Are charges supposed to be this high??



This is a plot of my Atmos Energy bills since I bought my house. I didn't know gas bills could be this high. This is my first home (yes, an older home, 1973 but well maintained). I lived in a ratty old duplex through college and before I bought this house, and my energy bills were always relatively steady, I think between $25-$45/month for all four years.

How can a bill vary and skyrocket this much? I called them last winter thinking there must be some leak or some mistake Obviously it's higher in the winter months - is this what it costs to heat a home? I keep the heater at 67 degrees. I was charged $270 last month (because their billing got off cycle and I didn't get a charge in January).

What can I do about this?

What all is gas?

Heater, water heater, stove, dryer?

I've had gas bills close to that in my old house. That's why I really liked doing the balanced billing through Atmos.

That's basically what ours looks like.

I live in a newer home (so probably better insulation) and my bills in the winter are about half that. I keep the thermostat lower, however. Usually 62 at night. Natural gas prices have gone up since 2020.

My Atmos bill/usage almost tripled this last billing cycle. Bill is $270. I know gas prices have risen but there's no way my usage has increased that much.

I called Atmos this morning and was told to take a picture of the dials on my meter and upload them to my online account. They'll review it and have put a payment hold on my account until it's been reviewed.

Gas prices are definitely up. Compare the appliances that use gas in your old place versus the new (to you) house. Also, compare the size of the places. Are you heating the same sq feet? Probably not, I'd guess.

Plot your usage not the cost.

This ^^

A year ago nat gas was trading at $2.65
Currently it is around $5.72


https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NG=F

Russia.

Mine was $380ish for a three bed home. But I kept the heat at around 70 so heater definitely kicked in quite a bit. I expected this somewhat but still got sticker shock myself. Its about a $100 more than my previous highest with no change in my habits.

Plot it against your electric bill. Mine is inversely proportional at the height of the seasons.