Yes, 'tis I of the Jay Hancock article with some follow-up, and my presumption was correct: my most recent bill went up to $331 (from $265 last month).

A couple of interesting notes on the bill: it states the avg. temp. in my "February" reading on my bill (which I assume encapsulates most of January), and compares it to the temps of my January reading as well as Feb 08 (which I assume is from last year's January days). The kWh is also listed. Perhaps you could interject some historical weather data to compare with BGE's quoted temps.

For my most recent bill ("February" $331), it states the avg. temp. of 29 degrees for a 30-day period, total kWh of 2161 (avg. daily 72.0). For my "January" bill it states 38 degrees for 31 days and 1749 kWh ($265). Feb of 08 was 37 degrees and 1616 kWh.

Interestingly enough, on that bill it shows my March 07 kWh: 2720 (wow, and I thought I used a lot of kWh THIS time!), avg temp 31 degrees (perhaps my thermostat was set higher?) At most that bill was $220 if I recall correctly. Translate those kWh used in '07 to today's rates and that's a $416 bill, an 89% increase. Yikes.

We never paid anything near this amount when we lived in other cities. Like Rex, we keep our thermostat at 65 and 60 at night. But I worry about how most of us will pay these bills. And I worry that people will get sick, being so cold. I can not believe that these prices do not involve some sort of gouging. It just doesn't seem right.

I know the total must be shocking...I cannot imagine paying that much, but the total amount of the bill is completely meaningless without the number of kilo-watt hours used.

We had some nights in January that were in the single digits...that needs to be taken into consideration. I live in Virginia so I have a different electric company. They put the last 12 months of kWh used on my bill each month. To make sure that I am not wasting energy somewhere, I usually compare my last January to this January to make sure they are somewhat close. I would recommend doing that for the others who's bill has shot up from December's bill

If one is using a heat pump, they should consider picking a temp and leaving it there. If you drop your thermostat from 65 to 60, it will cause your heat pump to use 'pure electric heat' when you turn it back up. If a heat pump is trying to make a 5-degree adjustment, it moves from it's very efficient 'heat pump' mode to 'electric heat' mode. You might as well be heating your house with a bunch of hair dryers and a toaster oven. Have your system checked by a pro and ask what they recommend for your system.

$1200.00. Yes, the decimal is in the right place.

I'm in shock.

FR: Like the man says, the number is shocking, but only in context. How big is your home, and what was your bill for the same period last year? How does the energy consumption compare? My bill last month was also inflated by the fact that BGE was late reading the meter, and included 34 days on my tab.

I've not received Feb. bill yet but I was on the phone with BGE at least 5 times last month because of that bill. During this year we replaced an electric water heater with a propane tankless. Our house is all electric base board heat. I've changed all the lights to CFLs and during xmas I changed to all LED lights. I was very interested in seeing what effect all those changes did to our historically high Dec/Jan bill. NOT this year BGE meter reader didn't even bother to read the meter. With all the changes we did this year BGE "estimated" our bill ($570.00) based on none of those changes. Frustrating! If I could afford to put up a wind mill in my yard to get off their grid oh I'd do it in a heart beat! Where's the stimulus money to help with that?

As long as you have an unregulated monopoly providing your gas and electric, expect these kinds of bills. It is also noted that "he's noted that the wholesale rates BGE is passing along in our bills are about to drop, finally reflecting the crash in oil prices and giving us all a break in the coming months." That will help, now that winter is just about over. To top all of this off, BGE has the worst customer service, especially when the power goes out during a storm.

This is an update...got my BGE bill today. It was different, of course higher then I calculated based on the reading I took myself on Feb. 9th. I looked again at the bill and the rates had gone UP. Did they notify any one that the rates were going up yet again? They use to announce when rates were going up guess it's a monthly thing now so they just do it. Look at your bills. I'm on time of use so I have 3 rates but each went up on the Dec/Jan bill and they went up again for this Jan/Feb bill. I heard someone is looking into BGE billing practices and well they should. And Gomez is right in his post we have had the worst service since they deregulated and started raising the rates.

BGE= Busy Gouging Everyone

The biggest blame should be pointed at the temperatures for Jaunary. It was one of the top 15 coldest January's since 1900 in Baltimore, MD historically.

Some weather historicals (as reported at BWI).

Dec 2007 avg temp 37.8F (norm 36.7)
Jan 2008 avg temp 35.4F (norm 32.3)
Feb 2008 avg temp 37.1F (norm 35.7)

Dec 2008 avg temp 38.5F
Jan 2009 avg temp 29.3F **
Feb 2009 so far 38.9F

OUCH my Bill $1039... Like having 2 mortages... on a 2800 sq ft, 4 bed/2.5 bath house. my bill for these 2 months going back 9 years.

Dec-Jan Jan-Feb
kWh $$$$ kWh $$$$
2009 5086 $756.11 6892 $1,039.83
2008 5142 $687.83 4921 $663.43
2007 3879 $179.74 3738 $183.04
2006 6253 $243.00 3499 $243.00
2005 1261 $212.00 9407 $255.00
2004 3989 $242.00 4553 $242.00
2003 4568 $202.00 5034 $202.00
2002 4448 $213.00 3653 $213.00
2001 6576 $194.00 4814 $194.00
FR: Ouch is right. January 2004 is probably the best comparison. The average temperatures was 27.8 degrees, even colder than the 29.3 degree average in January this year. Here is the table for BWI monthly temperatures: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/climate/bwi/bwitemps.txt
It also appears you were on a budget billing plan in the earlier years, since the two consecutive bills match on dollars, but not kilowatt hours. That may have spread the pain and reduced your winter payments. You may want to return to the budget plan.

My bill has been 1,200 for the last two months. I have a small, 2600sf house. We do not use lights during the day, have supplemental oil heat and keep heat pumps at 60 degrees (yes, we are freezing here.) I invested in high efficiency w/d and a wood-burning stove and still my bill is double what it was last year. There is NO WAY I could be using 5100 kwh a month (this is what most families use in 6 months.) I always get the runaround from BG&E about conserving energy. What more can I do other than freeze to death? All I ask is that BG&E do the right thing and offer a program to families with unusually high bills to come to their house and do an energy audit to determine why the kw use is so high. All they do is say, "sorry...not our problem." Meanwhile, my kids's college tuition is pretty much gone, most of it going to BG&E. Plus, I have a handicapped child and I have had to cancel a few of his therapies in order to pay BG&E. Please help someone!

PLEASE HELP IS RIGHT. My December 19th bill was $370.95, January $532.85 and I just received Feb 19ths' reading at 440.53. I have had techs come out and service appliances, heater, water heater, etc. I set up a meter test on 1/26/09 and had a letter stating that it isn't thier problem by the 29th. After I had all of the servicing done, I set up another reading on 2/12/09 and have yet to hear anything back, but my new bill states that it is an estimated reading due to operating conditions. What does that mean? I own a small one bedroom condo and I work 8 hours a day, keep the thermostat low, unplug everything that can be unplugged and I still receive outrageous bills. This is an outrage!!!!! I can barely pay all of my bills and had to borrow money to pay for January. What are people supposed to do???? The rate that BGE has listed as for comparison is one of the best based on other companies' websites, but I seem to be the only one complaining about the bills. Pepco still has high bills, but customers that I know are not experiencing these types of totals. Please keep us updated on the hearing. I will definitely be there.

These people must be connected with the oil companies. Ill bet the profit statement for bge is amazing. Someone needs to step in to correct this. I cant take this anymore. Time to go back to an area with pepco service.

FR: Odd thing is, I just opened my Feb. BGE bill, and it's $90 LOWER than last month's. Then I saw the reason ... It's an estimated bill. So, next time they read my meter, I'll get slammed. Now the question is, why isn't the company able to read the meters each month? They blamed "operating conditions." What? Like heavy snow and ice? Maybe they reassigned meter readers to handle the phones.

I am confused with our BGE bill as well. It is rediculous and all they tell you is cut your thermostat down. This is insane. We do want our family to live comfortably instead of walking around with quilts. Something needs to be done.
Feb09 780
Jan09 603
Dec08 559
Nov08 274
Oct08 253

I am freaking out. I live in a 2200 sq foot 4 bedroom house. Avg kwh consumption is 650. I just got a bill for $1800 for 11,000 kwh usage wtf?
I checked the meter and the reading was correct. Asked the neighbors if they experienced this with their bill and they did not. Someone is stealing my power or BGE is ripping me off.

FR: Call BGE and have them test the meter. Clearly you have some sort of malfunction. And if someone really is stealing your juice, they can spot it at the pole.

My neighbor who lives in a 2 story 942 sq. ft. home is 65 and has end stage renal disease. She asked for my help when she received a $5,000 BGE bill. When I set her up online, it was discovered she has had this problem with huge billing for a whole year, but didn't complain due to receiving continuous MEAP. Her KWH jumped from 800 to 6900 during the 2008 winter season. They were prepared to end her service until I stepped in via customer service. When they put us on hold, I went about my daily chores leaving the phone on speaker status about 20 minutes. When she finally couldn't keep up with the energy assistance they decided to request the full amount or threaten termination. That process has been stopped due to further investigation. To top all of that off, the outside utility pole lamp started going off whenever she would turn on her heat in the winter. I found this had been happening for a year as well. She said it all began ( the huge bills ) when a central heating systems was installed by the landlord via ground digging around the home. We're going to stick it out to see who's responsible. BGE checked the utility pole but did not respond to the home to verify the report that when the heat is turned on the utility pole lamp goes out. We would be happy to receive your input and concerns.

BGE has said my budget billing is responsible for the fluctuation in my bills. I was on budget billing and for years had very low usage amounts. My meter was also "fixed" but BGE did not explain the extent of the problem until I got a bill for $683 in June. The July amount went up to $690 for budget billing. My husband is self-employed and times have been for tough, so I called BGE to set-up a payment plan. I was told that due to the budget billing having been undercharging me, I did not qualify for a plan, but I could go to Social Services and ask for help. I went to my local Community Action Council and applied for MEAP, but I make too much money to qualify for a grant, but I did get a 55-day extension. The problem is the total amount due kept growing and each month is actually 25% or my take-home pay. My husband called BGE this past Monday and they told him something completely different. They said I should have set up a payment plan in July (which I did try to do but they told me no). They also said my budget billing amount is $324. For the three-month period in question, my average actual usage is $190.19. Now, BGE is saying $1700 is due the beginning of November. When my husband questioned a supervisor about the bills and asked for a way to work it out, the supervisor suggested we ask local churches for help. The supervisor was being 100% serious, so now I am writing to my elected officials because I can't wait 4 weeks for a PSC investigation. I do not know what else to do, but I sincerely hope my family won't be sitting in the dark with no heat come the first of the month. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.