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Thomas Smith
3 Reasons Your PGE Bill is Insanely High
21 minutes ago
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If your PG&E electric bill felt insane in August, you’re not alone.
Our readers have been reporting bills that are 2 to 3 times higher than normal. One local called their bill "criminal," and our readers feel like they’re being robbed.
Amid record temperatures, even consumers who rarely use their AC had no choice. Extreme heat can kill, and it is a good idea for consumers to turn up the AC during the heat wave.
All of that extra air-conditioning usage came at an economic cost, though. Personally, my air conditioner ran for up to 18 hours per day, keeping the room upstairs cool for my three little kids.
Air conditioners use thousands of watts, and at the end of the month, that added up to much higher electric usage for many consumers.
Because many PG&E customers are on tiered usage and time-of-day usage plans, each kilowatt-hour becomes more expensive as you use more power.
That means that with more AC use, people’s bills did not go up in a straight line. Instead, they went up on an exponential curve, like a runaway train.
That meant that people weren’t just paying somewhat more to run their AC, but in many cases, two or three times more than they would typically pay, because they used up their baseline power allotment and moved into higher-priced tiers.
Summertime Living
Beyond using the air conditioner, summer is a higher-usage time for electricity in general.
The days are longer, so people spend more time active and doing things, rather than sleeping or winding down.
Over the summer, you might have people over, hold a big cookout, or otherwise use your home more.
That’s wonderful, but it also results in more hours using the air conditioner, more loads of dishes, more laundry, and the like. Add all those things up, and the result is higher electric usage, even beyond the higher cost of AC.
Add to that the fact that many people with flexible working arrangements are able to work from home more over the summer, and electric costs go up even further.
People who have a pool can add insult to injury. All the pumps, filters, heaters, and other gadgets associated with using your pool over the summer add even more to your electric bill.
All these factors combined – higher base costs, usage related to extreme temperatures, and the simple fact that it’s summer – resulted in a perfect storm of electric costs. That storm hit in July, and now many people are feeling it.
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