Yikes. My last bill was the same as always but I am on the budget plan, so I get the same bill every month all year. No ups and downs in the different seasons .I just checked on my PECO app and there is no big jump for January. I heat with natural gas.

My Verizon bill took a huge jump., though though. Im going to call and try to negotiate something lower.

Yes our Dec ele bill was much higher than expected, the previous highest ele bill was last Feb when we used 30 KWHs less than this past Dec and yet the Dec bill was $70 higher at about $450. Our house is all electric so we expect a high bill but still it was a surprise.

Yikes indeed! We have a large house, plus our son was here for a week and working in a part of the house that we normally keep at a much lower temp, so ours was double yours.

dedtired: we recently got rid of our house phone (Verizon Fios).

they no longer do 'bundled' price plans, everything is a la carte.

we axed the house phone, do auto payment, increased our internet speed to 300 megabits?, now get epic, starz, redzone and other channels that were not in our packeage, this dropped our bill $40!! give them a call, hopefully it will work out for you!!

i am going to check my Peco bill from this time last year and compare the charges. i heard they were going up but a 30% hike is outrageous!!

Dedired - did your monthly budget go up from last year? when do they reevaluate your budget?

Im not sure when the bill is renegotiated. My house is small and its only me, so my bill is $177. on the so called budget plan. I guess I am in for a shock soon.

Thanks for the Verizon tips. I am tempted to drop cable and go with an antenna and a few subscription services. I dont want to get rid of my landline since i’ve had the same number for 48 years. Would be weird not to have it plus the reception is so much better than my cell phone.

We've had the same number since 1986 (got to keep it after we moved just a few miles away from our first house in 2011), and I find it much more comfortable to talk on a real phone than on a cell. Plus we can both be on the phone at the same time if we need to be.

Dedtired, when we dropped our landline we moved the number to my cell phone. We use speaker a lot. And, we have a ”rabbit ear” panel antenna on two tvs, and we stream two services, and I received a Fire stick as a gift so that and Amazon Prime give us plenty of broadcast and streaming possibilities.

It's NOT just Philly. Nextdoor here in Colorado is lit up with discussions about double and triple utility bill hikes!

Our December PECO bill was $322, 2400 sf house, 3 adults, I looked up last year's bill and (from memory here) it was about $30 less.

Connecticut, also, is seeing huge increases in customer electric bills. I, too, am on a yearly budget plan for convenience sake but in actual costs, my bill will jump 43% beyond my normal billing rate beginning January 1st. State government is doing everything in their power to assist low income people through this difficult time but whether one can afford to pay this increase or not...it's a devastating reality and a dreadful indicator of our current world crisis.

My coal burning electric co-op hasn't raised their per KWH charge since a very minor increase last summer. My December bill was higher than last December simply due to higher usage during a very cold stretch before Christmas. 76 KWH/day in Dec. 2022 compared to 56 KWH/day last Dec. January has been relatively mild so I expect a lower bill. My house is all electric with a ground source heat pump. My monthly bill averages around $170-$180.

As a bonus of having service through an electric co-op, each customer receives a rebate/credit in July. Mine usually covers my July bill.

Natural gas prices have declined about 50% since the August 2022 highs so hopefully those that heat with NG will see lower bills soon.

The price increase I was speaking about was natural gas, not electricity. A good chunk of our power generation comes from natural gas too so power rate jumps can't be far behind. Blame the world. There have been loads of news stories for months about record setting shipments of natural gas from the Western Hemisphere (including the US) to Europe to help replace supplies turned off by the Big Bear to its east. Reduced regional supply here = higher prices, that's how free markets work,

Lonejack, hopefully for the rest of us your coal burning electric co-op won't remain exactly as such for too much longer. The US is lagging much of the developed country world, Europe especially, in winding down the use of terribly polluting coal. It will happen here eventually.

Both natural gas and electricity have had increases with the natural gas to increase more in about two weeks. The sub zero cold here will increase my utility bills both gas and electric because to turn on my furnace it is needed. It may be mandated here, I dont really know, but bills do come with informational sheets when the utilities are asking for an increase. To prevent shock read them. There are only two things you can really do and those are to reduce usage or just pay the bill and grumble.

For those on level pay be aware that when it is adjusted for the year you may have a large lump sum that you have to pay. Company's may insist that it be paid before level pay is continued or your level pay will increase to cover the difference. The problem with the covering the difference usage and costs seldom go down so next season the level pay will be much higher. Be aware that you should be able to have your bank/credit union send additional money. I started doing this when the new electric company decided my level pay for the year was less than my lowest months usage.

maifleur, the gas cost of running a furnace is significantly higher than the electricity cost. A quick example:

Assume a 100K BTU furnace, for a medium-large reasonably insulated house. It will use 1 therm of gas for 60 minutes of run time - 1 therm = 100 cubic feet of gas = 100K BTUs. Before our expected price jump, gas averaged about $2.50 per therm. So, $2.50 for an hour of runtime.

There are two kinds of blower motors. Older furnaces have PSC motors, newer ones are likely to have ECM motors. A PSC motor in a 100K furnace is likely to draw 3-4 amps. Rounded up, 4 amp x 110 volts = 440 watts. Call it 1/2 of a kilowatt.

An ECM motor will use less than half as much, but call it 1/4 of a kilowatt.

I pay over 25 cents per kwh but let's use 25 cents. 1/2 hour of PSC motor is 1/2 kwh = 12.5 cents. An ECM motor, half as much. So when using over $2 of gas, the electricity cost is less than 1/20th the cost.

I just looked at our last bill, and we paid 17 cents/kwh and $1.23/ccf for gas. We have a gas-fired boiler that heats our main floor with hydronic underfloor heat, and a conventional forced hot-air system upstairs. Both are relatively new.

The one place we have electric heat (a heat pump) is for the room over our garage, which we normally keep much colder in the winter and much warmer in the summer than the rest of the house, since it doesn't get used often. When it does, our bill goes up a *lot*, and it's mostly due to the electric portion of the bill. So I'm inclined to think that at least around here (PA, land of fracking), electric costs more.

This is what happens when you have groups promoting one energy type, while trying to ban another. We should be taking advantage of all energy sources (even nuclear), but promoting research/innovation for improvements in their efficiency and making them as clean as possible. It doesn't make sense to think you can rely on just one source, with no backups.

Elmer, you know Germany is expanding several of their coal mines right now? Bulgaria too.

"France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Greece are reactivating coal-fired power plants. Poland is reviving its defunct mines and even opening new ones. Meanwhile, households unable to afford more expensive heating options are firing up their coal furnaces."

Elmer what you wrote about cost may be true but it does nothing about the number of times in extreme cold that the temperature inside a house fluctuates enough that the furnace must use electricity more frequently to keep the inside temperature at the set amount. More times, more electrical usage, more cost.

Wow, bookwoman,

Two different utility locations - on the last bills 30 cents and 31 cents for electricity, and $2.51 and $2.34 per 100 cubic feet (therm) for gas. Prices are tiered (prices increase with use) and as our time was split between two locations during the billing periods, both are almost entirely at the lower tiers. The next tiers, which we'd reach for a full month of use at either, are another 40-50 cents for gas and 10+ cents for electricity. This before the rumored 50% gas increase.

I need to run a long hose and an extension cord and hook up with your utility service.

chispa, Western Europe is in a major energy crisis right now because of the current political situation and war going on to its east. The programs going on to end coal use had to be suspended as a matter of national security and safety in a number of countries. When the situation resolves, the coal phaseouts will resume there and will be completed. Substantial progress has already been made.

The US doesn't rely on potential geopolitical adversaries for natural gas or other energy sources for electricity as Europe does. Coal can be phased out. I agree with you that while many of the power plants were built poorly and not operated fully in compliance with requirements, nuclear power should remain part of the equation for electricity production. All of these changes will be very expensive but need to be done just the same.

" Elmer what you wrote about cost may be true but it does nothing about the number of times in extreme cold that the temperature inside a house fluctuates enough that the furnace must use electricity more frequently to keep the inside temperature at the set amount. More times, more electrical usage, more cost. "

maifleur, even if you live in an area with less expensive utility costs as bookwoman does, if you heat with a gas furnace, much more than 90% of the hourly cost of your furnace running is the cost of the gas, not the electricity.

If you're heating with a heat pump, different story.

Gas heat in my house. Our bill looks the same as always.

It is really nice to know that there is no difference in what I have to pay between if a kwh is not used by my furnace and if it is. Just seems a little strange to me. Apparently if I used even more electricity my electric bill would stay the same. It really helps when someone reads what I write rather than what they interpret it as.

You can understand or not understand as you wish. Assume bookwoman's prices

Your gas furnace runs for 60 minutes and you have a 100K BTU input furnace. Gas will cost $1.23. Electricity will cost 5-8 cents. If you want to focus on the electricity cost, then please do.

It's ones usage...the amount of your personal energy needs...that will increase your utility bill. Not what you use...gas, oil or electricity. The cost increase is due to what utility companies are paying for their energy source...i.e. gas prices that were on the open market when they negotiated supply terms before the colder season began. If their supply sources drop their prices in the next few months and our respective utility companies are in a position to renegotiate what they're paying for their fuel needs to supply us..the prices to us should drop as well. It's a matter of supply and demand on a very wide scale. Not the type of energy you personally use to heat your home. If you reduce your personal demand...lower your heat as well as your lights, etc....your bill will be adjusted to reflect a lower usage. That's what we all need to concentrate on at this time. And to encourage other forms of energy...as in wind, solar, nuclear, etc that aren't reliant on another fuel source to supply our needs.

" It's ones usage...the amount of your personal energy needs...that will increase your utility bill. Not what you use...gas, oil or electricity. "

Sorry, this is not correct. Far off the mark.

I'd wanted my previous contrib to be my last but I'd like to explain heating costs from different sources.

Every home has a given amount of heat loss or load when it's cold outside, expressed in BTUs per hour at a given outside temperature. Different loss numbers for different outside temperatures, of course. Heat loss varies with the nature and type of construction, insulation, location, orientation, and air tightness. To keep an interior at a constant inside temperature, the heating system needs to supply the same numbers of BTUs per hour as the structure loses. To warm up an interior, the heater needs to supply enough heat to offset the loss (load) plus additional heat to raise the interior temperature.

The energy and equipment types used to provide the heat has no effect on the end result but the cost varies significantly based on the source. I'm going to illustrate the costs using my own utility prices and a few minor estimates. BTU factors are easily found via a search. Some sources are very expensive per BTU, others substantially less.

1 kwh of electricity provides 3400 BTUs using resistance equipment. Heat pumps can be more efficient and provide 2.5x more, so say 10200 BTUs from 1 kwh. (as temps drop, the efficiency advantage for some heat pumps decreases substantially)..

1 million BTUs from a heat pump uses 98 kwh. At 30 cents, that's $29.40. With resistance heat using 2.5 times more, $73.50.

Gas furnace, 10.5 therms if 95% efficient, $26.25.

Oil has like 135K btus per gallon. 7.4 gallons. Heating oil would have to be less than $3.50 per gallon to be cheaper than natural gas. It's usually a more expensive heating source but, of course, is often used where gas isn't available. Prices vary regionally and seasonally.

Propane is usually more expensive to use as a heating source than oil but less expensive than resistance heat.

" The cost increase is due to what utility companies are paying for their energy source...i.e. gas prices that were on the open market when they negotiated supply terms before the colder season began. If their supply sources drop their prices in the next few months and our respective utility companies are in a position to renegotiate what they're paying for their fuel needs to supply us..the prices to us should drop as well. "

In states where non-municipal utilities have been deregulated, as is true in many (though not all) places and indeed in my state, "utility companies" were required to sell their power plants (retaining some types, like nukes). The regulated utilities buy electricity generated by others on the open market in the same way that they buy gas and earn revenue simply from distributing both and maintaining the networks that do so. The companies that own power plants and generate electricity and offer it for sale can't price their output until they obtain supply contracts for their fuel sources. ).

Let's assume the fuel is natural gas, the independent power generators largely operate such plants. They may enter into 12 month (as an example ) supply contracts for gas, which in turn allows them to calculate prices they need for 12 month sales contracts for the same periods. Same is true of utilities that still run their own generating plants but require the approval of a regulator for customer prices. Rate applications are based on the same periods as their energy purchase contracts

They'd be taking a risk fixing a selling price for electricity without underlying fixed prices for the gas purchased to generate it. They don't do that. Prices within a given supply contract period to a utility don't go down or up and qualtities and prices in the purchase commitment are fixed.

Yeah, sorry. This and the preceding comment, more detail than anyone cares about. Misunderstandings can come from misinformation. I do understand these businesses and the economics of home HVAC equipment.

The gas bill for L.A. has gone up significantly, but it has been historically low, as we generally do not need that much heat. However, this winter has been different, with January temperatures outdoors staying in the 50s for much longer than usual. Therefore we are using more heat, and it is reflected in the bill. Last winter we used much less heat.

In Cathedral City, I am not heating the pool this winter at all - only the spa - and so the gas bill there is very low. Last year I did start heating the pool in March, but this year I will wait until April. By May, the pool does not need to be heated.

My brother and I went to Philadelphia in early August 2019, and we thought the weather was perfect.

Bumping this back up because as expected I just got a whopping increase in my ”budget” bill from PECO, my utility company. Holy smokes. $45 increase.

You are on PECO's Budget Billing program for account: xxxxx. Your Budget Bill amount is adjusted every four months to keep your Budget Bill amount in line with your actual energy usage. Your Budget Bill amount of $177.00 will change to $222.00 effective with your next bill

Okay, turning off the lights now.

This sounds like a scheduled adjustment even though the amount is larger than expected. The electric company here does a monthly rolling adjustment which to me does not allow for budgeting. The gas company has in the past only adjusted in August through October depending on where you lived. There are going to be some large shocks when people are expecting a small adjustment when the time comes. On the neighborhood Nextdoor people are bragging about only paying a small amount because they are on budget billing not realizing that what their neighbors are currently paying will need to be paid when the adjustment bill arrives.

We've had a major one month gas price spike in investor-owned utility regions in my state. Here's an email I got explaining the aftermath for the region where one home I have is located:

" As a follow-up to the email we sent in early January about historically high natural gas pricing in the West, we are contacting you to provide an update.

Compared to January's historic gas market prices, the price of gas has decreased by nearly 68% from $3.45 per therm to $1.11 per therm, effective February 1."

Before anyone runs to turn on their hot tub, in this particular area, there's also a gas delivery charge that on my last bill ranged from $1.40 to $1.80 per therm. The prices above describe only the cost component for the gas itself. So in January it was over $5 per therm on the higher tier (which almost everyone reaches) and in February will be about half as much.