Name:	Mack -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/25/2018 5:03:13 PM

Anybody else get a fishy power bill this month?? Mine for December 15 thru Feb 15 service was $278. 

Yes, I know it has been cold and snowed and all, but we have not been in the cabin since Thanksgiving. Freezer has been emptied and turned off. Water heater off. The only power still on is for a refrigerator and a heat pump turned down to 55* heat. The bill last January 2017 was for $67.

We have contacted the APC for help. Not really interested and would not dispatch someone to check the meter until we asked for a supervisor. The meter is a new type that can be read from a vehicle remotely at the street.

Any of you folks having similar problems??

Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/25/2018 5:42:13 PM

Since the change over to wifi reading they don't do it as much, but sometimes they "estimate" a bill. I have no idea if that is the case but with the roads closed for two days they may have gotten behind and let the algorithm send out estimates, which are almost always high. I usually get my bill on the 27th but have yet to see it this month.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/25/2018 6:17:14 PM

I can't really offer you much, because I live here full time, but I will tell you my last bill was in line with what I expected.  I can't say that any of my bills have been beyond my expectation in recent months.  

Name:	PTClakefan -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/25/2018 6:47:56 PM

If you have a heat pump, check your thermometer to make sure it wasn't accidentially moved to the emergency heat position.  I did that a couple of years ago and my electric bill went from what should have been less than $100 to over $250 for the month.  Lesson learned and, as they say, education is expensive. 

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/25/2018 9:11:30 PM

Agree.  We did have unusually cold weather and when the outside temp gets low the heat pump efficiency suffers, and at some point it automatically reverts to resistance heating using the coils that are installed with the pump.  It did get pretty cold and I would imagine to keep your place at 55 the resistance strips got a workout that "enhanced" your bill.

Name:	BayPineYankee -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/25/2018 11:50:34 PM

Agree that something may be up - emergency heat or meter readinf issues. Our place is set @ 60 with 2 HVAC systems and we havent seen anything like those numbers. 

Name:	LSUboy -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/26/2018 9:14:54 AM

Mine was $263 and under construction. No light fixtures yet. Only heat pump running ?????

Name:	Little Talisi -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/26/2018 10:05:23 AM

After watching the other posts, I was curious as to what our bill would be. I checked online this morning and not wanting to scare anyone will only say that my budget billing amount is increasing. We live here fulltime and have two heat pumps. Our thermostats during the winter are set at 68. Now let me tell you what I have checked and found today. I have a weather station here and it provides me with both current conditions and forecast. It also keeps all of my historical data on the web. This years bill was for 34 days. I checked the dates for last year and discovered that the average temp was 56 degrees with winds at 2 mph out of the SE. When I checked this year same time period I found that the average temp was 42 degrees with the wind at 3 mph from the NE. I checked the wind because it determines the amount of windchill. Winds from the NE drop the temp the most. Now if you had set your thermostat at 55 or 60 both years last year it virtually never came on. This year a different story. This is strictly my opinion and if my farmer grandfather was still with us he would have just said, "It was colder".

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/26/2018 11:08:48 AM

Our bill was close to $100 more last month than any month since we built years ago and that includes July and August.  Usage is read online on 8 - 11 each month, so bill included the really cold spell the first week of Jan.  Heat pumps only work well when temp is over 32 degrees according to AC folks, so we all got hit.  I expect the bill that comes in Feb will be worse than Jan...

Name:	Karl -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/27/2018 10:01:47 AM

The perfect example of the power company just doing what it want's that's all. Does anyone like the southern company? It seems pretty obvious that they are pretty hated there payment center's if any sre left have like inch thick Plexyglass it is more secure than a Bank well the one where I live does. I wish society would petetion the power company more in the southeast.In Ga. we have to pay for a nuclear plant that isn't even built and can't possibly deliver power to where I live in relation to it. I live too far away from it to get any power from it when it is finnished and it is alredy like 2 years behind schedule.Isn't that just grand LOL.  

Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	You're kidding, right?
Date:	1/27/2018 3:37:12 PM

You don't realize how good you have it. You pay the lowest rates for electricity in the nation. As for the nuclear plant you obviously have no idea what you are talking about. Power doesn't go from a generator plant straight to your house, even if you lived in sight of the plant. It all goes into the grid and can be moved from section to section up to 300 miles without any loss. Southern company produces excess power daily and sells it onto the national grid, sometimes at up to 10 times the rates you pay in peak times. They can sell power generated here across the country with agreements with other companies to transfer it. On average they get 3-4 times our rates for this power, but at times much higher. All that excess sell off helps keep our rates low.

As for the payment centers, please point me to anywhere in today's world that doesn't have cashiers behind glass if at all feasable. If you want cheaper power then figure out how to raise Nikola Tesla from his grave to complete his wireless power grid. Other than that educate yourself a little before spouting off. Yes, southern company has a pretty sweet deal. In Alabama they get a guaranteed 15% ROI. A good deal for any business that can get it. They were given that deal in the earlier stages of rural electrification to encourage development in rural areas. Because of that they did develop the infrastructure to efficiently deliver cheap power. If you think it too expensive you are more than welcome to produce your own any way you can. Also by charter they are required to purchase any excess you produce from you. The Public Service Commission, or some simular government agency, is who sets the rates in most states, not the power company.

I'm sure you are thinking I must work for southern company or APCO. I don't. Never have. An ex-father-in-law did before retiring but my opinions have nothing to do with that. I am just an educated consumer. I also admire Nikola Tesla as much as anybody in history. He is the greatest inventor in history. Every month when you pay your cheap power bill you should thank him and the other early pioneers in the power industry like Thomas Martin. I will climb off my soapbox now.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Ala Power rates are HIGH.
Date:	1/27/2018 4:14:06 PM

Alabama rates as 28th lowest in nation.....nothing to brag about.  US average is 12 cents/kw, APCO rate is 11.5 Cents....not great.  Washington State is 7.5 cents/ kw.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Ala Power rates are HIGH.
Date:	1/27/2018 10:39:40 PM

Karl is talking about antes in Georgia but they probably aren't too different than Alabama.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Ala Power rates are HIGH.
Date:	1/27/2018 10:56:54 PM

Yeah, I know.  I was responding to Lifer who is the world's greatest salesman for APCO!  Southern Co has major problems in GA and MS with customers having to pay for plants that are years behind schedule.  MS Power got a rate increase in advance of construction and got so far behind the courts made them refund most of the advance to customers.  Utilities are just about as bad as da gubment.

Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	Ala Power rates are HIGH.
Date:	1/28/2018 7:29:11 AM

Yea, your right. I got my bill last it. Outrageous! It went from $72 to $83. I may have to make payments this month.

SARCASM (off)

There are ways you can control your power bill. I love folks that whine about how high theirs is while burning every light in the house, leaving lights on all night, keeping the water heater at max temp, leaving vampires plugged in, improper insulation, running the heat at 76 and AC at 68, the list goes on.  Yes I do like southern company. Their stock has performed very well fore through the decades.

As for the plants behind schedule, do really think that is SoCo's fault? Do you think they want to run behind schedule? You obviously don't understand construction today? How many lawsuits have they had to fight with the "greenies"? How much regulation do they deal with on a daily basis? I'm amazed they even got permits for nuke plants. If you don't like your bill install solar panels and windmills.

Name:	wix -	Reply
Subject:	Ala Power rates are HIGH.
Date:	1/28/2018 8:12:37 PM

How much was your propane bill?

Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	Ala Power rates are HIGH.
Date:	1/29/2018 7:42:57 AM

I bought 100 gallons in the fall. Right at $200 and I've burned about half of it, so $100 this season so far. My "carbon footprint" is very small by design. So low one might mistake me for a tree hugging greenie.

Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/29/2018 10:06:23 AM

i get some of my money back when So Co pays the quarterly dividend on the stock i own

Name:	GC -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/29/2018 4:15:56 PM

Ouch, got mine today.  4 times kw from last year.  Heat pump is new to me and obviously can handle teens, day after day.  

Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/29/2018 5:11:55 PM (updated 1/29/2018 5:13:01 PM)

just got my bill & fell over--$556.15 for Dec 22-Jan 25; says we used 4693 KWH--previous month was 2299; yr ago was 2188; Ive lived here 10 yrs & never had a bill over $297.00; 2 heat pumps & thermostat always on 68 during winter

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Power Co. Bill
Date:	1/29/2018 9:41:31 PM

Mine was about that.  But that doesn't suprise me because it is always high in January if we get a lot of cold weather.  I have no idea what my bill was last year - probably about the same for January.  I have way low months, and average months, but the period from mid-december thru January is always the highest.  

But I  will put it in perspective for you - my January bill in VA was $900 - at best probably $700.  That is what you get when you have a heat pump, too far north.