If you have concerns your bill may be too high, here is some guidance to help you work through your concerns
So you feel your bill is too high ?
Follow these steps and it may answer your questions
You will have to have access to your account, be able to access historical temps for last year as well which are readily available with a google search
1) Log onto you account for your utility company and go to home page.
The month(s) in question you will need some information
- Avg temp for the month, were there record days or heating or cooling required
- Occupancy for the month in question
You can break down the data by month and even go as deep as per day and hour of use to get you exactly the data you need
Below is an example of the day by day and hourly reports you can generate
2) Pull the data from the same time last year.
- You will need to temps for the same time last year (Not just avg temps but real data)
- You will need the enginery bill from same time last year (Available in your history) on your utility providers site
- occupancy for last year during this time as well
Compare the 2 months side by side
These are examples of what you could pull for kWh usage from your account
Establish what the increase was for your utility company year over year for example in 2024 SCE had a 7.8% increase over 2023 and the tariff for summer rates increase by 13% in tier 2 and 3, and what the rate is during the months in question.
Then you will have to factor in the outside temps and cooling or heating days that transpired over the same time frame
Remember Summer rates are from the First Sunday in June to the First Sunday in October each year
Data to consider
Rate plan: Is the rate plan you are currently on the best for your home, generally they go by TOU or time of use, if you have a home that is high demand and booked a lot this may be something you want to look at. Below is an example of what to look for
Do you have solar: What is the schedule and production of your solar panels, is it maximized for best results, are your panels cleaned 2 times a year so they produce the most amount of kWh
Below is an example of a home that is not producing solar at the peak times so you would have higher bills
Schedules on equip: Pool and Spa equip (Is it set for the most efficient run times and schedules)
Age of equip: ACs are your units aging out and struggling to run, often times the age of the equip impacts the run times causing it to work harder and run longer to cool or heat a space
Preventive Maintenance of your equip: If your equip has not been maintained correctly or Preventive Maintenance has not been done this will reduce the efficacy of your units causing them to run harder and use more energy to produce the desired result
Summary
I think by compiling this data and comparing you will easily find if you have over usage.
The above applies to Electric and Gas usage
Water
You can find the same data on the water account page but would encourage you to contact the water company or a licensed leak testing company and have them come out and do a review of your property to look for any underground leaks if you feel you have an over amount of usage.
Gas
Contact a licensed plumber if you feel that after your research you have an issue they will come and do an inspection on your home to determine of there are any leaks or more ways to save you money
Still have questions and need Escalation
After you have reviewed and you have found data that is abnormal during unoccupied times, like high usage patterns on dates that had no occupancy or no high temp days. Please send a email to actionitems@acmehouseco.com, please include your research, dates that are suspect and all findings and we will have out Director of Engineering review and connect wit you