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It's a rental cabin in Ruidoso so I can't check myself. PNM said they would sent out somebody to do a second reading. The bill says over 7,000 KWH was used
That's a lot off watts, did someone leave several space heaters running? Convert it into a growhouse?
You might also check your previous bills to see if the reading is "actual" or "estimated". If there were a lot of "estimated" readings in the past they may have underestimated use.
Knew of someone in the midwest who would take an extension cord and plug into the house next door to him when the people were in Arizona for the winter. He would use there electric for several months and unplug before they got back. Also did the same thing with their water with the outside faucet.
If you have an outside plug on your cabin, disconnect it or trip the breaker when you are gone no one can "borrow" electricity. Also check any outside lights, a person can easily get a screw in socket that replaces the bulb and allows a cord to be plugged into where it was; using your electric if the light is left on via a switch or a motion timer.
I live full time in Ruidoso and my bill for the Jan period was the highest of the year, and about 25 percent higher than Jan. 2013. I was surprised because I use very little electricity normally - avg 325kwh year around (avg. $45/mo.). I was wondering if they estimated my bill for several months so they were catching up with an actual reading? Now waiting for my Feb bill - should be here any day now.
The weather reports never really capture the combination of dim skies, low temperatures, and high winds that make for heating bill nightmares; usually you have to have all three to work your furnace 24/7, and that happens so seldom (2 out of 3 don't count) that we forget how that affects our bills.
I remember a number of Christmas breaks where I set the furnace to 45 just to keep the pipes from freezing and lo and behold my bill was triple what it normally was. It just takes a lot more heat to keep the space warm during some times than other times.
Getting an eye-opener of a bill is the time to take this as a wake-up call and audit your house (or cabin) for heat loss. You may find that heat is just traveling through open space, and a few dollars post-audit will dramatically blunt the effects of the next monthlong cold snap on your wallet.
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