My latest electric bill ( my 8th since buying my first home ) is here, and I won’t beat around the bush.  This is the highest electric bill that I’ve ever received – ever.  I’m staring  at a total of $197.10 – that’s a 59% increase over last month.  UGH.  Let’s take a look at the painful breakdown.

Natural gas – no surprises

I used 6% more natural gas, for an increase of 5% to my bill.  I won’t get worked up over such a small increase – it’s no big deal.

Electricity isn’t cheap

I used a whopping 1404 kWh of electricity this month – that’s 1.4 mWh.  That’s outrageous.  It’s a 67% jump over what I used last month.  The part that *really* gets to me is that 67% usage increase caused a 93% rise in the electric portion of my bill.  My utility company also introduced a new ( to me ) fee called “Peak Capacity Charge”.   That, along with the questionable “Regulatory adjustment” made up the a large part of my bill increase.

Summers are hot in southern Texas – really, really hot.  We’ve been giving our A/C quite a workout, and that won’t change too much over the next few months.  I’m going to make a concerted effort to get our ceiling fans installed next week.  We bought 4 fans when we purchased the house, but they’re still in a closet somewhere.  Our lower floor stays fairly cool, so with the addition of fans we can cut back A/C usage down there.  Besides that, I guess I just have to grin and bear it.  Owning a home is great, but it’s surely not without it’s downsides.