New Austin homeowner - $250 utility bill normal for 1780sqft?

[Ginger78751]

All in all, not a bad bill for a full house. Our home's bill was about $200 last month, but only because we refuse to use the air conditioner unless it is over 90 outside AND we are at home. One thing you will notice, if you live Austin and are on the Austin utility services - they charge you a "Customer fee" for every utility - water, solid waste, electricity, etc. Many months, we pay more in fees than actual bills. When we tried to call 311 and get information on what these "fees" are for, they said they are for regular maintenance of the physical plants, etc. Oh, and for street cleaning (which is normally covered under property taxes in other states/counties).

Now, I am not originally from Texas, but in many other states, open markets have driven costs down, and this is the first time I have encountered fees. Every month, we fork over about $38 in "fees" - maintenance of physical plants, landfills, etc. should be built into the cost charged for services, should they not? For two months in a row, we didn't use any gas at all, but paid over $18 in fees - with no service.

Bottom line, $250 utility bill for August is pretty good! but keep in mind how much of it is really for "services".

[vironica.ee]

our house is 3200sqft. last month was $320 or sth