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Nictuku

(4,669 posts)
20. PGE Bills make me think I'm not very intelligent
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 04:21 PM
Jan 2026

I can barely understand the PGE bill. There are delivery charges and then I'm on this MCE Generation thing, and I received a notice that in March PGE is changing their billing (I doubt it will be more understandable)

When comparing, the bill this year was only $46 higher than last year, which is bizarre because we burned a lot of firewood to keep the upstairs warmer (again, thanks to my wonderful cousin who brought us wood). But I had the ceramic wall heaters on 24/7 downstairs and mom has one in her room too. They add up I guess.

This is what I found on the bill (I don't even know what this means to be honest)
Total Usage
1,295 kWh

Last yea same billing period:
1,190 kWh

I just get more confused when I look at these bills. Last year Dec was about $46 less than this year same time. I don't understand it because like I said, we did use a lot of firewood to heat the upstairs. It makes me think that the billing doesn't actually have anything to do with how much you use, they seem to estimate based on how many rooms, how many people, what kind of water heater, etc. It would take a lot to convince me that it is not a racket.

In the last couple of years, we did replace an old frige with a new one, and we also replaced old washer/dryer with new ones too. Oh, and again, when our water heater started leaking my cousin replaced that with a new one, that was a couple of years ago.

In writing all this, it makes me appreciate my cousin all the more.

So, we had no power for 2 days in last billing cycle, and it did include 1 more day in cycle than last year. I can't remember if we had power outages for same billing period last year. It happens a lot up here. Again, thanks to my cousin who gave us this little Honda generator that gets us through (no heat, but at least we have the fridges and internet/tv during the outages)


Recommendations

2 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Are we great yet? newdeal2 Jan 2026 #1
California regulators Greg_In_SF Jan 2026 #17
The Average PG&E Utility Bill Has Gone Up Greg_In_SF Jan 2026 #2
But all tha MAGAts can see is the price of gas and everything is fine. No inflation ToxMarz Jan 2026 #9
I agree with you....Fuel prices have been unusually stable mtngirl47 Jan 2026 #37
ridiculous Skittles Jan 2026 #3
Yes Nictuku Jan 2026 #6
Where are you located if I may ask? NNadir Jan 2026 #4
Napa, California Nictuku Jan 2026 #11
You have the highest electricity prices in the 48 contiguous United States. NNadir Jan 2026 #31
I miss Hawaii Nictuku Jan 2026 #33
Glad I'm off the grid BeneteauBum Jan 2026 #5
AI costs Ksout Jan 2026 #8
The public needs to start making noise about this Nictuku Jan 2026 #13
Agreed, if facebook needs its own powerplant, then Volaris Jan 2026 #24
oh that's rough markie Jan 2026 #7
Please tell us the kwh numbers moniss Jan 2026 #10
PGE Bills make me think I'm not very intelligent Nictuku Jan 2026 #20
Your usage seems pretty close to last year moniss Jan 2026 #40
I was looking at that today Nictuku Jan 2026 #42
Good luck and things like utility bills moniss Jan 2026 #45
i cant rec rooftop solar enough. mopinko Jan 2026 #12
It is my dream to get Solar Nictuku Jan 2026 #23
Solar has saved us quite a bit Sympthsical Jan 2026 #32
try to figure out how to get it. mopinko Jan 2026 #41
I have a plan, it just will take some time Nictuku Jan 2026 #43
yeah, i had to spend some money on my roof 1st, too. mopinko Jan 2026 #44
it's times like this I'm glad I invested in solar panels 15 years ago... Javaman Jan 2026 #14
Me too - I've had solar panels for 25 years womanofthehills Jan 2026 #28
sounds like an earth ship design. that's very cool. :) nt Javaman Jan 2026 #46
We sold our house and have moved into an apartment in a retirement community high rise building. It's just cheaper CTyankee Jan 2026 #15
Yes but we kidnapped Maduro. That's not making your electric bill go down? Ray Bruns Jan 2026 #16
California voter here maliaSmith Jan 2026 #18
Bill to pay now is $56.00. Buying new windows in 2025 made a big improvement in power use txwhitedove Jan 2026 #19
Our electric bill was $80 more than it was at the same time last year with similar usage. It's nuts. Vinca Jan 2026 #21
It's called surge pricing Farmer-Rick Jan 2026 #22
THIS Nictuku Jan 2026 #25
I pay a solar panel bill instead. ms liberty Jan 2026 #26
395 dollars for December stage left Jan 2026 #27
My bill went up because of Christmas lights Tree Lady Jan 2026 #29
This is not about my utility bill but... llmart Jan 2026 #30
Cancer patient's healthcare insurance..... Lovie777 Jan 2026 #34
PG&E was found Codifer Jan 2026 #35
Yep. Nictuku Jan 2026 #39
This and med insurance is starting to hit hard. BradBo Jan 2026 #36
Greatest country in the world? No American should have to scrimp to stay warm and fed. flashman13 Jan 2026 #38
The New York Jets! Abolishinist Jan 2026 #47
It could be again. A great clip. Thanks flashman13 Jan 2026 #48
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Anyone see their Dec Util...»Reply #20