Our local PUD has just been going off the rails in recent years, allegedly because they have a lot of "infrastructure updates" to fund.
Our most recent power bill was $333.31; granted, it includes Christmas and we're in mid-winter here in the Northwest, which means days are on the short side and we have lights on from 4:00 in the afternoon, and often all day on cloudy dark days. But that's a small town rate; not a city. AND I turned 65 last year, so it even includes a $55 "senior discount."
We get a similar little "power usage" graph, also comparing to the previous year... we actually used less power than the corresponding period last year... and yet our bill is almost $90 higher...
0.00110386 BEE
It's pretty ridiculous right? My mom and dad don't have gas and when they used to use their baseboard heating systems more their bill could be close to $600. That's out in the country too, so definitely not a big city rate. I'd buy the infrastructure upgrades if they were actually in my neighborhood installing underground lines and stuff, but I have a feeling we are probably pretty low on the list since our road only has like twenty homes on it.