom of the bill, it states, "This bill is prorated. Proration occurs when part of your bill is charged on the summer rates, dependent upon your meter reading date. "
OK, then once again, it comes down to the readings. The rates you’re being charged are not extraordinary. So. . . .
What is the kWh reading (not the consumption, but the ending reading on the meter) on your bill, and what is actually on your meter right now (allowing that there have been several days of consumption since your meter was read)?
How is this not fraud? Does the bill not have a section that says meter reading? If the phone company estimated my usage and charged me for something I didn’t pay for they’d be in deep shit. What gives?
So you think they should charge nothing if they can’t read the meter?
I’ll admit their estimate formula may be out of whack, but shouldn’t they charge something?
I don’t think anyone has yet mentioned that SweetHomeColorado’s bill might be an averaged one, that is, they take a year’s usage and divide it by 12 for each monthly bill. If your usage is high in the winter, low in the summer, or vice-versa, then you’re not paying for what you actually use, but a monthly average of what they expect you to use. It’s still an estimate, of course, and needs to be adjusted periodically.
Some people like that kind of billing if they are on a fixed budget.
Everyone’s on a fixed budget, thank you very much. Except, maybe, commissioned salesmen. I use “average billing” for electricity and gas so that I can chuck my mail directly into the dustbin on my way into the house. My bank’s bill payment service takes care of the rest. “Fixed budget” indeed. :rolleyes:
If they can’t/don’t read your meter where I am they estimate that month’s charges based on the same month last year. So an estimate for July when AC is running is likely to be similar to last July. As previously said, they will credit/refund if the next actual reading shows you didn’t really use that much juice.
Until recently my husbands house had the meter in the basement, and since he worked during the day he would go for months at time on estimates, and an actual a couple times a year.
The alternative is they disconnect you, and charge you a reconnect for having a meter in an inacessable area. You have to agree to give access to utilities at all times they need it to service the utility. Would you prefer they disconnect you at the power pole? Estimates and cards you can fill out are all courtesy services to prevent disconnect of your service.
WAG that “prorated” is what other utility companies call “budget plan”. Rather than slam you with a huge bill during the cold winter months, they look at how much total electricity/gas you (or the former tenant) consumed over the previous year, and divide that by 12 to arrive at your prorated monthly bill. At ~ month 11, an actual meter reading is performed, month 12 includes an up or down adjustment to reflect actual usage over the past year, and the new data is used as a basis for calculating the monthly charges for the year to come.
ETA-Since your usage is usually higher in the summer, that indicates your greatest load is air conditioning, but the principles of budget billing remain the same.
They had to approve the meter’s location, so I am not sure how it would be inaccessible. Because the utilco didn’t have enough manpower to read the meters is not a valid excuse. I don’t see anything from OP to lead me to believe that the meter was in any way inaccessible.
In my case the meter is in the front yard and there are no accessibility issues. Just what appears to be a lazy (or otherwise non-existant) reader. I’ve had the same exact electrical usage at a vacation home (in a town of 100k residents) for the past 4 months.
Lastly, I have to imagine it would cost them a lot more to send someone to disconnect the power than it would to have someone come by and read some numbers.
Real life situation: My mother had a leaky hot water line. The first symptom of it was an electric bill for $600 for 8000 kWh for just one month (a 4-5-fold increase). Basically, the water heater was running almost non-stop as the result of the leak.
