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I know I am supposed to feel sorry for this person in the article, and this doesn't justify anything Amazon is doing, but, > She was already struggling to pay

I know I am supposed to feel sorry for this person in the article, and this doesn't justify anything Amazon is doing, but, > She was already struggling to pay her monthly $170 Her bill is 2x mine in the winter, and 5x it in the summer, and I pay 2x per kWh¹ more than she does. Am I unusual, or is this an absurdly high electric bill? ¹https://www.electricitylocal.com/states/georgia/gainesville/ https://www.electricitylocal.com/states/georgia/gainesville/ ; Gainesville electric rates appear to be 11.6¢/kWh; I'm paying over 20¢/kWh

compuguy 8y ago
That links to the wrong Gainesville. Your looking for Gainesville, Virginia. The closest city to Gainesville is Haymarket, VA: https://www.electricitylocal.com/states/virginia/haymarket/ https://www.electricitylocal.com/states/virginia/haymarket/
- mmt 8y ago
  And that page says the average for Virginia is... 11.64c/kWh. I'd say the OC's mistake ends up being incidental.
mmt 8y ago
> Am I unusual, or is this an absurdly high electric bill? You're unusual. Or, rather, her bill is high, though not absurdly so, especially if it includes more than just the per-kWh charge (e.g. a fixed/per-meter charge or even additional utilities like water) and if it's her only household energy source (i.e. no natural gas, propane, or heating oil). Virginia gets warm and humid in the summer and cold (enough) in the winter. Using resistive heating can really jack up an electric bill. The absurdity of that form of heating is at least debatable. $34 in the summer mean 170kWh, which is remarkably low. It implies no AC, no or very light use of appliances like a dishwasher, clothes washer, or dryer, and either little use of hot water (or "cheating" with a gas-fired water heater). A single 100W light bulb (remember incandescent bulbs?) left on 24x7 would use 73kWh in a month.

compuguy 8y ago

That links to the wrong Gainesville. Your looking for Gainesville, Virginia. The closest city to Gainesville is Haymarket, VA: https://www.electricitylocal.com/states/virginia/haymarket/ https://www.electricitylocal.com/states/virginia/haymarket/

mmt 8y ago
And that page says the average for Virginia is... 11.64c/kWh. I'd say the OC's mistake ends up being incidental.

mmt 8y ago

> Am I unusual, or is this an absurdly high electric bill? You're unusual. Or, rather, her bill is high, though not absurdly so, especially if it includes more than just the per-kWh charge (e.g. a fixed/per-meter charge or even additional utilities like water) and if it's her only household energy source (i.e. no natural gas, propane, or heating oil). Virginia gets warm and humid in the summer and cold (enough) in the winter. Using resistive heating can really jack up an electric bill. The absurdity of that form of heating is at least debatable. $34 in the summer mean 170kWh, which is remarkably low. It implies no AC, no or very light use of appliances like a dishwasher, clothes washer, or dryer, and either little use of hot water (or "cheating" with a gas-fired water heater). A single 100W light bulb (remember incandescent bulbs?) left on 24x7 would use 73kWh in a month.