Help! Pepco bill is over $1200 in a townhouse!
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Anonymous
My bill has been ridiculously high past couple of months, last month was $400, but this new one is ludicrous for $1291. I called them and they are telling me there is nothing I can do about it and that the bill is accurate. I am using MDGE for my supplier. Is there anything I can do? 
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Anonymous
| See if there is a city ombudsman or call up consumer and regulatory affairs or seven on your side |
Anonymous
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Watch American Winter. A documentary on this (kinda) made me cry.
But that's all I got Sorry |
Anonymous
| Holy jeebus. What do you keep your thermostat set to? |
Anonymous
| You must have a heat pump that is not working properly. |
Anonymous
| I would die! That is ridiculously high!!!!! What was your thermostat set to? We were pretty careful this past month and kept the temp lower than normal since it's so cold outside and we didn't want the huge bills. |
Anonymous
| I keep it between 72 and 73 since its been so cold. |
Anonymous
| We set ours at 76 - in a drafty old house - and our bill was $300. Sounds like a leak or problem. |
Anonymous
| Mine was roughly $700 this month. All electric. I'd rather suffer through a few large bills than be cold in my home so I'll just have to suck it up and pray for warmer weather soon. |
Anonymous
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That is a pretty high temp to have your thermostat set to. Ours is set to 67. I think if your heat pump can't keep up, it goes on emergency heat, which is more expensive, but still your bill seems ridiculously high.
I would call someone to look at your heat pump to see if that's the problem. |
Anonymous
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Yikes. Here are the steps I would take:
1. confirm that the bill is based on actual meter readings for the past several months. Since PEPCO has upgraded most everyone to smart meters, this is probably the case bu it is worth confirming. 2. Call a master electrician to make sure your panel is wired appropriately. And do not do this yourself, as if there is stray voltage it isn't something you want to be around. 3. Call HVAC to have check your system(s). 4. Everything insulated? 5. 72-73 is pretty darn high to keep the heat in the winter. Just sayin. We keep things at 65-66 and pay about $300 a month max electric to heat 4,500 SF. 6. Are you in some type of fixed-price contract for electricity with this supplier? The spot price of electricity fluctuates and has gone down over the past couple of years. Might be worth seeing if you can switch back. |
Anonymous
Me again - I wanted to add our bill was $301 for a 4,000 sqft house. I don't think the lower setting could possibly make that big of a difference, so definitely have your heat pump checked out. |
Anonymous
67 would be too cold for me. Not everyone can stand being in a cold house. I keep mine at 74-76. |
Anonymous
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Has there been construction going on near your house? With that kind of insane jump in your usage (if Pepco can prove you actually used all those kWh), I would wonder if someone is plugging some kind of heavy machinery into your outside outlets.
Also, was this an extra-long billing cycle? I have had one billing cycle where Pepco realized the previous month's final reading had been wrong, so they credited back the previous payment, then charged me for the past two months' usage. So check whether there's that kind of situation. |
Anonymous
| For reference, our 2200 sqft townhouse is all-electric for heat/cooling/etc and we have never gone above $300, even in the coldest winters or the hottest summers. We don't keep it quite as warm as you do, but still. |