I refuse to believe that an $800+ electric bill is normal. Is this price gauging?

for one bill. The apartments are about 1000 square feet each plus there is a basement.

I am sure you are being gauged. I think I am, too.

Private power grid to avoid federal regulations that accompany the natl grid system. Users are forced to pay whatever the market demands because the wealthy investors at the top are making a fortune.

Remember what the Texas GOP has said in the past,well,you know it is free enterprise. Don't have to use it.

Good luck with that!

You stupid fucktwits

It would seem that's what they're doing. The total charge is presumably based on usage and companies sometimes have scaled rates based on availability and usage, similar to tiered tax rates. As usage grows, the charge per unit rises.

If it seems excessive, contact the utility for an explanation and a breakdown. That being said, we're on pace to have about triple our normal usage for this time of year (in Austin) and it's not surprising considering that it hasn't been this cold for this long in decades.

Of course I'm using a lot more kilowatt hours, but are you saying they can find a way to tack on additional charges above that?

Price per kWh is the same. The increased cost reflects expected increased usage. Happens with AC usage in the summer and heating in the winter.

The Texas utilities may be responsible for the power outages and a failure to winterize and make other such improvements. The Texas government may be responsible for not promoting sustainable power alternatives.

Based on this graphic, they are not responsible (yet?) for price gouging.

The average residential consumption is 877 kWh per month.

It is higher in Texas, with the average at 1176 kWh per month. But even that puts you between 4.75 and 5.3 times the average.

Is that a normal bill for you? Are you sure there isn't something wrong with the meter?

Just comparing rough prices, that looks like about 13.6 cents / kWh which is right about what I pay in Florida - so it seems more like high usage rather than gouging. At least high usage reported by the meter.

There are 7 people in my house. A normal bill is between 3,000 to 4,000 kwh, which during the winter averages about $400/month.