While Ivy Energy does not determine the rates set by your utility, we understand your concern when confronted with a higher-than-expected electricity bill. To get clarity on why your bill is so high, let’s start with the various elements influencing the calculation. As your solar bill provider, we are happy to shed light on the factors contributing to your bill to help you manage it effectively.
Factors that Impact Your Bill
1. Using More Electricity
Weather variations, the presence of guests, working from home more than usual, or new appliances or technology can all contribute to increased usage. Even with a consistent thermostat setting, temperature fluctuations require more heat or air conditioning to maintain your consistent home environment. However, if you suspect a meter misreading, contact your utility for confirmation and necessary adjustments and notify us at support@ivy.energy.
Ivy Energy Tips to Lower Your Usage:
Monitoring your electric usage or even performing a home energy assessment can help you identify ways to reduce your specific usage and lower your bill. Here are some of our favorite energy-saving tips that can go a long way if done effectively:
- Opt for fans over A/C whenever possible and turn them off when you leave a room.
- Hang light-blocking curtains to prevent the sun’s heat from warming up your space during the day.
- Open windows at night and in the early morning to let cool air in.
- Switch off electronic devices when not in use, which is easiest when plugged into a power strip.
- Coordinate with your property management to regularly replace air filters and keep your system running efficiently.
- Be mindful of your thermostat settings and consider lowering it slightly in the winter and raising it in the summer.
- Check for gaps and air leaks around doors and windows and coordinate with your property management to replace old weather stripping.
- Take advantage of natural light during the day and make sure your lamps have energy-efficient LED bulbs for nighttime use.
2. Utility Rate Increases
Utility rates are subject to change and can contribute significantly to higher bills for consumers. These rate hikes are often influenced by various factors, including inflation, rising operational costs, investments in infrastructure, or changes in regulatory requirements. As a result, even if your consumption remains constant, an increase in the per-unit cost of electricity can lead to a noticeable spike in your overall bill.
Ivy Energy Tip:
Staying informed about these rate adjustments and shifting your energy usage to off-peak times as much as possible can help mitigate the impact. We’ll cover more of that in the next section.
3. Time-Related Factors
Seasonal variations in energy demand, especially during winter and summer months, can prompt utilities to increase rates. Additionally, many utilities implement time-of-use plans where energy usage during peak hours incurs a higher rate. This means that your utility rate varies both throughout the day and throughout the year. Again, your bill may escalate even without a change in energy usage. Read our article “How Time-of-Use (TOU) Rates Work” to better understand these rate plans, or reach out to our customer support team to review your bill and rate information.
Ivy Energy Tips for Adjusting When You Use Energy:
First, identify if your utility rate plan is a time-of-use plan and get clear on the peak and off-peak rates for the different seasons and times of day. Once you know the least expensive times of day to use energy, you can schedule your usage of energy-intensive appliances like the washer, dryer, vacuum, and dishwasher during these cost-effective periods. You will want to avoid the peak window when rates are at their highest, which is typically 4 pm to 9 pm.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions and thank you for choosing clean energy!