S C E & G (huh???) (2013, appliances, house)

[TealDreamer]

Need help here. Maybe there's something I'm missing. We were gone on vacation for a week this month
(7/9-7/16). Our new SCE&G bill that just came in was for the period 0f 6/16 to 7/16. So.....we were gone for a week during that billing period. When we left our house, we turned up the thermostats (2) to 85 degrees (SCE&G's recommendation). We also left NO lights on.
WHY is this bill just a few dollars less than our bill from the previous month when we weren't gone at all???????
As I said, maybe I'm missing something......... We've only lived in this house a few months...... TIA.

[cape_fisherman]

Some power companies charge by an estimated average of what they think you might use for the year. They claim it's easier on residents than having to deal with the power spikes in the summer or heating spikes during the winter. This may be what you're experiencing?

[xinerevelle]

If you go online to the SCE&G website you can find quite a few helpful tools that may help. For example, was last month's bill for only 28 days and this month's for 33? They aren't consistent... Also, temperature variations can play a significant difference, too. The website has that data and can let you compare.

[TealDreamer]

Cape......don't know the answer to your question. It's hard for me to believe that they actually read the meter. How could the bill be almost identical to the previous month if we were only using power for 3 weeks out of the month?? I called SCE&G, but they were useless, as you can imagine...gave me all kinds of "reasons" why the bill wouldn't be a lot less than the previous month...none of which made sense to us. They also said it was a meter reading...not an estimate. The whole thing sounds ***really*** fishy to us...

xinerevelle...both bills were from the 16th of one month to the 16th of the next month.

[Kathy29483]

Even if you turned your A/C up...mid June to mid July is always MUCH hotter than mid May to mid June. I suspect the higher outside temps in July evened out the bills...

[moneill]

Have your A/C serviced -- a leak can mean a surge in power costs.

[OleTomCat]

Originally Posted by TealDreamer

Cape......don't know the answer to your question. It's hard for me to believe that they actually read the meter. How could the bill be almost identical to the previous month if we were only using power for 3 weeks out of the month?? I called SCE&G, but they were useless, as you can imagine...gave me all kinds of "reasons" why the bill wouldn't be a lot less than the previous month...none of which made sense to us. They also said it was a meter reading...not an estimate. The whole thing sounds ***really*** fishy to us...

xinerevelle...both bills were from the 16th of one month to the 16th of the next month.

The billing dates do not matter you have to look at when the meter was actually read, you can find that on the bill and online. You can ask for an audit in which they come out and read you meter again and compare it to the previous reading. You can also look at your bill and see when your next meter reading is and make sure you are actually there that day and watch to see if the guy shows up to read your meter.

[Techgeek]

Possible Answers

-May appliances and devices still draw SOME power if they are plugged in even if they are turned off. So turning them off does not reduce their power consumption to 0. When I go out of town I flip off all unnecessary breakers rather than just turning off the devices.

-July was hotter than June. You may have made up the difference in the power you did use. I went out of town the first week of July and turned off all the breakers as stated above. My July bill (3 weeks) was $10 higher than my June bill (4 weeks) because the higher temperature caused my AC to work harder when it was on.

[william_wallace]

The plain answer to your question. S C E&G are a rip off, corrupt and love bleeding customers dry.

Don't they just love cutting your power in summer if you don't pay your bill, but won't in the winter cause people may die from the cold?

[TealDreamer]

Moneill....just had the system serviced. No leaks...working fine.
OTC....will plan to do that.
Techgeek....thanks for the breaker info. Didn't think of that. Your second point makes a lot of sense.
William....ROFL! I think you stated the entire answer in your first sentence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!