Am I Being Overcharged by Reliant??? (Houston, Center: condo, townhome, living in)

[revive]

I've received two bills from Reliant Energy:
- last month: 1100 kwh for 6 days of use (actual read), $160
- this month: 2600 kwh for 26 days of use (estimated read), $391

I'm definitely surprised to get billed this much. Although our home is around 4100 sqft, it's a new-built and we only occupy one bedroom and use electricity/AC sparingly.

I'd like to know if these kwh look reasonable or not. What is the average kwh usage for a home ~4000 sqft?

Thanks.

[ZeroTX]

Well, unless you have zoned A/C, it still has to cool the entire area.... There is a thread going about energy costs and prices and usage varies widely. Some seem absurdly low, but then there's people who think it's comfortable to have their A/C at 86 during the day (?????). My mother-in-law has a $400/month bill for 1250sq/ft. But, she also keeps the A/C on 70, all day and all night, even in summer.

[revive]

My home has 3 AC zones... We only use 1. We usually put it on 78 during the evening, and turn it off during the day.

Originally Posted by ZeroTX

Well, unless you have zoned A/C, it still has to cool the entire area.... There is a thread going about energy costs and prices and usage varies widely. Some seem absurdly low, but then there's people who think it's comfortable to have their A/C at 86 during the day (?????). My mother-in-law has a $400/month bill for 1250sq/ft. But, she also keeps the A/C on 70, all day and all night, even in summer.

[oceangaia]

No sense in speculating about estimated meter readings. Just read your own meter every few days. Then you will know your actual usage.

[revive]

I'm not trying to speculate... I'm just trying to determine the reasonability of my bills... that is, whether my bills are within a range of reason.

Being used to living in much smaller space (condo, townhome) in Chicago, I'm kinda shocked with these util bills I'm receiving.

Originally Posted by DiverTodd62

No sense in speculating about estimated meter readings. Just read your own meter every few days. Then you will know your actual usage.

[texas7]

we are all being overcharged by Reliant.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by revive

I'm not trying to speculate... I'm just trying to determine the reasonability of my bills... that is, whether my bills are within a range of reason.

Being used to living in much smaller space (condo, townhome) in Chicago, I'm kinda shocked with these util bills I'm receiving.

And like I said, for now the only way to know your actual usage is to read your own meter because Centerpoint is not reading meters for a month or two due to Ike. And since your home is new they have no history to go by so they are making a WAG. There's no way to know if your bills are reasonable without knowing your actual usage. There's no point in getting worked up over an estimate which may or may not be in the ballpark.

BTW, what is your rate? Your bill is the product of your usage and your rate. We can tell you if your rate is competitive or not. Just at a glance it appears to be about 15 cents, which was decent a few months ago but you can do better now. Are you on a fixed or variable plan?

[Supermac34]

I'm pretty sure Reliant has to be he highest price on their variable rates by law due to deregulation in the Houston area.

[Wysiwyg]

I just switched to Startex $0.12 fixed rate. They survived the increase in gas prices so i'm hoping its a good move this time

[ZeroTX]

I also went w/ Startex @ 12.7... are they down to 12 now?