electricity bill!!! (Houston, Center, Premont: mobile home, live in, price)

[cnicoleb]

I live in baytown tx in a mobile home that is about 2 years old. it is about 1500 sq ft and has double pane windows with pretty good insulation. i just got my electric bill for jan to feb and my bill is $330 freakin dollars. Does this sound normal? my last bill was $268 which is the cheapest bill i've had since i've lived in tx. we are really concious about turning the lights off when we leave, turning the heat or ac off when we're not home i don't understand what could cause it to be so high. and everything is electric.

[sbhubbell]

That sounds nuts to me. My power bill for my house...almost 4000 sqft...was only $130 last month. We have lights on a lot too. What's your rate per kWh?

[ShelbyGirl1]

Something is very, very wrong. My house is over 5000 sq. ft and my bill was $207...I do cook with gas...but that's about it.

[Premont]

If your heat is electric, that drives the price up in winter.

[travelguy_73]

Also, the meter isn't necessarily read every month. We had a crazy large bill last summer and, even though Centerpoint insists it read the meter each month (instead of using an estimate), there is just no way that is true. Usually your billing company can tell you if what they received was an estimated reading or a real reading.

[reubenray]

How can you assure that the power company you choose reads the meters every month? I will be relocating there in about 6 weeks. So am looking at the Power to Choose options.

[ShelbyGirl1]

Originally Posted by Premont

If your heat is electric, that drives the price up in winter.

I heat with electricity...and yes, I'm guessing maybe your next will be considerably lower. We have gotten bills where they guesstimate and next months bill is lower (or higher).

[baggiegenes]

Originally Posted by reubenray

How can you assure that the power company you choose reads the meters every month? I will be relocating there in about 6 weeks. So am looking at the Power to Choose options.

In Houston there are a variety of Retail Electric Providers but only one Transmission company (CenterPoint Energy). So there is no difference in how often your meter is read if you choose a different electric provider.

Not every meter is read every month due to a lack of meter readers. (2+ million meters to check every month). Estimates are done periodically if your meter isn't read. But it usually isn't a big deal. If one month your bill is big it is because you were probably over paying the previous months. If they over estimate then the next time they read your meter the bill will be less than usual. It all evens out over the course of the year.

[Cgordon304]

Could be one of 2 things: 1. Check your HVAC for connection issues. Sometimes bad connections can cause your system to use more power. 2. Maybe time to switch to a electricity provider. My sister works for HISD and gave me their promo discount code for Gexa Energy. I tried it and got a pretty good rate. The code is "HISDSAVE"

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by reubenray

How can you assure that the power company you choose reads the meters every month? I will be relocating there in about 6 weeks. So am looking at the Power to Choose options.

You can't. As stated, only Centerpoint reads the meters and they are permitted to estimate readings occasionally. There is a standard - i.e. max two consecutive months - but I don't know the precise numbers.

Best thing you can do is locate and read your own meter at least once a month, preferably around your meter read date. Some like to read it more often to spot trouble sooner. But checking monthly will prepare you for the bill before it even arrives, and you'll know if your usage is just high or the bill estimated or misread your usage.

If it's hard to budget for the up and down months, you can get on an even billing plan where your annual usage is divided evenly over twelve months, with any over/under being adjusted on the next year's bills.