Friday, July 21, 2006

Your Killing me Kids



Last night as I opened my mail, I almost fell down when I read my electric bill from Southern California Edison. At first I thought my last payment to the Edison Company was not reflected on my bill, but I was incorrect. Our electric bill is for $548.54.

I shared the bill with my teenagers, and they have agreed to shut off their television sets while away from home, and they will also use the central air only when I'm away from home.

Looks like I will be staying home a little more often.

Eddie

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger! I thought the same as you when I opened my most recent bill and, like you, I was wrong. My bill was $199.89! It actually tripled from the previous month. The kicker is: I live alone, commute 3 hours a day, work 9 hours and hadn't used my central air because it needs servicing!

So when I sent my payment in, I added a note saying that it seems SCE has jumped on the "gouging" bandwagon with the oil companies. I'm sure my cute little note won't phase them, but it made me feel better by sending it.

RB

Kanani said...

Oh my god.

We've got fans out. I have the AC and I'm very aware of the costs.

But lately, something else has been weighing heavily on my mind as well. Global warming. It's real, it's here, and so I'm trying to reduce my use of the AC and also the car.

So the AC is set for 78. Usually I close up the house and try to reserve the AC for the afternoon.

But it is only 11:30 and the AC has flipped on twice.

I remember when I lived in Pasadena. We didn't have AC. So every weekend, I'd go over to the library, where I'd read books, listen to records, and fight with the homeless people over magazines and sofas.

I was there recently. Same scoop. Lots of people over there who don't have AC. Not a bad way to spend the summer.

Kanani said...

Enron... Ken Lay.... by dying before being sentenced, I feel as though he got off easily.

Anonymous said...

I am not looking forward to my SCE bill . I am seriously looking into buying solar electric panels for my house. With generous rebates from the state and feds , it might make sense doing this . I have seen websites where you break even between 2 - 7 years . I read about a women in Anaheim that has panels on her house to provide energy for her house and car . Something to think about . G

Anonymous said...

Most days I come home and the ac is blasting away and the doors are open, allowing my air conditioner to cool the entire neighborhood! Last week I was on vacation so I told the kids that we would close the windows and blinds to keep the house dark and use fans to cool the rooms we were in. The rule was if you leave the room, the fan gets turned off. As a result, the kids, Ray and I spent most of our days outside in the swimming pool! We got lots of exercise, spent time together as a family and had a great time! We even decided to take our dinner to Covina Park on Thursday evening and were pleasantly surprised when the Covina Concert band began playing. We pulled a blanket out of the car to sit on and listened for a while. It was very fun, didn't cost us a dime and we actually saved money by not using electricity at home. I did turn the air on at bedtime, but set it at 78 so we could all sleep at night. I'm sure my efforts won't be reflected in our next bill, but at least I tried!

Anonymous said...

Obviously, there's no escaping the SCE bill!

Well, at least I know they're not doing it to me because I'm Black:-)

RB