State consumer advocate walks through how to read your power bill

Jake Edwards, assistant consumer advocate at the Department of Consumer Affairs, walked viewers through a residential electric bill during a department webinar, saying the two items customers should check first are the current amount due and their monthly kilowatt-hour usage. "If you don't pay attention to anything in your bill, I want you to at least always check out these 2 items," Edwards said.

Edwards explained that most investor-owned utilities present two broad categories on bills: fixed charges (often called the basic facilities or customer charge) and variable energy charges that are calculated from meter-recorded kilowatt-hours. "This is going to be a fixed charge in your bill. It will not change absent some sort of rate change or approval," he said of the customer charge.

He described common bill line items: the energy/usage charge (where customers can reduce costs by lowering kWh), fuel-cost pass-throughs, demand-side management program costs, renewable resource charges for distributed energy resources, EDIT (excess deferred income tax) credits resulting from the 2017 federal tax change, and a franchise fee typically passed through the bill. On EDIT he said the tax changes lowered the corporate rate and the PSC generally returns overcollections to customers; the EDIT mitigation, he noted, runs out (he cited that the EDIT mitigation will end in 2026 for some utilities).

Edwards advised customers to check whether their rate plan is a multi-step or tiered tariff — for example, Dominion's residential Rate 8 can shift to a higher per-kWh price after the first 800 kWh. He also recommended utility analyzer tools (where available) to identify high-usage appliances and encouraged simple efficiency steps, noting studies estimate a one-degree thermostat shift can reduce usage "around 1 to 3% per degree per 8 hour period."

For billing problems with investor-owned utilities, Edwards directed customers first to contact their utility, then to the Office of Regulatory Staff consumer services, and finally to file a formal complaint with the Public Service Commission if unresolved. He also noted the department's consumer services division can offer voluntary mediation for co-ops and municipal entities.

The webinar included a question-and-answer segment handled with Deputy Consumer Advocate Roger Hall; topics included rate options such as the Rate 6 "energy saver" tariff, availability of analyzer tools (often requiring 12 months of service), and clarification that certain regulatory caps discussed are set by statute. The department made slides and a recording available and provided an email contact for follow-up.