Your electric bill shows how much electricity your home used and what it cost to deliver that electricity to you. Let’s break it down.
How Electricity is Measured
Electricity is measured in kilowatt-hours, or kWh. A kilowatt-hour is how much electricity you use when something that needs power runs for a certain amount of time. The more electricity your home uses, the higher the kWh number on your bill.
The Energy Use Chart
At the top of your bill, you’ll see a bar graph. This chart shows:
• How much electricity your home used this month
• How that compares to last month
• How it compares to the same time last year
Weather can make a big difference here. Very cold or very hot months usually indicate more energy used.
What the Charges Mean
Your bill includes different types of charges that pay for different parts of the electric system.
Distribution Charges
These pay for the local system that brings electricity to your home, such as:
• Power lines and poles
• Transformers and substations
• Equipment to fix outages
Generation and Transmission Charges
These pay for:
• Making electricity at power plants
• Moving electricity across long-distance
power lines
These costs can change when lots of people use electricity at the same time, like during extreme cold.
Putting It All Together
Your electric bill helps tell the story of how electricity gets from power plants to your home and how weather affects energy use. If your bill is higher during winter, it often means the weather made your home work harder.
