Now I fully understand the laws of supply and demand, and sure, I expected higher heating bills this winter. And of course this is perhaps a subject that I of all people shouldn't be bringing up here since I'm the one part of the Coup who lives in an apartment, not a big, old house. But I find it a little peculiar that my February heating bill is four times what it was last year (not double, not tripled, four times!) - particularly given that this February was 5 degrees warmer than last February. Is something fishy up with Dominion Hope - or are gas bills really that much higher this winter?
Posted by armand at February 28, 2006 11:02 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Corporate BullshitHah. This month my gas usage was less than it was in April last year and the bill was still nearly $300. I don't know enough about gas pricing and regulation in this region to comment, beyond the pissed off consumer perspective. I've been reading about Enron manipulating the (very badly) "deregulated" California market, and the thought you raised had crossed my mind.
Posted by: binky at February 28, 2006 12:46 PM | PERMALINKHuh - my bill is barely lower than yours, though of course last month they only estimated it - so maybe I'm getting doubly screwed now, since perhaps I wasn't sufficiently screwed in January.
Posted by: Armand at February 28, 2006 12:57 PM | PERMALINKWell, you know our fantabulous staff person checks her meter and has caught them making mistakes on estimation. I was inspired and tried, but I can't even read the damn thing.
Posted by: binky at February 28, 2006 01:03 PM | PERMALINKThe "estimated" reading has got be, some how, somewhere, illegal. My "estimated" readings are typically twice as much as actual consumption, yet at least twice a winter I get an enormous gas bill.
Posted by: bmj at March 1, 2006 11:55 AM | PERMALINKWell, this bill is from the "actual" reading. But yeah, the estimates are a problem. I remember once last year I ended up getting a refund because the "estimate" was actually not merely more than that month's gas usage - it was more than that month's + the next month's.
Posted by: Armand at March 1, 2006 12:33 PM | PERMALINK