City of Austin monopoly on Utilities, who knew? (Home Depot, cost)

[unihills]

Originally Posted by BatWing

So do you suggest I call CoA to come and check my water main? any advice is appreciated. thanks

Your bill tells you how many gallons you are being billed for. That's the first place to look, and compare it to your history in the bar graph on the left that shows monthly usage for the prior 12 months. Do you see a jump?

[Trainwreck20]

Also, make sure you AC unit is not running out of refrigerant. If it does, it will run endlessly trying to cool to compress a gas that is not there, eventually burning out the compressor. Meanwhile, your electric bill will skyrocket. Is your house staying as cool as you intend it?

[BatWing]

Originally Posted by unihills

Your bill tells you how many gallons you are being billed for. That's the first place to look, and compare it to your history in the bar graph on the left that shows monthly usage for the prior 12 months. Do you see a jump?

YES! my normal gallon usage was way lower than it is now and my toilets were new with the house. I even used the old trick of filling up a 12oz. water bottle and placing it in the toilet tub in the back to decrease water usage. that's why my bill was so low in the beginning, but I haven't changed a thing. the toilets don't leak at all, I never hear them "hiss", I don't have puddles in my yard front or back at all.
and for some odd reason I remember CoA on my street insside the manhole 2 houses down. I wonder if they messed up something down there and are not telling us. I'm sure my neighbors Utility bills are outrageous too.

Also, I turn off EVERYTHING in the house when I leave for the day. from the A/C killswitch, to turning my toilets off, etc...nothing is on or left running when I leave. not a thing. So this has gotten me Uber-pissed with CoA, especially since they act like they have no answers for me.

[BatWing]

Originally Posted by unihills

Where is your t-stat located? If you close all the vents and cool air doesn't get to the t-stat the a/c will run forever. I've read that closing all vents but one room will not improve energy usage because of what it does to air pressures, imbalances and so forth.

It's hard to discuss rationally unless you tell us how many Kilowatts you used on your bill and what the total charge was for electricity. My latest bill is for 465 Kilowatts and electric charge is $47.46. That's $0.102/kilowatt. What are your numbers?

Of course by the time you add in water, trash, etc. The total bill is $129, so electric is not even half of it.

My t-stat is on the 2nd floor with a vent right above it, I never close that one for the exact reason you just laid out. my A/C turns on and off as it should. so that's not it.

I will have to get a bill and tell you the kilowatt usage. I don't know that answer right off hand.

[unihills]

Originally Posted by BatWing

YES! my normal gallon usage was way lower than it is now and my toilets were new with the house. I even used the old trick of filling up a 12oz. water bottle and placing it in the toilet tub in the back to decrease water usage. that's why my bill was so low in the beginning, but I haven't changed a thing. the toilets don't leak at all, I never hear them "hiss", I don't have puddles in my yard front or back at all.
and for some odd reason I remember CoA on my street insside the manhole 2 houses down. I wonder if they messed up something down there and are not telling us. I'm sure my neighbors Utility bills are outrageous too.

Also, I turn off EVERYTHING in the house when I leave for the day. from the A/C killswitch, to turning my toilets off, etc...nothing is on or left running when I leave. not a thing. So this has gotten me Uber-pissed with CoA, especially since they act like they have no answers for me.

How many gallons of water and how many kilowatts are you being billed for? This is on your bill and it's hard to help without this info. You should be able to see it online but I think you need a copy of your bill to set up access.

[BatWing]

Originally Posted by unihills

How many gallons of water and how many kilowatts are you being billed for? This is on your bill and it's hard to help without this info. You should be able to see it online but I think you need a copy of your bill to set up access.

I will get the bill and post what I have tonight. thanks for your help

[TexasHorseLady]

Leaks can be in the pipes under the lawn. We had one that was "somewhere" in the ten acre field in front of our house, and it took a couple of months of digging on my husband's part (because of the kind of pipes we have) to find it. We only noticed there was a leak because the water bill (which is separate from our electric bill out here) and indicated usage jumped dramatically - as in, many thousands of gallons more per month than we had used, there should have been a swimming pool in the pasture but due to the drought the water just went down into the earth instead of up to the surface.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by BatWing

So my utilities bill was over $850 bucks recently and don't even run my AC unit but for 4 hours a day since I work so much and never home. I hardly water my yard, hardly turn on the stove and I'm gettin' highway robbed by City of Austin. When My Utilities bill in Houston barely broke $150 a month.

So I go searching for a replacement. RUDE AWAKENING. City of Austin has got a padlock on Utilites and if you don't live near Perdenales forget trying to switch.

Not sure if you people knew this but..it SUCKS!

So what can us citizens of Austin do(if anything) about this GROSS EXTORTION of taxes/fees by the Utilities???

Originally Posted by BatWing

What I did immediately was started to only cool the room I was in,for example if I'm in the Den, I close all the vents everywhere else. but my bill hasn't changed. this is the 3rd bill I got over $600 bucks. it's crazy!...CoA is ripping me off. I asked them to re-read my meter they have YET to show up and give me some result readings. I called them and sat on the phone for 3 hours arguing/debating with the lady at CoA and all she had for me was "Well sir the new rate change is mandatory"... HECK NO! can't be.

As others have suggested, its not extortion, its probably something wrong with your house. It is not likely a meter reading error since you have had unusually high bills for three in a row. It is hard to understand why you did not investigate the cause when you got the first bill over $600 bucks.

Your utilities are all broken down, itemized on your bill, what does it say your usages are?

My COA utility bill for May, in a 4 bdrm, 2 bath, 2400 SF 1 story house, landscape sprinkler system, with 2 adults who are home most of the time, AC 24 hrs per day, was...
Electricity: 712 kwh, $64
Water: 9000, $46
Wastewater: $81 <-- that is a big jump up with the new rates.
Total bill with everything included was only $229.

How do your numbers compare? Odds are you have holes in your AC ducts, an old malfunctioning air conditioner and or a broken underground water line. If the break is between the meter and your house it is your responsibility to fix, not the City.

I had a broken waterline in our front yard a year or two ago, once had it repaired and provided a receipt proving that to the COA they gave me a refund on the excess water usage for that month. They probably won't do that for all 3 of your months, since you waited so long to fix the problem, but they may refund you one month of excessive usage.

Turn all the water off in your house, then go look at your meter, if it is turning at all then you have a leak. If it does not appear to be moving, note the readings and check it again 2 hours later while using no water, if it has changed, then you have a slow leak.

More leak detection tips: http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pubs/fixleak.html

[CarnivalGal]

While I agree that the whole City of Austin utility structure is completely plagued with inequities and inefficiency, I agree that you are either being billed for more than you use or you have some other issues going on with your house.

The easiest thing is to check for a water leak. Like others have said, it may be somewhere that you can't see it. The easiest way to find out if you have a leak is to firs locate your water meter. Then turn all water in the house off (no faucets, dishwasher, washing machine, etc.) and check your meter. If it is still going, then you have a leak somewhere.

[mayfair44]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

My COA utility bill for May, in a 4 bdrm, 2 bath, 2400 SF 1 story house, landscape sprinkler system, with 2 adults who are home most of the time, AC 24 hrs per day, was...
Electricity: 712 kwh, $64
Water: 9000, $46
Wastewater: $81 <-- that is a big jump up with the new rates.
Total bill with everything included was only $229.

Your wastewater "cap" is based on your averaging period (usually sometime btwn Nov-Mar), over three months. Determining when and preparing for it helps. That's when you want to be a miser and take overall water usage down to a minimum, to prevent paying more during the months you probably use more water (sprinkler, pool, etc).

For example, if you avg 10,000 gallons of water per month during the averaging period, your wastewater bill will never exceed 10,000 gallons per month over the next 12 months, even if your overall water usage exceeds this rate:

Wastewater Averaging | Austin Water Utility | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin

For myself, before my averaging period this yr, I changed out my showerhead and faucet aerators. Went down to the city water dept off 10th st and picked them up for free (the niagra showerhead rocks!):

Free Showerheads & Faucet Aerators | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin

I slashed my total water usage in half, (did not water the yard) taking these measures.

Also installed a shutoff valve behind my showerhead; so much is wasted in the shower btwn soaping and rinsing (think about it); this is a easy project, even if you don't convert to low-flow:

DANCO Shower On-Off Push-Button Flow Control-89184 at The Home Depot