Electric Bill Doubled This Month? The 10-Minute Check That Tells You Why
An electric bill that suddenly doubles is almost never a mystery — it comes down to one of five things: an estimated reading catching up with you, a rate or plan change, a longer billing period, a real spike in usage, or a plain billing error. You can usually tell which one it is in about ten minutes, with last month's bill open next to this month's. One rule first: keep paying on time while you investigate. A dispute does not pause the due date, and late fees or a disconnect notice will only make the problem bigger. Start With These Four Numbers Pull up this month's bill and last month's, and compare four things: Kilowatt-hours (kWh) used — the raw amount of electricity Billing days — how many days each bill covers Your effective price — total bill divided by kWh, for each month Line items — any charge, fee, or credit that wasn't there before If kWh jumped but the price per kWh is the same, something in the house used more power — or the reading ...