Friday, April 5, 2019

Utility Cost History


My utility bills in 2009 totaled $597 per month. Now in 2019 my utility bills are running at $780 per month.

The cost of Comcast cable TV service increased 134% over the past 10 years and customers are leaving cable. Cable content is miserable.

The cost of DeKalb water increased by 71% over the past 10 years. DeKalb has water leak problems.

The cost of AT&T land line phone service has increased by 30%. All other carriers charge the same. I have one line for voice phones and a second line for the desktop computer. We get too many telemarketer calls.

Our Georgia Power electric bill has increased by 25% over the past 10 years. They had large cost overruns in nuclear plant construction at Plant Vogtle and have added expensive useless solar panel to increase our bills.

The cost of Earthlink internet remains the same as it was 10 years ago.

The cost of Georgia Natural Gas has actually decreased by 12%.

We live in a large single family brick home with 3500 square feet of cooled and heated space, so our electric and gas bills are higher than they would be in a smaller home.

The cost of smartphone has added $120 per month to the utility bills of those who have them. 

We do not have smartphones and we don’t switch utility providers to “bundle” services.

My monthly utility bills have increased by 31% since 2009.
Cable $50-$117 (134%)
Water $65-$111  (71%)
Phone $74-$103 (40%)
LD $13-$17 (31%)
Electric $224–$281 (25%)
Internet $62-$63 (1%)
Gas $171-$151 (-12%)
Total $597-$780  increase $183 (31%)

Internet websites indicate that utility bills are increasing.

Electric bills are running $100 to $200 per month in 2019. They vary by State, city vs rural, home size and average temperature according to electricchioce.com.

Gas bills are running $80 per month in 2019. They vary by State, city vs rural, home size and average temperature.

Smartphone bills average $100 – $120/month

A low estimate of monthly minimum utility costs based on a smaller home with fewer residents is $200 a month according to movebuddha.com. Costs are as follows.
Gas Bill $80.00

Other estimates of average monthly costs of utilities indicate higher bills according to creditdonkey.com.
Electric $104
Water $70
Gas $83
Internet $40
Cable $103
Cell Phone $73

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

No comments: