Budget Billing: Protection Against Volatile Utility Bills
Posted on September 19, 2018 by Will Gehrke
Tags, Energy
This past summer was unusually warm in Oregon. In Portland, daily temperature rose above 90 degrees on 31 occasions. As an air-conditioning user, these hot days would normally have a huge impact on my home electricity bill. However, my household’s energy bill did not vary with the weather from month to month over this summer. Why is that?
The answer is budget billing. Budget billing plans are a great way to lower volatile heating and cooling bills. These billing programs look at your residence’s usage in previous years, and average out your energy usage over the year – so for example, the budget impact of an extremely warm August would be spread out over the following months, rather than hitting the customer all at once. I use budget billing because I find it enormously helpful to be able to predict what I will spend on my home utility bills. Budget billing programs are also available for natural gas customers. While the long hot summer is over, we will soon be facing winter weather, and budget billing also protects against high bills due to cold weather.
CUB would like to provide our readers with an update on programs available to customers in Oregon to reduce the volatility of their heating and cooling bills. Below is a list of the budget billing programs for investor owned utilities (click each program name for more information.)
Pacific Power: Equal Pay
Portland General Electric: Equal Pay
Idaho Power: Budget Pay
Avista: Comfort Level Billing
Cascade Natural Gas: Budget Payment Plan
NW Natural: Equal Pay
One does not need to rely on a utility-run program, however, to reduce your home utility bill. Another way to reduce home energy bills is a thermostat setback program. If your household is empty during the workweek, a programmable thermostat can automatically lower the temperature control while the house is empty. As a renter, I convinced my landlord to install a programmable thermostat in my apartment. In less than a year, the programmable thermostat has paid for itself. A one-degree reduction in the thermostat can reduce a home’s annual bill by 1 percent accord to the Department of Energy.
Please help CUB spread the word about these useful utility billing programs. Click here for additional information about home weatherization programs in Oregon. And for more information about how to conserve energy in your home year-round, visit our Consumer Tips Page!
To keep up with CUB, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
09/19/18 | 0 Comments | Budget Billing: Protection Against Volatile Utility Bills