This time of year, Energy Advisor Darrell Marks hears a lot of questions from members about their electric bills. They notice that their bills are higher than normal, and they aren’t sure why.

Darrell always explains the two key factors behind electric bills. The first is, the bills are based upon the actual amount of electricity you use during each billing period. So, if the weather is warm during the billing period and your air conditioner is working hard to keep you cool, you’ll use more electricity.

The second factor is that bills follow your electric use by about a month. In other words, the bill you receive during September is mostly for the electricity that you used during August.

The bill received in September tends to be higher. This is due to the August temperatures typically being very warm in our part of the country. When you receive your bill, look at the top, and you’ll see two dates. Those dates are the start and finish of the time period the bill covers.

If you’d like to know more about the effect that the weather has on your electric bills, we have a handy app on our website that’s called Weather Insights. If you visit www.kvremc.com,
click savings and then energy savings from the drop down menu. At the bottom of the page you can then quickly access your local seven-day forecast, your estimated daily energy use, and what it currently costs to heat and cool the typical home in our area. You can also see how adjusting your thermostat would affect your costs. It’s easy to use-and it’s FREE!