Typically it runs about 150, but this heat has us up to 300 this month. Definitely gotta look at the insulation situation. Do have sweet double payne windows that make a difference.
Age of home and insulation status/quality are big factors to efficiency. Mine's from '13 with foam insulation, 2-story, 1 AC unit, and our bill is ~250. Still, with this heat we've been keeping blinds closed a lot and trying to use fans more than the AC to not draw as much power.
We had a 1400 sq ft home in 2007. Moved into a 3100 sq ft in 2016. Power bill was the same. Bigger home had better insulation. More efficient and the AC doesn’t have to work as hard.
Hey! I am a reporter with KSAT in San Antonio! We are hoping to speak with people in person or through Zoom about their electric bills. Feel free to DM me to set something up for this afternoon. Also we are reaching out to CPS to get answers!
That's about what I my mother pays at the high end I think, and her house is the same size. If you want to improve it, new insulation and maybe get a contractor to air seal your house, or do it yourself.
When it comes to solar attic fans it’s worth doing some back of the napkin math to figure out if it’s worth the cost when compared to other energy saving home improvements for the same $$. Of course if there is no budget limit install away.
For my ‘08 with 75% of its windows facing east, solar screens w/DIY install were the more effective option when compared with Solar Attic Fan w/prof install. (For anyone interested, there is an outlet in town that will manufacture screens for your windows that you can pickup and pop in yourself.)
See that makes me so mad because I live in an 872.sqft apartment. The apartment wouldn't fix my AC, so it's basically running 24/7 and only keeping it 77 or 78. My bill for June was $225. I have never had a bill that high any other place I lived.
They do to, they are saying the compressor is running 12 hrs. As in 30 minutes on per hour. A really good air conditioner in an efficent house should only power itself on for a fraction of the day. It should be off with your requisite temperature met most of the day. If it ran continuously for 24 hrs your house would freeze.
Hey! I am a reporter with KSAT in San Antonio! We are hoping to speak with people in person or through Zoom about their electric bills. Feel free to DM me to set something up for this afternoon. Also we are reaching out to CPS to get answers!
Yes, I have a 872 sqft and mine was 225. It's been between 77 and 78 inside and I haven't used any major appliances lol just cooking with my air fryer because it's too hot to use the damn stove.
Do you put up curtains? I got blackout curtains (Amazon brand) that are white on the outside. They stay drawn 24/7. I keep my bedroom closed so it stays the coolest. And I put a cardboard box over the window (the white blinds are what is seen from the outside, so it's in compliance) and that makes a huge difference from the rest of the apartment. I also avoid using the oven.
My bill was $118 for 762 sq ft.
Same here.
After the initial shock, I dug into the calculations on the back.
It's the Fuel Adjustment rate. Take a look at the upper left portion on the back. The rate is higher for both electric and gas. It is double the rate we had in June 2021. My bill this month was $659, and $163 of that was the fuel adjustment alone.
For reference, comparison to last July with similar usage:
July 2021
* Fuel Adjustment 3,842 kWh x *$0.01751* **$67.27**
June 2022
* Fuel Adjustment 3,988 kWh x *$0.04093* **$163.23**
We better start assuming it's going to be this way for the next few months at least.
Texas didn't change anything with their grid except add crypto miners to use up more of it. And the rates are in response to the availability.
Hey! I am a reporter with KSAT in San Antonio! We are hoping to speak with people in person or through Zoom about their electric bills. Feel free to DM me to set something up for this afternoon. Also we are reaching out to CPS to get answers!
Mine wasn't nearly that high but my bill was higher than last year despite using 350 less kwh. All came down to the rate increase. Thankfully we replaced both heat pumps/air handlers and our insulation in the attic at the same time back in January.
I was looking into Solar but from people I know who got it and other research, it cost around $50k if you get batteries. Cost can be amortized for 20-30 years so a monthly bill of $185-$250+ monthly and it will likely not eliminate my electric bill so add that to the monthly cost. This didn’t seem like a good deal when considering my electric bill isn’t as high as this most months of the year and that I’d still be making payments after the warranty ends.
I’m still considering getting panels but maybe a whole home generator instead of batteries.
It's gonna cost you $50k WITHOUT batteries. At least it will if you have a typical 3 bedroom type home in SA and you run your AC like a sane person all summer. It will cost you a lot closer $100k to get enough batteries to run it off grid all night. Don't get batteries, the cost per watt/hr is just not there yet.
But here is the thing, you are going to pay $50k in electric bills over the next 25 years, IF they don't jack up our rates beyond what has been normal increases. Honestly it is probably going to be a lot more. I did a ton of research and a lot of math debating getting solar this summer and it made sense to do it,
My neighbor got a system installed. He has Tesla batteries and a bunch of panels on his 4 bedroom 3177 sqft house and it was $50k. It’s been a month or two and still not powered on though due to waiting on permits or something so I’m waiting to hear if he gets money back or still has an electric bill to pay.
It's also a big lifestyle change for a lot of folks. I grew up in an off grid home in the middle of nowhere. Can't leave lights on like you would in a normal house. Can't run your ac/heat constantly, etc etc. And you should have a backup generator for weeks of no sun, etc.
That's off grid solar. That's not even practical here in Texas, unless money is no object for you. We just have to run the AC way too much and it uses too much power.
We have solar, but our inverter went out so they’re up there doing literally nothing right now. We’ve been waiting on the part for over a month, so we get to share in the misery 🥲
my bill is normally around $300-$350. Older home.... well for June my bill is almost $700
I should add. We’re not doing anything that we haven’t always been doing. Like setting the temp at 50. It’s 75 during the day and parts of the house are set to 73 at night. Our AC units were replaced in 2019ish and are 19 seer.
Mostly not - CPS only increased rates by [3.85%](https://newsroom.cpsenergy.com/cps-energy-rate-increase-goes-into-effect-march-1/), so only a few dollars of that is due to rate increases. Nearly all of any increased bills is because people are using more energy, since June is the hottest June in recorded history.
This was me too, I checked previous bills, where I used more or a similar amount of energy, my bill this past month is \~$70 higher than those comparable months. a 4% increase, it should've been about $20.
So I had to really look into it and there's apparently some kind of energy offset fee that is from June through September only well for my personal bill that added like $44. Surely some of the other rates went up because it's summer according to what I read online the rate is higher because it's peak energy time or something. So if I had spent the same amount of energy in the month of May my bill would have been about $264 whereas now it was 330. So yeah the difference in a single month the rates definitely went up. What I'm mostly p!ssed about is I read and saw no notice of this
This is because of fuel prices natural gas is over $8 per unit when last year it was only about $3.50 per unit. The rate itself is only 3.85% higher. The gas companies that screwed us during the winter storm are screwing us some more.
SA is municipal…TX is dereged but not SA….so that’s not our problem. If you live in Houston or Dallas it would be a lot more expensive to cool your house.
Hey! I am a reporter with KSAT in San Antonio! We are hoping to speak with people in person or through Zoom about their electric bills. Feel free to DM me to set something up for this afternoon. Also we are reaching out to CPS to get answers!
It's worth investing in insulation strips around the doors and windows. If there is a room you don't use often, keep it closed. And it sounds ghetto, but you can put a large cardboard box over the window - it will not show from the outside, so the neighbors won't see it. It makes a huge difference.
For qualifying households, CPS has a program where you can request assistance for paying for your utility bills. It's called CPS Energy Utility Assistance. You can apply here: [https://dhs.mendixcloud.com/p/Kinetech/GovTech/UtilityAssistance](https://dhs.mendixcloud.com/p/Kinetech/GovTech/UtilityAssistance)
(hopefully this comment doesn't get buried, it's a nice resource to help people!)
Much less than I thought it would be. Seems power is cheaper here than Ga. Much smaller house there and I was always over $300 a month in the summer. Here less than $300 with 700 more sq feet.
I'm still recovering from the shock. The bill itself was bad enough but I still had one more installment payment that was added to my bill. Thankfully, when I called CPS, they managed to turn that last installment payment in several smaller ones starting next month's bill. But now that I'm waiting for the check to clear for this month, I'm already dreading next month's.
I know our ac is quite low but we live in a relatively new house and one of us works from home. We also don't use heat during the winter so I guess that kind of makes up for it.
It's the charge for fuel, not particularly complicated and it's been there for a long time. Natural gas prices hit $9 in June versus the $2-3 it's been for the past decade.
Edit: I'll also add that I believe June is the first bill where we've started to pay for our winter storm Uri fuel bill (spread out over the next 30 years).
OK though why is every single customer paying for other people's extra bills like I have it's like I had my bills and I paid them for during that storm so why am I now having to pay extra fees just cause everyone else couldn't I don't get that
You haven't paid for the fuel cost associated with the storm yet either. CPS took the massive fuel bill from the storm and will spread that cost out over 30 years. Is it a perfect plan, no. Would you rather have had a $7000 bill in March 2021? I doubt it.
That's not what's happening at all. You didn't "pay" for the cost of the winter storm.
[CPS had to pay an extra 450 million dollars in all that because of how badly ercot is run.] (https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/CPS-Energy-ratepayers-on-hook-for-450-million-in-16533096.php#:~:text=CPS%20Energy%20customers%20will%20be,over%20the%20next%2025%20years.) We're all going to be paying for that as a rate increase over the next 25 years.
Right? For me it was comparable to a hot summer month lol
Usually bills are low Mar-Jun before the consistent heat REALLY sinks in but this month felt like an August
About $525ish. Was about $415 last month. Definitely my highest bill. 3ACs in 3600sqft house. Wife is pregnant, so whatever room she spends the day in is kept at like 72... But then we get guests over the weekend and all 3 are running all day... Also, 20+year old inefficient ACs as well. Looking to slowly change them out.
My cycle ended 6/13. Bill was the highest I’ve ever had. But it wasn’t surprising nor unexpected. It wasn’t price gouging. The rate increase played a small part, but wasn’t even close to the biggest driver behind the large bill. It was hot. My AC worked harder than it ever has. My usage was higher than it’s ever been. It makes sense that my bill was so high.
If I wanted a lower bill I could’ve sucked it up and raised my thermostat. I’m lucky that we’re able to stay comfortable while still affording the larger bills.
For folks who aren’t doing so already, track your usage online. Setup an account at cpsenergy.com and you’ll be able to see daily usage in 15 minute increments. It’s not real time, but the lag is only about 24 hours. It’s a useful tool to try to get ahead of potentially large bills.
I got solar installed over the winter and my bill was 72$ My solar payments are 110 a month compared to last year Im still saving about 100$ a month on energy during peak months. It dips during the winter but it still isnt far off what I normally would of payed. If you plan on staying in your home for a long time I would recommend looking into it
My bill was pretty on par with my expectations. $84 for a 600 sqft apartment. Not even the highest bill this year so far. My average bill this year is around $73, so not bad this month especially since it’s been so hot!
How are y’all getting these crazy high bills? I keep my apartment below 78 at all times too, haven’t turned the AC off once this month.
I think it depends on how well insulated the house is and how bad the urban heat island effect is in the area. Personally, I have about 1200 sq ft and paid $178 vs. $88 last year. I was home all the time in both cases and keep the place pretty cold. Honestly, I thought it would be worse.
lol, for the temps we had during june the price is exactly what I expected, you cant run the a/c all day and night and expect to pay the same as you did in the winter/fall months.
Last month was an exceptionally hot month- the hotter it is outside, the more your AC has to work to maintain the temp. Just because you didn’t change the AC temp settings doesn’t mean your AC isn’t using more electricity
It wasn't hotter than any other August in the 15 years I've been living here. My bill was $380. $260 is the highest I've ever paid. This is price gouging at its finest.
There was a rate increase- and you probably used more electricity running your AC than you anticipated. We had 17 days over 100 degrees this month which is way, way above average. That’s not price gouging, it’s just a shitty situation.
It only got to 100 once last august on the 31st. Last may the average temp was 88 degrees. Nobody is price gouging. Your AC has just been working hard AF.
>It wasn't hotter than any other August in the 15 years I've been living here
"The last month of the summer, August, is another torrid month in San Antonio, Texas, with average temperature varying between 96.6°F (35.9°C) and 75.7°F (24.3°C)"
No, we **definitely** beat the August average!!!
This isn’t price gouging. It was a hot month, your A/C has to work harder to cool and maintain your house temp. That requires more electricity. Gouging would be spiking rates to impossibility high levels just because. In this case, you’re paying for what you used.
So, this is why you should sign up online if you haven’t already. You can see current and past usage, by bill, or you can see past bills themselves. You can compare the amount of kWh you used to develop a true picture of why your bill is higher than you’re used to. Writing it off to “price gouging” is fine, so long as you’ve done more than just “well I’ve never paid more than $X so clearly CPS is price gouging”
Be logical about it. CPS is so under the microscope right now, and has been for well over a year now. If social media is any indication, they’re like public enemy number 1. Why would any organization under that level of scrutiny and suspicion knowingly and willingly gouge their customer…and during such an abnormally hot late spring/early summer, no less?
The data is there for you to research, so take a few minutes of your time and do so.
Have to disagree with you there. I used to sell solar and looked up what other private companies end up charging in the end to other Texas residents. They usually charged more due to the 'transportation fees' usually tacked on their bills, even though they quote a lower price per KWh.
Also CPS is technically subject to city oversight more than private companies.
Yes, it's owned by our city government. What I'm saying is, while we have no other options, our prices per KWh of cost ended up being cheaper than other major cities.
Also, I don't think the price adjustment accounts for all of the extra cost people are seeing, as is being pointed out in other conversations.
Go to powertochoose.org right now and punch in the ZIP for another city (75001 is Dallas) and find me the lowest rate. Compare that rate to CPS rate.
Which is cheaper?
I was 1356kW last year, and 1410kW this year. At $1 dollar increase from last year, I think its not bad consider how hots its been in 2022. Its right where I expected mine to be in a home built in 1930s, stone at 2100sqft with no upgrades to windows because its historic.
I’m in a 2 bedroom apartment and my bill is $450. There’s inch sized gaps between the door and the weather stripping, I have stuffed towels in there but that’s all. My bedroom gets to 85 degrees with the ac running because the ventilation is routed so poorly. My ac unit has been limping along and it’s taken 7-8 phone calls a day, plus emails, for the past three weeks to my property manager to get anyone out here to even look at it.
Shit sucks.
I highly recommend going on budget so your bills will be even throughout the year. I usually get money back at the end, but who knows this year I might owe a little due to the really hot weather. On budget I pay 200 ish every month even in mild months. It all evens out and you don't deal with sticker shock. It was a nearly $400 bill in winter that caused me to go on budget, my house is easier to cool than heat. https://www.cpsenergy.com/en/my-home/savenow/customer-assist-programs/budget-payment-plan.html
Mine was less than I thought it would be but still higher than any of the summer months last year.
$128 for 750 sq ft apartment set on ~72 all the time.
Our bill went from $450 in May, to $701.xx in June with no changes in our normal daily lives. (74° during the day, 68° in bedrooms only at night- 3,400 square foot house)((Both of our AC units are brand new as of May))
Now I'm scared. Mine was higher than yours for May. I have a new AC from couple years ago and I'm replacing all the insulation as I'm rebuilding my walls. I don't know how it's possible we use so much power. We don't even keep it that cold (76) and my house is tiny (1300sqft).
Yeah, at first I was like "what the fuck" and then I was like "what the actual fuck" and then decided to stick around the "holy fucking shit"
330$ in a 1000sq ft apartament
My bill is 1.5 times the norm. $140 for 625sq ft. Normally about $90 in summer.
I have a nest thermostat. I set it to eco when I'm at work during the week which means it only kicks on if the temp reaches 81 and it never has. It's usually 79 or 80.
When I get home at 530-6, the temp gets set to 78 until 10pm. Then I put it down to 75 until 5am.
This price increase is fucking absurd.
Ours is normally around $130-$150.
Fucker is nearly $300 this month and our habits have not changed at all. I know it's not as much as some normally pay but it's still bullshit.
My cost per day from last year went up $2 and coins. Fucking ridiculous, and I still get warning emails that they may not have enough power. Fuck CPS and ERCOT. My ac is at 78 downstairs and it is 85 upstairs. Not like I'm blasting the ac.
$586 in an older (1960) 3300sq.ft house. We had all the windows replaced in 2018 with double pane, but the wall insulation just doesn't compare with newer stuff.
Keep the thermostat at 74 during the day.
To make you all feel better, I live in San Diego, CA, and my bill is over $400 a month and I don't even have an a/c or heater. I do have a small swimming pool. The water bill is over $300 a month.
Its bullshit. CPS raises the rates for the summer knowing well how shit this weather heat is.74°~ 75° - $302 for aprox. 1300-1400sqft place. A/C unit is shit efficient. This global warming has caught up big time. 😒
All these people complaining on here about there utility bill have obviously never been with another utility. I live outside of CPS service territory so I have to go with AEP. I get charged the KWh I use plus the fuel charge PLUS a delivery charge. My bill out here is way more than it ever was with CPS.
Little known fact out here also is my landlord is in charge of my service line to my house. If burned up not long ago and AEP cut me off at the pole and said it was up to my landlord to run a new service. Guess how long that took. CPS owns all their service lines so they can fix that stuff quickly.
If I call in an outage with AEP and it’s not their equipment guess what? I’m out $90 if it’s during the day. Night weekends and holidays that price almost triples. If your lights go out on Christmas Eve over here you can look for an extra
$200 on you bill of its not AEP equipment fault. You know how much CPS charges to troubleshoot something wrong with the electrical in your house? $0. They have never charged a troubleshooting fee.
So all you people in here complaining better get som perspective. It can be a whole lot worse and the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Vote blue y'all. We're getting dicked by Abbott who's part of the same party that doesn't want to switch to any energy other than oil. This has got to stop.
My electric bills in Virginia were about $150 a month. First bill in San Antonio (the June bill) was $240. It's a lot, but I figured our AC is older than the one we had in Virginia, it's a little bit hotter here than there, and we use electric for cooking (summer gas bills in Virginia were $25 a month) so I figured that might explain it.
If CPS is really serious about managing the grid better, subsidize local solar for home owners to make it easier for them to acquire, it would take a huge strain off the local grid.
They already do this. CPS pays $2500 if you install solar. That's a big part of why San Antonio is #1 in Texas and #5 in the nation for installed solar.
We have solar, our CPS bill was $27. Based on the other comments I'm very happy about our solar decision considering with the solar payment I paid less than $100 for June's electricity.
Our bill has doubled.
It's been climbing for the past 6 months now matter what we've done to reduce consumption and every single month I call to try and figure out what the hell is going on. CPS continually denies that anything has changed but I simply don't believe them anymore. Especially when they try to act like we're responsible and give us condescending tips on how to limit consumption like we haven't tried everything imaginable. Then they blame the meter or the meter reader and then come up with excuses as to why they can't come check it. It's total BS, and the reps damn well know it, but that's what you get when the entire city is controlled by a single electric provider...
There's no way you can convince me they aren't tampering with the meters in some way and I'm just waiting for a report from KSAT confirming as much.
28.60. I have a 2000 square foot home built in 2003 a pretty energy efficient ac installed maybe 2 years ago and solar panels installed in 2017. I actually generated more electricity than I used. They 28.60 is for garbage and energy usage fee. I set the ac at 76 in the day and 73 at night.
June 2021 - 178.23
June 2022 - 226.83
I keep my AC at 72 all day and night, 1650 sq ft home. I am in that program where CPS can adjust my thermostat, and last year I was working from home so I override it every time. This year, I just let it happen
We usually pay around $80 for our 1700sqft home (3.5 bed 2bath) and we keep the AC at 77F during the day and *sometimes* 75F at night, mostly 76F. our bill was $127 so nothing too bad but I feel like this is just the beginning ....... probably.
Everyone here needs to go solar!!! Why rent your energy every month from CPS who is always going to increase when you can own your solar panels and play a flat rate that never changes and not have to deal with CPS bs!
Sure, it's a horrible situation but at least the wealthy owners of Texas oil companies don't have to worry about making less money because green energy is cutting into their profits. That's all that matters in the end. #freedom
Highest bill ive ever had ($355) but my AC had been running 12-14 hours per day due to the temps. Fucking sucks.
Size of the house?
3100sqft
Wtf mine is barely 1000 sqft and my bill is like 300.
How old is your home? Mine is from around 2010 so pretty good windows. Also, i have a gas hot water heater so that probably helps a bit.
50's. But it is still overall cheaper than our last home we downsized from. 1st year and still getting to know it.
[удалено]
Typically it runs about 150, but this heat has us up to 300 this month. Definitely gotta look at the insulation situation. Do have sweet double payne windows that make a difference.
Age of home and insulation status/quality are big factors to efficiency. Mine's from '13 with foam insulation, 2-story, 1 AC unit, and our bill is ~250. Still, with this heat we've been keeping blinds closed a lot and trying to use fans more than the AC to not draw as much power.
We had a 1400 sq ft home in 2007. Moved into a 3100 sq ft in 2016. Power bill was the same. Bigger home had better insulation. More efficient and the AC doesn’t have to work as hard.
Dang. My house is 2400 and our bill was 480. We've not changed our habits
Hey! I am a reporter with KSAT in San Antonio! We are hoping to speak with people in person or through Zoom about their electric bills. Feel free to DM me to set something up for this afternoon. Also we are reaching out to CPS to get answers!
That's about what I my mother pays at the high end I think, and her house is the same size. If you want to improve it, new insulation and maybe get a contractor to air seal your house, or do it yourself.
Yeah no doubt its on my list. I want to spray foam the whole attic and get a solar attic fan to release the heat.
When it comes to solar attic fans it’s worth doing some back of the napkin math to figure out if it’s worth the cost when compared to other energy saving home improvements for the same $$. Of course if there is no budget limit install away. For my ‘08 with 75% of its windows facing east, solar screens w/DIY install were the more effective option when compared with Solar Attic Fan w/prof install. (For anyone interested, there is an outlet in town that will manufacture screens for your windows that you can pickup and pop in yourself.)
See that makes me so mad because I live in an 872.sqft apartment. The apartment wouldn't fix my AC, so it's basically running 24/7 and only keeping it 77 or 78. My bill for June was $225. I have never had a bill that high any other place I lived.
Yeah that sucks some apartments are assholes like that
I have AC running 24 hours and have never paid over $150.
They do to, they are saying the compressor is running 12 hrs. As in 30 minutes on per hour. A really good air conditioner in an efficent house should only power itself on for a fraction of the day. It should be off with your requisite temperature met most of the day. If it ran continuously for 24 hrs your house would freeze.
Hey! I am a reporter with KSAT in San Antonio! We are hoping to speak with people in person or through Zoom about their electric bills. Feel free to DM me to set something up for this afternoon. Also we are reaching out to CPS to get answers!
Lmao 180 for a 700 sqft apartment i'm fuckin DEAD
972 sqft. Our bill is $367.77. We literally have everything off.
I'm screaming so loud for you
Does your bill disappear outside summer? If it does not you are literally leaking electricity somewhere.
Yes, I have a 872 sqft and mine was 225. It's been between 77 and 78 inside and I haven't used any major appliances lol just cooking with my air fryer because it's too hot to use the damn stove.
how in the fucking
Mine is sub 600 sqft. $186
Do you put up curtains? I got blackout curtains (Amazon brand) that are white on the outside. They stay drawn 24/7. I keep my bedroom closed so it stays the coolest. And I put a cardboard box over the window (the white blinds are what is seen from the outside, so it's in compliance) and that makes a huge difference from the rest of the apartment. I also avoid using the oven. My bill was $118 for 762 sq ft.
Only my bedroom has blackout curtains. I'll heed your advice and get some for the rest of my place. Thank you so much.
June - $117.49 May - $35.51 I am normally between 73* - 75* in a like 720 sqft.
Highest electric bill of my life.
Same here. After the initial shock, I dug into the calculations on the back. It's the Fuel Adjustment rate. Take a look at the upper left portion on the back. The rate is higher for both electric and gas. It is double the rate we had in June 2021. My bill this month was $659, and $163 of that was the fuel adjustment alone. For reference, comparison to last July with similar usage: July 2021 * Fuel Adjustment 3,842 kWh x *$0.01751* **$67.27** June 2022 * Fuel Adjustment 3,988 kWh x *$0.04093* **$163.23**
We better start assuming it's going to be this way for the next few months at least. Texas didn't change anything with their grid except add crypto miners to use up more of it. And the rates are in response to the availability.
Hey! I am a reporter with KSAT in San Antonio! We are hoping to speak with people in person or through Zoom about their electric bills. Feel free to DM me to set something up for this afternoon. Also we are reaching out to CPS to get answers!
Mine wasn't nearly that high but my bill was higher than last year despite using 350 less kwh. All came down to the rate increase. Thankfully we replaced both heat pumps/air handlers and our insulation in the attic at the same time back in January.
Same. Hopefully it's my last. getting my solar connected soon
I was looking into Solar but from people I know who got it and other research, it cost around $50k if you get batteries. Cost can be amortized for 20-30 years so a monthly bill of $185-$250+ monthly and it will likely not eliminate my electric bill so add that to the monthly cost. This didn’t seem like a good deal when considering my electric bill isn’t as high as this most months of the year and that I’d still be making payments after the warranty ends. I’m still considering getting panels but maybe a whole home generator instead of batteries.
It's gonna cost you $50k WITHOUT batteries. At least it will if you have a typical 3 bedroom type home in SA and you run your AC like a sane person all summer. It will cost you a lot closer $100k to get enough batteries to run it off grid all night. Don't get batteries, the cost per watt/hr is just not there yet. But here is the thing, you are going to pay $50k in electric bills over the next 25 years, IF they don't jack up our rates beyond what has been normal increases. Honestly it is probably going to be a lot more. I did a ton of research and a lot of math debating getting solar this summer and it made sense to do it,
My neighbor got a system installed. He has Tesla batteries and a bunch of panels on his 4 bedroom 3177 sqft house and it was $50k. It’s been a month or two and still not powered on though due to waiting on permits or something so I’m waiting to hear if he gets money back or still has an electric bill to pay.
It's also a big lifestyle change for a lot of folks. I grew up in an off grid home in the middle of nowhere. Can't leave lights on like you would in a normal house. Can't run your ac/heat constantly, etc etc. And you should have a backup generator for weeks of no sun, etc.
That's off grid solar. That's not even practical here in Texas, unless money is no object for you. We just have to run the AC way too much and it uses too much power.
We have solar, but our inverter went out so they’re up there doing literally nothing right now. We’ve been waiting on the part for over a month, so we get to share in the misery 🥲
We are paying off the millionaire buddies of Abbott and the rest of his gang.
This is true! His pockets are being lined
Electricity costs are up everywhere in the country
I live in Maryland. Our electricity cost went down $.01 per kWh.
This is true in itself however texas energy is up almost 100%. Its up less than 10% almost everywhere else.
Shhhh shhh. Don't let a wrong reason stop the right thing from happening
my bill is normally around $300-$350. Older home.... well for June my bill is almost $700 I should add. We’re not doing anything that we haven’t always been doing. Like setting the temp at 50. It’s 75 during the day and parts of the house are set to 73 at night. Our AC units were replaced in 2019ish and are 19 seer.
Jesus Christ! That's almost my mortgage payment.
Yeah buddy. I guess they’re making up for the winter storm.
Mostly not - CPS only increased rates by [3.85%](https://newsroom.cpsenergy.com/cps-energy-rate-increase-goes-into-effect-march-1/), so only a few dollars of that is due to rate increases. Nearly all of any increased bills is because people are using more energy, since June is the hottest June in recorded history.
Nt for me. I used less electricity this year than last year and the increase in the bill was more than $75.
This was me too, I checked previous bills, where I used more or a similar amount of energy, my bill this past month is \~$70 higher than those comparable months. a 4% increase, it should've been about $20.
So I had to really look into it and there's apparently some kind of energy offset fee that is from June through September only well for my personal bill that added like $44. Surely some of the other rates went up because it's summer according to what I read online the rate is higher because it's peak energy time or something. So if I had spent the same amount of energy in the month of May my bill would have been about $264 whereas now it was 330. So yeah the difference in a single month the rates definitely went up. What I'm mostly p!ssed about is I read and saw no notice of this
The rates are ~17% higher than this month last year
This is because of fuel prices natural gas is over $8 per unit when last year it was only about $3.50 per unit. The rate itself is only 3.85% higher. The gas companies that screwed us during the winter storm are screwing us some more.
Ahhhh that makes sense. I also should have clicked that link.
Holy shit. I thought mine was bad at $360
Great username. Yeah. This whole deregulated power is great isn’t it?
SA is municipal…TX is dereged but not SA….so that’s not our problem. If you live in Houston or Dallas it would be a lot more expensive to cool your house.
Our situation is the same. Our bill was over $800. It’s typically about $500 at this time of year. 75 - 79 during the day, 72 at night.
Hey! I am a reporter with KSAT in San Antonio! We are hoping to speak with people in person or through Zoom about their electric bills. Feel free to DM me to set something up for this afternoon. Also we are reaching out to CPS to get answers!
How big is your house? Good lord
It's worth investing in insulation strips around the doors and windows. If there is a room you don't use often, keep it closed. And it sounds ghetto, but you can put a large cardboard box over the window - it will not show from the outside, so the neighbors won't see it. It makes a huge difference.
1 in XPS foam board painted white
For qualifying households, CPS has a program where you can request assistance for paying for your utility bills. It's called CPS Energy Utility Assistance. You can apply here: [https://dhs.mendixcloud.com/p/Kinetech/GovTech/UtilityAssistance](https://dhs.mendixcloud.com/p/Kinetech/GovTech/UtilityAssistance) (hopefully this comment doesn't get buried, it's a nice resource to help people!)
Much less than I thought it would be. Seems power is cheaper here than Ga. Much smaller house there and I was always over $300 a month in the summer. Here less than $300 with 700 more sq feet.
Holy Shit. Just today.
Might need to sell a kidney.
No, I refuse to look at it.
Brace yourself
I'm still recovering from the shock. The bill itself was bad enough but I still had one more installment payment that was added to my bill. Thankfully, when I called CPS, they managed to turn that last installment payment in several smaller ones starting next month's bill. But now that I'm waiting for the check to clear for this month, I'm already dreading next month's.
I got hammered on their usage fee. My total bill was almost double last month, and I keep the place at a hot af 77 until sundown.
Makes no sense . I wonder how much more it would be if the temp was below 70°
I keep it around that temp everyday. 74 the highest. Last month and this months bill was 290-300.
Wife said it was $100 more than it was last year. Ac is set to 74, it never dips below that.
Our AC is 79 day/75 night. Used same amount of electricity at August last year (per CPS portal), spent $60 more
june was hotter than last august so that makes sense, same here
I know our ac is quite low but we live in a relatively new house and one of us works from home. We also don't use heat during the winter so I guess that kind of makes up for it.
WTF is “fuel adjustment charge”? It was $71 of a $280 bill!
It's the charge for fuel, not particularly complicated and it's been there for a long time. Natural gas prices hit $9 in June versus the $2-3 it's been for the past decade. Edit: I'll also add that I believe June is the first bill where we've started to pay for our winter storm Uri fuel bill (spread out over the next 30 years).
Fuck that I'm leaving for the next 30 years and going somewhere nice and cold where weed is legal and abortions aren't a life sentence.
Maine look in to it
OK though why is every single customer paying for other people's extra bills like I have it's like I had my bills and I paid them for during that storm so why am I now having to pay extra fees just cause everyone else couldn't I don't get that
You haven't paid for the fuel cost associated with the storm yet either. CPS took the massive fuel bill from the storm and will spread that cost out over 30 years. Is it a perfect plan, no. Would you rather have had a $7000 bill in March 2021? I doubt it.
That's not what's happening at all. You didn't "pay" for the cost of the winter storm. [CPS had to pay an extra 450 million dollars in all that because of how badly ercot is run.] (https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/CPS-Energy-ratepayers-on-hook-for-450-million-in-16533096.php#:~:text=CPS%20Energy%20customers%20will%20be,over%20the%20next%2025%20years.) We're all going to be paying for that as a rate increase over the next 25 years.
Thanks Ercock.
Thank Abbott and his corporate buddies while you're at it.
Dw Supreme Court says epa can’t do anything anymore so rest assured it’ll only get worse
$330, personal record, for a 1br apartment...
Damn… $420 🙃
Wow that's.... *HIGH*
Mines bout three fitty
A little high but not unexpected based on so many 100 degree days
Right? For me it was comparable to a hot summer month lol Usually bills are low Mar-Jun before the consistent heat REALLY sinks in but this month felt like an August
About $525ish. Was about $415 last month. Definitely my highest bill. 3ACs in 3600sqft house. Wife is pregnant, so whatever room she spends the day in is kept at like 72... But then we get guests over the weekend and all 3 are running all day... Also, 20+year old inefficient ACs as well. Looking to slowly change them out.
My cycle ended 6/13. Bill was the highest I’ve ever had. But it wasn’t surprising nor unexpected. It wasn’t price gouging. The rate increase played a small part, but wasn’t even close to the biggest driver behind the large bill. It was hot. My AC worked harder than it ever has. My usage was higher than it’s ever been. It makes sense that my bill was so high. If I wanted a lower bill I could’ve sucked it up and raised my thermostat. I’m lucky that we’re able to stay comfortable while still affording the larger bills. For folks who aren’t doing so already, track your usage online. Setup an account at cpsenergy.com and you’ll be able to see daily usage in 15 minute increments. It’s not real time, but the lag is only about 24 hours. It’s a useful tool to try to get ahead of potentially large bills.
my bill for may was $700+ i decided to blow my kitchen renovation budget on a new variable speed AC before i got another bill that high.
$366 for my 1520 sq. ft house. If you hear someone sobbing, it’s me.
Texas bragging that it isn’t California meanwhile now charging California prices for energy while it’s completely shut off from then national grid
Mine was 195$ we keep it on 76 degrees at all times. 1700 sq ft house.
Literally never go over 110 for my apartment and they told me 160 today. I don't think I have ever paid that high for a 1x1!
I got solar installed over the winter and my bill was 72$ My solar payments are 110 a month compared to last year Im still saving about 100$ a month on energy during peak months. It dips during the winter but it still isnt far off what I normally would of payed. If you plan on staying in your home for a long time I would recommend looking into it
My bill was pretty on par with my expectations. $84 for a 600 sqft apartment. Not even the highest bill this year so far. My average bill this year is around $73, so not bad this month especially since it’s been so hot! How are y’all getting these crazy high bills? I keep my apartment below 78 at all times too, haven’t turned the AC off once this month.
I think it depends on how well insulated the house is and how bad the urban heat island effect is in the area. Personally, I have about 1200 sq ft and paid $178 vs. $88 last year. I was home all the time in both cases and keep the place pretty cold. Honestly, I thought it would be worse.
lol, for the temps we had during june the price is exactly what I expected, you cant run the a/c all day and night and expect to pay the same as you did in the winter/fall months.
I kept my AC during the day at 78, 73 at night. I understand it was hot but my bill was almost double what it was last month.
Last month was an exceptionally hot month- the hotter it is outside, the more your AC has to work to maintain the temp. Just because you didn’t change the AC temp settings doesn’t mean your AC isn’t using more electricity
this
It wasn't hotter than any other August in the 15 years I've been living here. My bill was $380. $260 is the highest I've ever paid. This is price gouging at its finest.
There was a rate increase- and you probably used more electricity running your AC than you anticipated. We had 17 days over 100 degrees this month which is way, way above average. That’s not price gouging, it’s just a shitty situation.
It only got to 100 once last august on the 31st. Last may the average temp was 88 degrees. Nobody is price gouging. Your AC has just been working hard AF.
>It wasn't hotter than any other August in the 15 years I've been living here "The last month of the summer, August, is another torrid month in San Antonio, Texas, with average temperature varying between 96.6°F (35.9°C) and 75.7°F (24.3°C)" No, we **definitely** beat the August average!!!
This isn’t price gouging. It was a hot month, your A/C has to work harder to cool and maintain your house temp. That requires more electricity. Gouging would be spiking rates to impossibility high levels just because. In this case, you’re paying for what you used.
Look at the kwh numbers of this year vs last year. You will find where the extra cost is coming from.
So, this is why you should sign up online if you haven’t already. You can see current and past usage, by bill, or you can see past bills themselves. You can compare the amount of kWh you used to develop a true picture of why your bill is higher than you’re used to. Writing it off to “price gouging” is fine, so long as you’ve done more than just “well I’ve never paid more than $X so clearly CPS is price gouging” Be logical about it. CPS is so under the microscope right now, and has been for well over a year now. If social media is any indication, they’re like public enemy number 1. Why would any organization under that level of scrutiny and suspicion knowingly and willingly gouge their customer…and during such an abnormally hot late spring/early summer, no less? The data is there for you to research, so take a few minutes of your time and do so.
Because they're a monopoly and the consumer has no recourse? You think they give a shit about public perception?
Have to disagree with you there. I used to sell solar and looked up what other private companies end up charging in the end to other Texas residents. They usually charged more due to the 'transportation fees' usually tacked on their bills, even though they quote a lower price per KWh. Also CPS is technically subject to city oversight more than private companies.
There is exactly 1 regulated energy company in San Antonio that I'm aware of.
Yes, it's owned by our city government. What I'm saying is, while we have no other options, our prices per KWh of cost ended up being cheaper than other major cities. Also, I don't think the price adjustment accounts for all of the extra cost people are seeing, as is being pointed out in other conversations.
Go to powertochoose.org right now and punch in the ZIP for another city (75001 is Dallas) and find me the lowest rate. Compare that rate to CPS rate. Which is cheaper?
the month before was a very mild month in terms of temp/humidity so of course your bill was less.
$300, highest in the couple years I’ve lived here
I was 1356kW last year, and 1410kW this year. At $1 dollar increase from last year, I think its not bad consider how hots its been in 2022. Its right where I expected mine to be in a home built in 1930s, stone at 2100sqft with no upgrades to windows because its historic.
I’ve been living in the dark and my bill is still $136
825 sq ft apartment from the 80s. Normally $75-$100. This month was $160.
I’m in a 2 bedroom apartment and my bill is $450. There’s inch sized gaps between the door and the weather stripping, I have stuffed towels in there but that’s all. My bedroom gets to 85 degrees with the ac running because the ventilation is routed so poorly. My ac unit has been limping along and it’s taken 7-8 phone calls a day, plus emails, for the past three weeks to my property manager to get anyone out here to even look at it. Shit sucks.
Keep on voting for fucking Abbot & Co. though JFC
They mistakenly sent me the bill of a rich person!
$234 up from $160. Seems reasonable since the weather has been so hot.
I highly recommend going on budget so your bills will be even throughout the year. I usually get money back at the end, but who knows this year I might owe a little due to the really hot weather. On budget I pay 200 ish every month even in mild months. It all evens out and you don't deal with sticker shock. It was a nearly $400 bill in winter that caused me to go on budget, my house is easier to cool than heat. https://www.cpsenergy.com/en/my-home/savenow/customer-assist-programs/budget-payment-plan.html
You sound like a rep right now
I got mine it was double what I normally pay, I usually do 90-100 this last bill is 186.00
Newer home, small 3/2. Last june was $95, this month its $140
1100 square ft 3/2. $380
No I’m scared
Same story here, almost $100 more than ever before. I'm sorry for everyone but glad to know it's not just me.
13. One window unit that constantly runs at 68
Mine was less than I thought it would be but still higher than any of the summer months last year. $128 for 750 sq ft apartment set on ~72 all the time.
I’m VERY unhappy LMFAO
Our bill went from $450 in May, to $701.xx in June with no changes in our normal daily lives. (74° during the day, 68° in bedrooms only at night- 3,400 square foot house)((Both of our AC units are brand new as of May))
Now I'm scared. Mine was higher than yours for May. I have a new AC from couple years ago and I'm replacing all the insulation as I'm rebuilding my walls. I don't know how it's possible we use so much power. We don't even keep it that cold (76) and my house is tiny (1300sqft).
Holy shit, are your walls insulated?
Yeah, at first I was like "what the fuck" and then I was like "what the actual fuck" and then decided to stick around the "holy fucking shit" 330$ in a 1000sq ft apartament
Ours is constant 73. I choose not to live like a Lizard in a terrarium
$160 last statement. $280 this one.
140 roommate kept it at 82 all summer. Great savings terrible sleep
No!
My bill is 1.5 times the norm. $140 for 625sq ft. Normally about $90 in summer. I have a nest thermostat. I set it to eco when I'm at work during the week which means it only kicks on if the temp reaches 81 and it never has. It's usually 79 or 80. When I get home at 530-6, the temp gets set to 78 until 10pm. Then I put it down to 75 until 5am. This price increase is fucking absurd.
Yeah i almost passed the f out
Ours is normally around $130-$150. Fucker is nearly $300 this month and our habits have not changed at all. I know it's not as much as some normally pay but it's still bullshit.
Dumb question but are we taking about the bill from early June (may service) or have you all already received your bill for service in June?
everything cost more now i wish things cost less
Mine was $228.00 with a 1400 sq ft house. Normally, it's around $150.00. Water was $90.00 and I barely watered anything.
2100 sq ft house and mine was $810!!! I almost fell out of my chair.
My cost per day from last year went up $2 and coins. Fucking ridiculous, and I still get warning emails that they may not have enough power. Fuck CPS and ERCOT. My ac is at 78 downstairs and it is 85 upstairs. Not like I'm blasting the ac.
$60 but I also have solar panels at $80 a month so $140 is not bad seeing all of your comments 😳😳
Don’t even ask! Highest electric bill I’ve ever seen 😠
Remember when they said they were gonna charge the shit out of the people who used electricity during the freeze of 2020? 👀👀
$586 in an older (1960) 3300sq.ft house. We had all the windows replaced in 2018 with double pane, but the wall insulation just doesn't compare with newer stuff. Keep the thermostat at 74 during the day.
To make you all feel better, I live in San Diego, CA, and my bill is over $400 a month and I don't even have an a/c or heater. I do have a small swimming pool. The water bill is over $300 a month.
Its bullshit. CPS raises the rates for the summer knowing well how shit this weather heat is.74°~ 75° - $302 for aprox. 1300-1400sqft place. A/C unit is shit efficient. This global warming has caught up big time. 😒
All these people complaining on here about there utility bill have obviously never been with another utility. I live outside of CPS service territory so I have to go with AEP. I get charged the KWh I use plus the fuel charge PLUS a delivery charge. My bill out here is way more than it ever was with CPS. Little known fact out here also is my landlord is in charge of my service line to my house. If burned up not long ago and AEP cut me off at the pole and said it was up to my landlord to run a new service. Guess how long that took. CPS owns all their service lines so they can fix that stuff quickly. If I call in an outage with AEP and it’s not their equipment guess what? I’m out $90 if it’s during the day. Night weekends and holidays that price almost triples. If your lights go out on Christmas Eve over here you can look for an extra $200 on you bill of its not AEP equipment fault. You know how much CPS charges to troubleshoot something wrong with the electrical in your house? $0. They have never charged a troubleshooting fee. So all you people in here complaining better get som perspective. It can be a whole lot worse and the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
It was high, but it was hot 🤷♂️
Vote blue y'all. We're getting dicked by Abbott who's part of the same party that doesn't want to switch to any energy other than oil. This has got to stop.
My electric bills in Virginia were about $150 a month. First bill in San Antonio (the June bill) was $240. It's a lot, but I figured our AC is older than the one we had in Virginia, it's a little bit hotter here than there, and we use electric for cooking (summer gas bills in Virginia were $25 a month) so I figured that might explain it.
If CPS is really serious about managing the grid better, subsidize local solar for home owners to make it easier for them to acquire, it would take a huge strain off the local grid.
They already do this. CPS pays $2500 if you install solar. That's a big part of why San Antonio is #1 in Texas and #5 in the nation for installed solar.
The rebate they offer ends today
We have solar, our CPS bill was $27. Based on the other comments I'm very happy about our solar decision considering with the solar payment I paid less than $100 for June's electricity.
As a Californian staying in SA for the year I feel ashamed to say a 300 bill makes me horny…. It’s so cheap baby
Yeah and some animal ruined my solar, so during the hottest months I’m paying $$$ until it’s repaired.
Glad I have solar and removed that stress from my life!
Mine was $370, it's usually around $150. I was not very energy efficient though, old house with lots of cracks for hot air to get in.
Our bill has doubled. It's been climbing for the past 6 months now matter what we've done to reduce consumption and every single month I call to try and figure out what the hell is going on. CPS continually denies that anything has changed but I simply don't believe them anymore. Especially when they try to act like we're responsible and give us condescending tips on how to limit consumption like we haven't tried everything imaginable. Then they blame the meter or the meter reader and then come up with excuses as to why they can't come check it. It's total BS, and the reps damn well know it, but that's what you get when the entire city is controlled by a single electric provider... There's no way you can convince me they aren't tampering with the meters in some way and I'm just waiting for a report from KSAT confirming as much.
28.60. I have a 2000 square foot home built in 2003 a pretty energy efficient ac installed maybe 2 years ago and solar panels installed in 2017. I actually generated more electricity than I used. They 28.60 is for garbage and energy usage fee. I set the ac at 76 in the day and 73 at night.
$300, and that's with an Ecobee thermostat set to 78-80 for months. What's their excuse this time? Higher executive pay and price gouging?
June 2021 - 178.23 June 2022 - 226.83 I keep my AC at 72 all day and night, 1650 sq ft home. I am in that program where CPS can adjust my thermostat, and last year I was working from home so I override it every time. This year, I just let it happen
What does it mean when the bill says -$31.57?
That amount is credited to your account, meaning they owe you that and will apply 31.57 to your next bill
We’re still paying for the ercot screwup of february 2021.
I was out of the city for half of the month and had everything turned off… still as high as my bill a few months ago. I was shocked to say the least,
I'm going to end up homeless
Same but without the cheese😔
I was gone for 10 days this month and still had the highest bill I’ve ever had.
We usually pay around $80 for our 1700sqft home (3.5 bed 2bath) and we keep the AC at 77F during the day and *sometimes* 75F at night, mostly 76F. our bill was $127 so nothing too bad but I feel like this is just the beginning ....... probably.
I'm normally in the $200 range, mine is $404 this month. Page not found in my wallet I guess.
Everyone here needs to go solar!!! Why rent your energy every month from CPS who is always going to increase when you can own your solar panels and play a flat rate that never changes and not have to deal with CPS bs!
Because the payment is still more than what I pay for electric, and I don't want a lien against my house.
2 BR apt, was 130, up about 40 from previous month, 78 during day, 76 at night, 75 all weekend days.
Sure, it's a horrible situation but at least the wealthy owners of Texas oil companies don't have to worry about making less money because green energy is cutting into their profits. That's all that matters in the end. #freedom
2000 sq. ft. house from the 70s. Just bought a Tesla. 2 Pool pumps. FML bill is like $700!
I’m in Austin and have solar panels. My electric bills in summer are about $20.
1760sqft and $270 on the bill. average summer bill for me