Understanding the Mechanics of Electricity Bills
No need to go into a complete tailspin just because you think your electricity bill is extraordinarily high. Take a step back and try and figure out whether it is indeed too high or whether it is actually normal. Times change, utilities get more expensive. Take another look at your bill and compare it with your old bills. Is there much of a difference?
First, check the consumption of your current bill and compare it against that of your previous bill. Have you really consumed that much more? Sometimes we do not realize how much electricity we use and then we get a complete shock when we see the bill. If your consumption is much higher than before; there’s your answer.
If there’s not much difference between the current and past consumption, then you need to take another look at the unit rate. Could it be that the cost per unit of electricity has gone up? Perhaps there are some other demand charges being imposed on you by your utility company.
When trying to determine whether or not your electricity bill is outrageously high, don’t ever compare it with your friends or your neighbors. Everybody’s electricity consumption is different and what you consider high may be normal for somebody else. Some people leave their lights and other electrical appliances on without a care about their consumption or their bills.
After you’ve checked your consumption and the unit price and you still feel the bill is way too high, you should take a look at your meter and make sure there’s nothing wrong there. If your meter spins around continuously even after shutting down all of the breakers, then it could mean that your electric meter is broken. Though the odds of this happening are really very small, it’s worth paying the fee of about $40 to $50 to get an electrician to come over and have a look at the meter. It is important to get a signed statement from the electrician attesting to the fact that the meter was indeed broken. You will need this if you decide to get a refund from the electric company for the money they owe you in the excess billing. If you can videotape the electrician checking out the electricity meter; so much the better because now you have irrefutable proof that your meter was broken.
If your meter is not broken then you need to ascertain that the meter is not just running even when all appliances and switches are turned off. To do this, you first switch off all electrical appliances and physically unplug them from the socket and put off all lights, fans and the air conditioner. Now put the breakers on one at a time, all the time making sure the meter does not spin. If it does, then you’ll have to try and ascertain whether it is just one breaker that is causing the meter to spin or is it multiple breakers.
Use the ‘meter-timing’ method to calculate the amount of electricity that is being consumed by each breaker. Every 100 watts that runs continuously, uses up approximately 73 kWh every month. So if your unit cost is 10cents per kWh, then it will ending up costing you $7.30.
Once you’ve done these tests and find nothing wrong, the only conclusion you can come to is that you are probably using electricity wantonly and you have no choice but to try to reduce your electricity consumption.
Texas electric is a reseller of Texas electricity and generally concerned when it comes to excess electricity usage by providing access to cheap electricity in Texas. The Texas energy company maintains a save electricity blog which provides tips and suggestions about how to save money on your electricity bill.
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