How to Read Your Electric Bill: Find Your Rate in 2 Minutes

Most people glance at the total, pay, and move on. That's how you miss savings.

Your bill hides the one number that matters: your supply rate. That's the part you can shop. Everything else—delivery, taxes, fees—stays the same no matter what.

Every bill from AEP Ohio, PECO, Eversource, or any utility shows the same structure: account info, meter readings, usage, charges broken down. Once you understand the split between supply (shoppable) and delivery (fixed), you can compare rates and know whether switching makes sense.

Takes 10 minutes to learn. Worth it to catch errors and find savings.

Top of your bill. Boring but necessary.

Account number: The big one. Need it for switching suppliers or calling your utility.

Service address: Where electricity goes (might differ from mailing address).

Rate class: Usually "Residential" or "RS" for homes.

Meter number: Identifies your specific meter.

Multiple properties? Double-check you're looking at the right account.

One warning: keep your account number private. Scammers use it to switch your service without permission. It happens.

Your bill covers a specific chunk of time, usually 28 to 32 days. The "from" and "to" dates show exactly which days you're paying for. Keep in mind the bill arrives after that period ends, so you're always paying for electricity you already used.

These dates help you spot patterns. If your January bill is through the roof, check whether it covered a particularly cold stretch. Tracking this stuff over time tells you a lot about your usage.

The due date is pretty self-explanatory. Miss it and you'll pay late fees, usually 1 to 2 percent of your balance. Most utilities give you a small grace period, but don't count on it.

If you hate remembering due dates, set up automatic payment. Budget billing is another option - it spreads your costs evenly through the year so you're not getting slammed with a huge summer AC bill or winter heating spike.

This section tells you exactly how much electricity you used. The math is simple: take the current meter reading, subtract the previous one, and you get your kWh for the month.

You'll see whether it's an "actual" read or "estimated." Actual means someone read the meter or a smart meter transmitted the data automatically. Estimated means they couldn't access it, so they guessed based on your history. If they estimated high, the next actual read will adjust. If they estimated low, you'll see a catch-up charge.

For context, most homes in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts use somewhere between 600 and 1,000 kWh per month. That varies a lot depending on your house size, how hot or cold it gets, and what appliances you're running.

Pay attention to this number each month. If it suddenly jumps way up and you haven't changed anything, something might be wrong. Could be a faulty appliance, could be a billing error. Worth looking into either way.

Supply charges (also called generation or energy charges) are what you pay for the electricity itself. This is the portion you can shop.

No supplier picked? You're on your utility's default rate:
- Ohio: Standard Service Offer
- Pennsylvania: Price to Compare
- Massachusetts: Basic Service

These defaults are fine. Usually not the cheapest.

Switched suppliers? Their name shows up on the supply portion. That's how you know it went through.

To find your actual supply rate: Total supply charges ÷ kWh usage = your effective rate per kWh. This is the number to compare against offers.

Watch for monthly service fees. Some suppliers tack on $5-10 that doesn't show in the per-kWh rate. Check total supply, not just the headline.

Delivery charges (distribution/transmission) pay for getting electricity to your house. Power lines. Substations. Transformers. Meters.

Important: These charges don't change when you switch suppliers. They're regulated. AEP Ohio, PECO, PPL Electric, Eversource, National Grid—they collect the same amount no matter who generates your power.

You'll see a fixed customer charge ($5-15/month) plus variable charges based on usage.

When shopping, ignore delivery. It stays the same. Focus entirely on comparing supply rates. That's where switching saves money.

Beyond supply and delivery, your bill has a bunch of other charges. Taxes, fees, riders - all that stuff.

Some of these are straightforward. State and local taxes work just like sales tax on anything else. Utility riders fund specific programs: renewable energy requirements, energy efficiency initiatives, transmission upgrades, low-income assistance, and infrastructure improvements.

Here's what you need to know: these charges are regulated, they apply regardless of which supplier you choose, and there's no way to avoid them. Everyone pays the same taxes and riders.

That means when you're comparing suppliers, don't sweat the tax and rider portion. Focus on the supply rate. That's the only part where switching makes a difference.

Before you can know if an offer is good, you need to know what you're paying now.

Total blended rate: Entire bill ÷ kWh usage. Paid $150 for 1,000 kWh? That's 15¢/kWh overall (supply + delivery + taxes + fees).

Supply-only rate: Supply charges ÷ usage. This is the number to compare against supplier offers. They can only replace the supply portion.

Most residential bills in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts: 12-20¢/kWh total. Supply is usually 40-60% of that.

Common mistake: Supplier offers 6¢/kWh doesn't mean your total bill drops to 6¢. It just replaces supply charges. Delivery, taxes, fees stay the same.

Most bills include a bar graph showing your usage over the past 12 months. This is useful, not just decoration.

The graph shows your consumption patterns. Summer spikes usually mean air conditioning. Winter spikes could be electric heating or all those holiday lights. Seasonal variation is normal - what you're looking for are patterns that make sense for how you live.

To really understand your electricity use, add up all 12 months to get your annual total. That's a better number for comparing supplier offers than any single month, which might be unusually high or low.

If you see a month that looks way off from the pattern and you can't explain why, dig into it. Could be equipment problems, could be a billing error, could just be extreme weather. Worth figuring out either way.

Billing errors happen more often than you'd think. Quick monthly review saves real money.

Watch for:
- Estimated reads that seem way too high
- Rate doesn't match your contract
- Wrong meter number (paying for neighbor's electricity happens)
- Duplicate charges or unrecognized fees
- Wrong switch date or rate after supplier change

Spot something wrong? Call your utility or supplier immediately. Explain what looks off. Most disputes resolve with a phone call—if you catch them quickly.

Sooner you address an error, easier it is to fix. Waiting months makes everything harder. Check your bill within a week of getting it.