Billing
The number of days in your billing cycle
A typical bill covers 28 to 33 days.
Your first bill can range from 16 to 45 days. This depends on:
- when the billing date falls
- when your service was hooked up
Sometimes billing periods have 5 weekends. This would make it higher than usual too.
Settling up your equalized payments
We estimate your power bill based on a 12 month average all year. Because of this, once a year when your bill is settled up, it may be higher or lower than normal.
If your bill's higher:
- it’s including any actual charges that were over and above the estimate charges.
If your bill's lower:
- you’ll see a credit on your bill. Check the ‘other charges’ section of your bill to see the settled amount.
One-time extra charges
You may see one-time fees like:
- connection fees
- disconnection fees
- security deposits
These can all increase your bill. If paid in full you won’t see these charges on your bill in the future. Check the ‘other charges’ section of your bill for any fees or deposits.
Meter Readings
Your estimate is lower than your actual use
Check your bill. If this is an actual meter read, your estimates were too low for your usage. If this is an estimated meter read, compare our estimate to your meter read. This would make your bill higher than normal.
You missed a meter reading
To make sure your meter's read regularly, we follow a schedule. But sometimes we can’t get to them because of:
- dogs
- high fences
- locked gates
Ensure your bill is accurate each month by submitting your meter read.
The meter reading is wrong
Your bill may be higher than normal if:
- it was misread
- the meter is wrong
If you think this is the case, you can submit your own meter read.
Appliances
Using space heaters and air conditioners
If it’s really hot or cold outside, using a lot appliances will increase your power bill.
If you can use larger appliances, like dishwashers at night.
You’ve upgraded to new appliances
Believe it or not, new appliances can increase your power bill. Be more energy efficient and buy ENERGY STAR appliances.
Balance your homes power by saving power elsewhere in your home. Use our Home Power Use page to help you take action and save.
Your appliances are damaged
Small problems can cause big power bills. Common issues we see are:
- leaky electric water heaters
- broken thermostats
- well pumps continually running
- broken door seals on refrigerators and freezers
