Higher power bill after outage?

[coalsmok]

Has anyone else noticed if their power bill goes up after a power outage?  We are on a small local power co and it seems that after a outage our bill is 50-100 than normal. I don't think it is a usage surge after it comes back on as I run a generator while it is off to keep the freezers and refrigerators going. Seems like the longer the outage the higher the bill and our power is out a lot. :/

[Kbeitz]

Make sure your meter is not running when your useing your generator...

[Chuck White]

I've never seen that happen.

The weirdest thing with the electricity I've ever seen was after the Ice Storm of 1998, we were without commercial power for 17 days, and the next power bill didn't reflect any difference, the same as the previous bill.   :   :-\

[thecfarm]

Chuck,I would hope that they was so busy getting power back on that they just took what you would normally use in that month and billed you for it. BUT the next month should of been lower. They use to do that here every so often. Now with the new meters,no more meter man to read them.
I remember that storm too.

[21incher]

Check your voltage. Lower voltage can cause extra usage on some appliances.
The only reason my bill has been so high this summer is the AC has been on all summer. Normally we only use it about 4 days a year.

[coalsmok]

It's not just our bill that goes up when it's out. When we first moved here people told us about it and I didn't believe them.
I have looked at the meter and it doesn't turn when the generator is running out the main breaker is off.   Really getting old having the bill change that much when we don't have power for a few days and the load doesn't change that much.

[whiskers]

all charges should be detailed on the monthly bill. if you still have unanswered questions maybe a complaint filed with the public service commission  http://www.psc.state.wv.us/ would be in order.
Years ago rumor was our power company padded the coal use by 10% each month, difficult to prove either way. 

[John Mc]

You should check to see if those higher-than expected bills are based on an actual or an estimated meter reading. Even if it is actual, it can be off if the previous reading was estimated, and the current one is actual.

Before we got the smart meters here, they used to use an estimated reading on occasion - I guess they just got busy, and the meter reader didn't make it out here. It all comes out later, when they do an actual reading.

[mometal77]

Or keep a log of every month you use. For cheap you can buy meters online even the old fashioned meters. I hate all these digital meters when they put them in a nearby city here they were charging people 1000 bucks over the digital meters were screwing up.  I think not enough people question. I heard on the radio today in Seattle they are fining people for throwing away Produce in their trash.  Imagine that people are being paid to go through your garbage.  Reminds me of a shop owner here where he had a man with the EPA going around charging people in shops for using argon. After people here started to complain the man didnt have a job anymore. I put these idiots in the same category in the tele book as attorneys/septic pumpers.

[Ox]

What is the problem with using argon?  I guess I'm ignorant.

I use a 50/50 mix argon/CO2 for welding.  I'm curious about the argon statement.