It’s never a pleasant surprise when your bill seems higher than normal. The cost of heating your home increases as the outside temperature in winter drops. The extent that this affects your electric bill depends on your life style and how energy efficient your home was built: i.e., insulation values of walls, ceilings, floors, doors, windows, skylights; type of heating system; amount of air infiltration; solar orientation; and floor space or volume of your home. Visit the Electric Conservation page for tips and measures you can take to help diagnose or prevent high bills and access our Bill Estimator. 

It’s very unlikely that any high electric usage you are experiencing is a result of a faulty meter. In fact, a malfunctioning meter is more likely to slow down than to speed up. Thus, it is very rare for a meter to register more usage than what is used. A surprise high water bill may indicate a hidden leak inside your home or within the private service line. However, meters can sometimes stop. If you know that you are using power or water and your statement shows no usage for the period, your meter may be stopped. When the PUD discovers a stopped meter, we will replace the faulty meter, and may go back and estimate past months’ billing based on historical data. To ensure accurate billing, please let us know as soon as you are aware that you have a stopped meter.