Utility prices in Chicago (Energy, Standard: apartment, lease, condo)

[squirrels]

My apartment building has set electric rates based on how big your apartment is. For my 1BR, my electric is $30/month. This month my total utility bill including the flat rate electricity was 91 dollars. This includes electric, sewage, gas, and water (I think that's everything). The building has pay laundry machines and I live by myself.

Now, I'm thinking about moving to a cheaper place so I can save up a bit more money once my current lease is up. But I have no idea what my utilities might cost if my next apartment doesn't have a flat rate like this. I keep a lot of electronics plugged in and running 24/7, or nearly that -several computers, a large TV, my PS3, several hard drives, and other things. maybe 25 or so power outlets are in use at any given time. I would think I use a lot more electricity than the average single person in a 1BR, so I'm a little concerned about moving to a cheaper place but having to pay even more out of pocket in the end because of electric use.

But really, I have no idea at all what electricity costs because I've never had to pay attention to electric usage. From what I've said, how much might I expect to pay for electricity if I do move? A ballpark figure is mostly what I'm looking for. $100? $200? More? Less?

[marothisu]

There's pretty much one electric company for the entire city, so your base rate really isn't going to change for electric from one building to the next. $30/month for a 1 bedroom for electric is not bad at all IMO. Most everything depends on your usage

[emathias]

Your new landlord is required to provide you with fact-based estimates of what your utilities will be before you sign a lease.

[Chi-town Native]

We pay some of the lowest electricity prices in the world, something like just under 6 cents a KWh.

Unless you are cranking servers, multiple window-unit air conditioners, or have a commercial-grade marijuana growth operation you'll be fine.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

We pay some of the lowest electricity prices in the world, something like just under 6 cents a KWh.

Unless you are cranking servers, multiple window-unit air conditioners, or have a commercial-grade marijuana growth operation you'll be fine.

Even with multiple window unit air conditioners it's pretty hard to run your electric bill very high in Chicago, unless you're a day sleeper or you work from home. There are only a handful of evenings per summer when it's still hot enough in the evening hours to run multiple ACs on full blast.

[thunderstruck666]

This is from my last bill, where I ran the AC a lot due to the extreme heat. My total bills have gone down quite a bit since the electric aggregation plan took effect a couple of months ago. You have to look at all the below the line fees though-the cost per kWh can be misleading if you don't get the whole picture-notice how $23 worth of electricity adds up to over $50.
ENERGY CHARGE 412kWh X 0.05589 $23.03
Customer Charge $6.72
Standard Metering Charge $2.86
Distribution Facilities Charge 412kWh X 0.02512 $10.35
Electricity Distribution Charge 412kWh X 0.00120 $0.49
Environmental Cost Recovery Adj 412kWh X0.00056 $0.23
Energy Efficiency Programs 412kWh X 0.001860 $.77
Franchise Cost $2.18
State Tax $1.36
Municipal Tax $2.58
Total Current Charges $50.57

[Vlajos]

My home is about 3000 SF excluding the basement and my electric bill was $150. We ran our central ac quite a bit last month.

[emathias]

Last year my electric bill was about $120 per month in the summer, but it was pretty warm. This year it's about $60 a month. In the winter it's about $40. I have about 1150 square feet on the top floor of a vintage building (so in the winter my heating bill is quite small, but in the summer I have to air condition more).

[Vlajos]

Last year, which was sweltering hot and disgusting, I believe we had $300 electric bills for our house in the summer.

[Prost]

I had an inefficient electric heater/ac in a circa 1980 studio condo I rented for a year. Winter was expensive; over $120 a month, even on a low setting.