If you have electric heat, chances are your bill for the month of December jumped from last year's bill.
Our viewers first alerted us to the apparent hikes a couple of days ago. We got in touch with some of those viewers and Fox59 Facebook fans Thursday.
People like Courtney Gibbs called Fox59 News and said her bill jumped from $284 in January 2010 to $699 in January 2011.
Fox59 visited one of those Facebook fans who complained about high prices. Andrea Polin is an Indianapolis Power and Light customer who is living on a fixed income. She lives in a newer home on the city's east side.
Last year, she lived in another home in the same neighborhood with exactly the same square footage and floor plan. Both homes have electric heat and she had her records to compare the leap in electricity charges.
"I was highly upset. I actually called the light company. I asked them what was going on with my bill? Did you estimate it or what?"
Andrea said the customer representative told her that IPL came out and read her meter.
"She told me because of the hard winter months and then I said when I was in the other residence it was not that high and it was January and it was even worse," Polin said.
Andrea said she told the IPL representative that she hadn't changed her habits or appliances.
"She asked me did I run my computer. I told her it runs all the time. Fish tank runs all the time too. I mean the same exact things that I had over there, I have over here. It's no different. Nothing's running extra," Polin said.
Fox59 spoke to IPL and they said there's been no increase in rates but their phones have been ringing with customers angry over much higher bills.
Their communications department pointed to the cold weather as the reason for the spike.
"On average, the temperatures were about 6-degrees lower, so that meant customers using more energy to get their homes to the level of comfort that they're accustomed to," Crystal Livers-Powers said.
That's borne out in data from the National Weather Service.
Temperatures last December were 6.2-degrees colder than normal and a year ago Indiana was only a half-degree below normal.
Andrea Polin looked at her bills and noticed there was a difference under the usage column.
In December of 2009, her statement read 2697. Last month the number jumped to 5192.
Andrea's said she's not convinced.
"I think they're guessing at the bills instead of reading the meters," she said.
"I'm just going to pay what I can. Keep every month, paying what I can."
IPL said if you find you're not going to be able to pay your entire bill, call and let them know as soon as possible. They said they'll work with you on a payment plan.
Tf you log onto iplpower.com, you can sign up for the "Energy Inspector" feature and IPL will send you a kit that includes compact florescent light bulbs, water saving shower heads, and all sorts of other gadgets that can help you save on your utility bill.
