Claremore residents shocked after utility bills are double the price from month before

CLAREMORE, Okla. — Some Claremore residents were shocked when their utility bill was double last month's, especially after the tornado left many without power for almost a week.

"It's definitely higher than what it should be," said Nicholas Kennedy, a Claremore resident.

Many Claremore neighbors took to Facebook, furious at the cost of their utilities.

Even though they were without power for over a week because of storms, customers were confused to see that the cost had doubled or almost tripled in some cases.

Kennedy said this isn't the first time this has happened and he even installed solar panels to make his house more energy and cost efficient.

"I was hoping to reduce the cost because the solar panels don't cost as much monthly. Ideally, they're supposed to zero out the electric bill. We send electricity to Claremore and they in turn give us credits toward our electric bill," said Kennedy.

Even with his solar panels, his bill was significantly higher this month.

Kennedy says it is confusing when comparing this month's bill to last year's bills at the same time.

"These three bills in a row go from June of 2023, all the way to September of 2023 and I am still at barely 1,700 kilowatts used. This month is somehow at 1,900 when the heat is not as intense as those later months from last year. There's just no rational explanation why I would be using 200 kilowatts more."

Claremore City Manager John Feary says that spikes are normal during the Summer, even inevitable.

He said in a statement:

"The City of Claremore utility customers who experience outages are not charged during the duration of their outage. As a result of extremely hot temperature, customers often experience a surge in the use of home cooling systems, leading to increased electric usage."

The city says that if you are confused, or you think your statement may be wrong, contact the utility billing office.

To keep your home more energy efficient, the city says to use curtains or window coverings to block out heat, operate your thermostat efficiently, turn off your fans when you leave a room and do regular maintenance checks on AC units.