How to get the most out of your electricity account

Nearly every electric bill has four parts: usage, supply, delivery, and fixed charges with taxes. The sample below shows each one.

Utility Co.Jane Doe750 kWh · actual read

1. 1Supply750 kWh × 9.80¢$73.50
2. 2Delivery750 kWh × 7.20¢$54.00
3. 3Customer chargeFixed monthly charge$12.00

Taxes & fees$7.97

Electricity total$147.47

1. 1The electricity itself
2. 2The wires to your home
3. 3The same every month

A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the unit your usage is measured in. Running a 1,000-watt space heater for an hour uses 1 kWh. The average US home used about 899 kWh a month in 2022, with Louisiana homes using the most and Hawaii homes the least.^⁠[1]

• Check the service dates. If you recently moved, they should start the day your new electricity service did.
• Check the meter read type. Bills usually say whether the reading was actual or estimated. Illinois, for example, requires an actual reading at least every second billing period, and every period for meters read remotely.^⁠[2]

Supply is the electricity itself, and in many states it includes moving power across the high-voltage grid. It’s billed per kWh, and generation is the largest part of what electricity costs.^⁠[3]

Delivery pays for the local poles, wires and meters, and your utility runs them no matter who supplies your power.^⁠[4] Regulators approve delivery rates, so you can’t shop for them. Our guide to supply and delivery explains who you pay for each.

Most bills add taxes and a flat monthly charge, called a customer or basic charge, that’s the same whether you use 50 kWh or 1,500. California’s three largest utilities now bill a $24.15 Base Services Charge to most households, with lower per-kWh rates to offset it.^⁠[5]

Budget billing is worth it if your bills swing with the seasons, but it won’t lower your yearly total. The utility estimates a year of bills and splits it into 12 equal payments. Con Edison bases the estimate on your last 12 months of use, the weather, rates and supply costs.^⁠[6]

If your yearly average is $140, a $210 February and a $90 May both become $140. At the end of the year, Con Edison credits you if you used less than you paid for, or bills you for the rest.^⁠[6]

It’s usually worth it, as long as you still read each bill. Autopay means you won’t miss a due date, and paperless gets the bill to you sooner.

A time-of-use (TOU) rate is cheaper only if you can move a lot of your use out of peak hours. The price per kWh depends on when you use it, and afternoon and early evening usually cost the most.^⁠[3]

A lighter option is a peak-event program. If Con Edison is your utility, you can earn rewards in summer for cutting use when the grid is strained. It’s free, and you can opt out any time.^⁠[11]

Switching can be worth it if a fixed rate beats your utility’s default rate for the whole contract. In most of Texas, you pick a retail electric provider.^⁠[12] In Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts, you can stay on the utility’s supply or shop.^{⁠[13,14,15]}

The utility’s default supply rate is often called the price to compare. Penn Power, a Pennsylvania utility, defines it as “the price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) you pay for electric generation and transmission.”^⁠[13] Hold every offer up against that number.

Rollovers like this are common: Massachusetts’s Attorney General found that people who switched suppliers paid over $700 million more than the utility’s basic service rate in a decade.^⁠[15]

Community solar is worth a look if you rent or can’t put panels on your roof. You subscribe to a share of a nearby solar farm, and it earns credits on your electric bill. NREL estimates that nearly half of households and businesses can’t host rooftop solar.^⁠[19]

The Department of Energy calls it a good option for renters, and your utility and wires stay the same.^⁠[19] In the programs we work with, the discount on your solar credits is usually around 5 to 15%, depending on your state, utility and project.^⁠[20]

If your bill is hard to cover, you may qualify for more than one program. Each one has its own application.

To apply for LIHEAP, call the National Energy Assistance Referral line at 1-866-674-6327, or contact your state’s LIHEAP office.^⁠[22] Apply early in the season.

The easiest way to track your usage is your utility’s website or app. About 72% of US electric meters were smart meters in 2022.^⁠[26] With one, your utility may show your use by the day or hour, so log in and turn on these alerts.

• Bill ready
• Payment due or payment made
• Usage or bill running higher than usual
• Outages
• Peak-event days, if you’re on TOU or a rewards program

Many utilities also support Green Button, which lets you download your usage data.^⁠[27] Compare each month with the same month last year, since the seasons swing your bill the most.

Call your utility when something on the bill doesn’t match your life. It’s usually the fastest way to sort it out.

• Estimated bills in a row

  Two or more estimates, then an actual read, can mean a catch-up bill.

• A bill far above last year’s

  It’s the same month and home, with no new appliance, guest or heat wave.

• A supplier you don’t recognize

  Ask when your supply was switched, and who switched it.

• Charges before your move-in

  Ask the utility to correct your start date.

When you call, ask them to confirm the meter number is yours and check the reading. If you’re behind, ask for a payment arrangement and which discount programs fit. Mention any medical needs or hardship, too.

Do this checkup once a year, or whenever you move. Most items take a few minutes.

Public Grid does much of this checkup for you, for free. We compare supply rates where there’s energy choice, and we match you with community solar and assistance programs you may qualify for. We earn money through referrals from our energy partners when we connect you to their programs.

Supply rate

Utility supply rate9.80¢

Fixed rate we found8.90¢

Fixed for 12 months