# GA Power Budget Billing



## simpleman30 (Jul 8, 2012)

Does anyone here use GA Power's Budget Billing program?  For the sake of budgeting the same amount every month, i'm thinking about enrolling in it.  Supposedly they average your last 12 months power bill and that's what you pay each month for a year, with an adjustment to your average in 12 months for rate increases, revised average power use, etc.  

Pros, cons, comments are welcome.

Thanks


----------



## Razor Blade (Jul 8, 2012)

Several years ago , we tried it. I would bet you will get a bill at the end of the 12 month period saying that you owe for the difference between what you paid and what you used.They will  adjust it up for the next year.This was the way it worked for us, and  I dont know anyone who that this has not happened to. Scott


----------



## Dennis67 (Jul 8, 2012)

The only way yo get a bill is if you do not contiue the program.It works great for my family we have used it for at least nine years now.


----------



## JohnnyWalker (Jul 8, 2012)

They charge a premium for doing this.  I worked it a bit different.  I went back over the past 3 years and averaged the charges over the 3 years for each of the 12 months.  Lets say the average is $100 each month.  When the bill comes due and is $80, I set aside $20 in a savings account.  When it is over $100, I take the difference out of the savings account.  Just a word of caution, what ever the average is add another $30 to it so you don't get nailed with a price increase.  When a year is over, reaverage that year to make sure you keep pace with inflation.  Same with the Gas.


----------



## mdgmc84 (Jul 8, 2012)

We are starting it next month, got a new roommate and they needed to know an exact monthly amount so we signed up for it so everything is pretty well set in stone each month.


----------



## EAGLE EYE 444 (Jul 9, 2012)

First, let me say that I use the budget billing on BOTH the Georgia Power electricity and also on SCE&G for their natural gas.


I think that the budget billing is a great way to know exactly what your bill will be every month with normally a year at a time.  Everything that I have is totally electric except the heat which is natural gas (of course it takes electricity to run the unit itself).  This includes all lights and receptacles, ceiling fans, refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, dryer, microwave, televisions, computer, etc.

The following is the exact electricity costs monthly for Georgia Power since 1997.

Oct 1997  - Oct 2001  ----------          $105.00
Nov 2001 - June 2002  ---------       $  84.00
July 2002 - June 2003  ----------       $ 96.64
July 2003 - June 2004  ----------       $ 93.00
July 2004 - June 2005  ----------       $102.00
July 2005 - June 2007 ----------        $108.00
July 2007 - Oct 2007  ----------         $ 91.00
Nov 2007 - June 2008 ----------        $ 80.00
July 2008 - June 2009 ----------       $ 92.00
July 2009 - June 2010 ----------        $ 98.00
July 2010 - CURRENT  ----------         $116.00  (I do use a lot more electricity now to stay cooler)

Please also note that during this time period, there were a few months that we did NOT have any bill at all and this was due to their periodic adjustments in costs.  I remember a bill in July of 2002 that was only $4.77 for the month and also a couple of more that were for maybe $23.00 or $41.00 for the month as well.

I know that most people would never have this information so readily available but I have what I call a "budget notebook" and I can go back to the early 1990's and tell you every expense that we paid for the normal monthly household, hospital, pharmacy, medical, dental, college loans, automotive expenses, taxes etc.

I don't like the computerized online bill paying so I still write checks for all of my normal expenses each month and I have all of these listed in the order of when they are due to be paid each month.  It is easy for me to see every bill that has been paid and also which ones are still due.

I pay all of my bills ahead of schedule and have never been late as such.  I also have my own business and I run it the same way.  When I get an invoice from my suppliers, I pay it within 24 hours regardless of the amount.  I also know in many cases, my end customers will not be paying me for a time up to 45-60 days.  That is just the cost of doing business.

I hope that this will help you in determining what is best for you.


----------



## simpleman30 (Jul 9, 2012)

this month's bill is $167.  last month was $127 and the previous month was $67.  i haven't checked my payment stubs to average it out on my own, but according to GA Power, my bill would be $111 each month if i go with budget billing.

thanks for the info Eagle Eye.  anything that can help standardize our monthly budget is always helpful.  my wife and i have been working hard on our monthly budget, even calculating one-time yearly expenses so we can account for them each month and not be surprised when the hunting club dues or vehicle registration fees are due.


----------



## Oldstick (Jul 9, 2012)

The only problem I have had with the budget billing is I tried to pay extra one time hoping to reduce the overage we were building up so our bill wouldn't rise on the anniversary date.

But they didn't apply the extra to the total usage, instead they credited it as an overpayment to my account and subtracted it from the normal amount due on my next montly bill.


----------



## Troy Butler (Jul 9, 2012)

My family has been on it for over five years love it. Got a statment last month ours will come down 20.00 a month starting in august.


----------



## Razor Blade (Jul 9, 2012)

Dennis67 said:


> The only way yo get a bill is if you do not contiue the program.It works great for my family we have used it for at least nine years now.



I was on it for about 3 years, and got a bill every year for more saying that we were not charged enough. I dont feel that we used any more power than normal.Maybe we didnt stay on it long enough , but we went back to paying for what we used when we used it.


----------



## EAGLE EYE 444 (Jul 10, 2012)

Well even though I am on the budget billing, it is simple to look at the actual amount that you use on every month's bill.  It also shows how many days the billing cycle is for, also shows a comparison to the previous month's usage, and it also shows the comparison to the same month of the previous year.  This makes it easy to see if you really used more or less during that time.  My budget billing from SCE&G for the natural gas does this same thing too.

To me Georgia Power and SCE&G have been very fair in their increases or decreases along the past 15 years.  The proof is in my post above as these are EXACT numbers for Georgia Power.


----------



## SCPO (Jul 10, 2012)

i have been on it for several years and have never received a bill at end of year. i got a letter the other day saying my bill will be $22 cheaper this year.


----------



## Razor Blade (Jul 10, 2012)

Maybe things have changed, it has been almost 10 years ago. I did check my actual usage from a year before and compare it. it was almost the same. I felt  like they may have estimated the billing too low. They would adjust it every year, but it just didnt work out for me. If its working great for you folks , thats great , it just didnt for me..Scott


----------



## breathe in (Jul 10, 2012)

Razor - did you maybe have flat billing? It kinda sounds like what you're describing


----------



## Oldstick (Jul 10, 2012)

GA Power does read the meters and calculate it accurately.  No monkey business going on there.  

We have been on the budget billing for at least 20 years in two different houses.  It shows you how prices and inflation creep up over time.  I think our monthly amout was under $80 or 90 when we first started.  Today it is $233 a month (granted lot of waste that could be reduced, if you know what I mean, for you men with families).


----------



## Razor Blade (Jul 10, 2012)

breathe in said:


> Razor - did you maybe have flat billing? It kinda sounds like what you're describing



very possible that could have been it. I dont remember now .


----------



## Oldstick (Jul 12, 2012)

Speaking of, we just got our anniversary bill for the next year and it's dropping by $15 a month.  That may be a first for me.

If it was just me in the house I could drop it by 50% or more easily...


----------



## Razor Blade (Jul 13, 2012)

I hear ya. I could also. My power bill dropped a little when my oldest son married off and moved out. He was forever leaving a light or a fan on.


----------

