> 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 mor

> 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.