The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday in the noon hour.
QUESTION: How much was your PG&E bill last month, and did you get a “high usage” charge?
Talk about it.
$78…no high usage charge
I checked my PG&E bill with last month temperature over 100° and it was a match. My wall air conditioner really jacks up the bill. I only use it to cool my living room and kitchen.
We got the highest bill we’ve ever had for this past month. It was an eye popper. I knew it would be more because we were not able to open windows at night and use the whole house fan to cool the house. It was a good $75 higher than the highest bill I can recall. Oh well. At least we stayed cool and the electrostatic filter on our HVAC system kept out the smoke.
I can hardly wait to see the next energy shaming letter from PGE.
Remember when “smart meters” were all just conspiracy theory.
Well it won’t be conspiracy theory when you’re punished with a 5x fee for using during so called peak time.
You all need to opt out.
And how does one opt out and what are we opting out of? My bill was double what it normally is and i just got a shaming letter from pge saying my 850sqft condo is using 50% more electricity than the houses across the street that are minimum of 1800 sq ft.
$55.95. I have LED and fluorescent lights and turn them off when I don’t need them. The biggest user of electricity in my home is probably the refrigerator and waterbed heater, but during the summer months I turn the waterbed down low.
Yep, I still have my waterbed that I bought in the 70’s and I love it. On a hot summer night it’s nice and cool, and on a cold winter night it’s nice and warm.
I’ll never give it up.
PG&E was sky high. I’ll have to check my bill.
I’m glad someone else has a waterbed. I’ve had one since the 60’s. I’ve upgraded over the years and wouldn’t sleep on anything else.
We’ve been researching getting a new bed mattress,….but if waterbeds are still an option, I should check it out,…or is there info either Dawg or Good Night Sleep will share,…please & thank you.
Roz, Odds and Ends Waterbeds in Richmond. I’ve never been there but from what I understand they closed their store a couple of years ago and are selling waterbeds and mattresses online. Their website is americasbestsleep.com I will be checking them out pretty soon because my mattress is close to 25 years old and starting to stretch a little.
Sterling Sleep Systems Online
Thank You Dawg!!
$29.50
Harnessing the 🌞
$22.95
Letting the sun to the work
@Anon –
Can you Opt out? Will that change anything? I am sick of the shaming letters as well. I have an elderly parent living with me and must have the air cooled/heated in the winter. My PG&E with the Heatwave/smoke was $125 MORE than the previous month.
You can opt out and they read your meter every other month……you’ll pay actual usage and not be nitpicked for using at so called peak time.
Tell that to our progressive HOA. They installed the meters without our permission.
$485.00 ouch, after new roof some day need solar
Statement Date: 08/21/2020
$470.49 (includes High Usage charge of $98.92).
If going into the second tier is the penalty tier about 145.00 worth. I refuse to sit in a hot house to please PGE.
Tell me why do low income people get a break on everything including PGE bill? My bill was $500
$40 I just applied for CARE discount, for being poor and old.
On their CARE program, did not get high usage rate and my bill remained $40. I’ll check it again next month.
$216.85 🙁
Lower upper 90’s all last month with heat indexes peaking in the 105 degree range. R-38 insulation in the attic 2×6 studs 24 inches on center with R12 insulation whopping $67.00 bill. Thanks to GA Power’s use of clean burning coal and liberated neutrons.
Me $78
Dawg – $55.95
JJ – $29.50
You all have solar, right? Or have all of you been totally roasting?
Photovoltaic, baby ☀️🌞
No solar. Just keep the blinds closed, ceiling fans on, and air conditioning set to 84. The downstairs air conditioning rarely ran, but upstairs ran some in the afternoon.
@JJ, love the smily sun.
@Me, I can’t believe you don’t have solar. I do everything you do with no second story to cool, and I’ve never had a bill that low. I do set my a/c at 77 though, but still, that’s a low bill.
Thinking it might be time for lawyers and a class action lawsuit.
No high usage charge. In fact I had a reduction of about 22.00 due to low use. Still comfortable with the thermostat set at 78.
Ours was just $7 higher from the month before. But after this last heat wave, the up coming bill should be about $20 higher, since it was a bit too hot for me. For the most part, our PG&E averages out to $100 a month in a year time.
High usage charge of $48 so feel pretty lucky except that meant I also filled up all the other tiers! We have a balanced billing plan and this bill was $75 more than normal…..who knows what is coming down the road.
All the staying at home plus heat and smoke……
$200. We have A/C and know how to use it! Well worth the expense and cleaned the smoke and soot out of our air, BTW.
My neighbors w/o A/C were really suffering.
Isn’t there a one time charge of $75 to opt out of the smart meter and a $10 per month charge on your bill for opting out?
Mine went up. $437 last month $579 this month that includes the high usage charge of $157.
You can’t compare month to month. You have to compare the desired month of this year versus the same month of last year to see the difference in usage between the two.
You also can’t compare dollars to dollars. If you don’t have a medical use allowance and another person does, their tiers are adjusted and yours isn’t. Even before I installed solar last year I still used the same amount of power- I average less than 500KWH per month for a house of 4 that is 1600 SQFT. The highest bill ever was $170, and I have AC.
There are so many different factors you cannot get a good comparison on a blog like this.
$366 with the AC set at 74 degrees, 2200 sq/ft single level house. Yes on the high usage charge.
Why was PG&E able to get rid of the 3 tiered billing? They still have a baseline for household energy use that was set in the 50’s this is ridiculous.
Why was PG&E able to get rid of the 3 tiered billing? They still have a baseline for household energy use that was set in the 50’s this is ridiculous.
Why was PG&E able to get rid of the 3 tiered billing? They still have a baseline for household energy use that was set in the 50’s this is ridiculous.
My water bill was more than my pg&e bill…
It takes energy to pump water. Cost of electricity goes up, the cost of pumping water goes up exponentially. Physics it can be a bit of a costly thing.
$70.
With AC set to 78 and two oscillating fans on generally 24/7.. single-story, 2,000 sq.ft. home.
Wall insulation, a cool roof, double pane windows, plus sun & air control strategies.
If you are averaging $200 or more a month for electricity and you aren’t moving in the next couple years and have decent sun exposure, look into solar. Buy the system vs lease. If you buy, you get all the benefit like the federal tax credit. If you have a mortgage on your house you could refinance and take cash out. Interest rates are so low again. I did that strategy 3 years ago. The payback period was about 6 to 7 years At the time and I sized my system so it produces what I use over 12 months. That’s a great deal in the long run. And I don’t miss the sky high PGE bills!
The bill I just received and paid, tho not due ’til 9.16, was unusually high. Where would I see “high usage?”
58.00, no high usage (and no air conditioning).
Definitely the highest in a while…… $23.10!!! #SOLAR
I have all electric! This is more expensive than having gas and electric. My bill was $116.00 which is low for me. I have about 2400 square feet in my condo. I’m the only occupant and had no guests due to COVID. Next mont will be $166. Higher due to AC usage.
I think I may have won. $602 and definitely a high usage charge. I guess I shouldn’t keep the thermostat at 73. heh.
Very Surprised; No Surcharge
Got PGE bill today. $145.54 high energy surcharge added to bill. Bit I’m not going to quit running my HEPA filters, or running AC in the core of the house as needed. As my late father in law Bob said, no house can run off of tier 1 electrical usage. As he said, PGE is just a bunch of crooks.
Don’t remember what the bill was, but it was very high — as always in the summer. Didn’t get a high energy surcharge because that’s only if you use four times the amount they allow. I guess we’re allowed a lot do to the size of our home.