What's in my Powerbill?

My interest in utility bills began as my gas and electric bills started skyrocketing in 2022.  In less than a year my utility bills had nearly doubled and I wanted to understand why.  As I started sifting through my ConEd bill I saw that it is quite difficult to figure out exactly why my bills doubled.   Trying to make sense of the myriad regulations, line items, and intricacies of my utility bill  was no easy task.   

Some basic questions came to mind – Why are there so many line items in my ConEd bill?  Why do I pay energy supply and delivery charges?  Why do I pay so many energy taxes taxes?   Each answer lead to more questions so I decided to start to work on understanding the details of my ConEd bill.  I figured that if I can’t understand my bill, others probably can’t either. 

My interest was further piqued when I received a postcard from an electricity supplier telling me it was time to pick a new electricity supplier.  Though I have a choice of electricity suppliers, this postcard was telling me that if I didn’t opt out in a few weeks, they would by my new energy supplier for a 2 year fixed rate term.  The good news was that the energy supply from postcard company was 100% renewable.  I had a few questions, so I decided to call the number on the postcard and check the Internet to see how they check out. 

I couldn’t get answer to basic questions such as the source of their renewable energy, comparable rate info or many details.   Searching the Internet and navigating ConEd’s website was quite disappointing and confusing.  What’s the point of creating a market for consumers to choose electric suppliers if we can’t research the options? There’s a large industry helping businesses optimize utility costs, but I didn’t find consumer digestible information that was independent of any energy market player. 

I am not an expert on energy, in fact, besides temping as typist at ConEd in 1991, I have no ties in any way to the energy industry.  I’m a curious, slightly compulsive consumer trying to become better educated, an in turn, help fellow frustrated electricity customers understand their utility bills.   

Let’s learn together!