I received my Dec 5 - Jan 7 OG&E bill this past week and was taken back by the very unusual cost so I decided to do a little research on usage and pricing through myogepower.com. My wife and I own a 5 year old Energy-Star-rated 1800 sqft home in Moore that is 100% electric and utilizes a high efficiency heat pump for heating/cooling. The HVAC system was checked and tuned by Brad's Heating and Air here in Moore in November.
Usage Dec. 5 - Jan. 7 2012/2013 = 2025 kWh = $142.
Usage Dec. 5 - Jan. 7 2013/2014 = 3827 kWh = $266.
Being understandably startled by this number, I decided to dive into the bills a bit deeper by comparing similar temperature range days from last year to this year. Two such days that were decidedly similar were Jan. 20, 2013 and Jan. 12, 2014 (with today being a bit warmer on the high end). Our usage patterns/habits have not changed from last year.
Jan. 20, 2013 -> High Temp = 65, Low Temp = 37, Total Usage = 40.9 kWh, Total Cost = $2.54
Jan. 12, 2014 -> High Temp = 74, Low Temp = 42, Usage (as of 5pm) = 40.6 kWh, Total Cost = $4.49 (!!)
This shows the rate being charged this year is nearly double what last year's was.
I emailed OG&E customer service this past week requesting a smart meter check and was told there is a $50 up front charge for a test. If, after testing, it is revealed the smart meter is malfunctioning, the $50 will be refunded. If they decide it is working to standard, the $50 is forfeited. I still plan on having the test conducted just so I can troubleshoot any other issue that might be going on but am not hopeful I will receive my $50 back.
I will concede that this particular billing period was much colder for 2013/2014 than 2012/2013 but I wanted to see if other OKCTalk'ers had similar drastic increases in usage and cost.
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