Gas and Electric Bills are being estimated without telling me so.

[MickinMD ★]

I just wrote a nasty letter to BGE (formerly Baltimore Gas and Electric) telling them to stop jerking me around.

If a bill is an estimated one, not one where they drive by and remotely read the meters, there should be an indication on the bill.

My bills began to diverge slightly from the prior year as I began to use more natural gas as the weather cooled.  All my electricity bills vary from $42 to $48/month - the rest is nat. gas.

But then November's bill (for the previous month's usage) was $111.61 vs $63.76 the previous Nov.  I thought my winter heating bills were going to be enormous.

Then I got December's bill, $155.90 vs $151.07 the previous year.  I thought, I guess they overestimated Novembers bill and now this corrects for it.

But then I got January's bill, $260.12 compared to $166.24 the previous year.  Uh oh.  I guess I'm going to get whacked for January-March usage.

But now, the initial estimates for February's bill are up (screen capture below).

The bastards must have estimated the last bill, too, because now they figure I'll pay less next month than the year before!  And they must have estimated my Feb. '22 bill, too, because it was $214.53, not the $229 their $191 + $38 adds up to!

It's a pain, though it was nice to redo my 2023 budget and figure $30 less per month for gas and electricity.

[Kzoo]

They only have to do what the public utility  commission tells them they have to do.

[Further]

We pay an estimated average all year and then balance it, in May or June I think. Last year it was within 30 dollars of being even.

[donkpow]

An estimate based on previous estimates. I like it. Shows spunk.

[Longjohn ★]

My electric bill this month is $363.63

[Bikeguy]

1 hour ago, MickinMD said:

I just wrote a nasty letter to BGE (formerly Baltimore Gas and Electric) telling them to stop jerking me around.

  BGE uses automated meter reading for both gas and electric meters.     

On the BGE web site for your account, you can probably find the hourly electric usage data for your meter for every day (yesterday and prior) for the last year, or more.   Your bill is based on all of that hourly data added up in your billing month.  You should be able to download that billing data into Excel and if you are real ambitious calculate your own bill.  (I was very good at doing that when I worked.)

Not sure about the gas usage that may not (no need for that kind of data) be hourly data. 

Estimated billing would be rare for a utility that uses automated meter reading.  Unless of course if you meter is fubar'd....  and that doesn't happen very often either.  

Some utility web sites provide 'Forecasted' billing information.  That forecast is based on the hourly energy usage you have accumulated so far in the billing period.   The real bill is what I always look at.  I never use the forecasted billing info for anything.

 

35 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

They only have to do what the public utility  commission tells them they have to do.

At least in our service territory if a bill had estimated electric data, the bill would have to indicate the data was estimated on the bill.   That seldom would happen after automated meter reading was installed in our service territory. 

[bikeman564™]

I just received my highest electric/gas bill ever. $139

[Dirtyhip]

9 hours ago, Longjohn said:

My electric bill this month is $363.63

WOWZA!  Is your heat electric?  

Our electric bill is around $39 a month, but the gas was $125 (heating, water heater and cooking).  

[Dirtyhip]

@MickinMD, if they overestimate, then you get the remainder back on the next billing cycle.  

Our meters are all auto i believe.  I don't think they need to read them anymore.

utilities are always hard to audit.  You just pay what they tell you to.

[Longjohn ★]

8 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

WOWZA!  Is your heat electric?  

Our electric bill is around $39 a month, but the gas was $125 (heating, water heater and cooking).  

I heat with wood when I’m home. When I’m in Carnegie I heat with electric to keep the pipes from freezing.

[sheep_herder ★]

I'll spare you the agony of knowing what our bills run in the winter. Heating livestock water, warming tractor, sometimes warming cars, and regular household use adds up.