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Nictuku

(4,618 posts)
20. PGE Bills make me think I'm not very intelligent
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 03:21 PM
Jan 6

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