homeenergyliving.com

April continued our 3rd straight month of decreased electric usage. As I discussed in last month’s update, publishing our usage will help us track the kilowatt hours and keep me accountable to reducing our home energy bills. Below are the details of our April bill (received in May). Our house is all-electric, except for gas used for cooking.

Electricity Usage 4/9/08 - 5/8/08:

Kilowatt Hours: 1,996 (vs. 2,442 last month)

Kilowatt Hours per square foot: 0.64

Electric Bill in $: $163.36

Electric Bill in $ per square foot: $0.053

April was a great month in terms of energy usage. With average temperatures most of the month in the 60’s, we didn’t have to run the HVAC system much. I actually had hoped my usage would be even lower. I’m going to track my daily usage for a week or so to gauge if there are spikes in the kilowatt hours used.

Rate Change

Anatomy of my electric bill: I’ve been a little confused about some aspects of my electric bill for the past few months. SWEPCO’s website has a page showing how to read your bill. This didn’t answer my questions on how the bill is calculated, but it did clarify some of what I’m being charged. I will definitely be calling the utility in the next few days to get further information. Below is what is shown on my bill currently.

Rate Billing = $78.09. This is the part I don’t understand. The per KWH charge for this has almost doubled in the past 2 months. I found no explanation on SWEPCO’s website. The CSR I talked to didn’t have much of an explanation either.

Customer Charge = $6.88. This is a flat monthly charge that never changes. It is supposed to cover the cost of the meter and other equipment charge.

Fuel Charge = $67.73. Charged per kilowatt hour, this month’s fuel rate was $0.0339340 per KWH.

Sales Tax = 10.69. 7% of total charges.

The frustrating part about our bill this month is that the dollar amount of my bill actually increased while my kilowatt hours decreased almost 20%. I called SWEPCO (my utility) to get the scoop. According to the customer service rep I spoke with, the increase occurred because of the following:

1. Summer fuel price increase — Apparently, fuel prices are lowered in the winter and raise during the summer. The CSR explained that in our region, natural gas is used to generate the power. Since SWEPCO is governed as a public utility, its fuel prices are regulated. Natural gas usage is highest in the winter when it is used for heating purposes, so prices are kept lower to help consumers manage their cold weather bills. Natural gas usage by consumers goes down in the summer, so utilities are allowed to raise prices. The thought is that homeowners won’t notice the increased unit price in the summer. The crazy thing is, most homeowners in our region use natural gas for heating and electricity for air conditioning. The result for me is an increased unit price for electricity in the summer, when usage is highest. I wasn’t satisfied with this answer, so I’ll follow up with another phone call. Hopefully, I can track down someone a little higher up who can clarify the situation.
2. Normal fuel price fluctuation — Since my electricity is generated by natural gas, the fuel price is adjusted periodically. Our fuel price has adjusted twice in the past four months.

Bottom Line: Great month for usage, but frustrating since my bill went up. Stay tuned for an update after I get my questions answered.

Filed under: Electric Bill