Why did my Bill Amount Increase?

Increased bill amounts, and why that happens

There are times when you may notice an increase in a charge or multiple charges on your bill. Most often these increases can be attributed to three common reasons.

1. The first and by far the most common reason is a seasonal increase in usage of a utility service. This occurs when one utility service is used more during a certain time of year. For example, electricity and water services are often used more during the summer months. This is because the air conditioning uses electricity, and there is more recreational water usage, such as taking a cool shower, watering plants, or watering grass lawns. As the name implies, this kind of increase is seasonal, and should be expected each year. A seasonal increase is predictable and can be seen even on a property level, meaning everyone in a property will see a seasonal increase at the same time. For more information about conservation tips please check out: Water Conservation Tips and Energy Conservation Tips
2. Second, maintenance issues are another common cause of increased utility charges. The most common maintenance issue is a toilet leak. A leaking toilet can cause your  water usage to increase and therefore your bills to increase. *However depending on your billing method maintenance issues may not cause an increased utility charge*. For example if your water charges are based on the number of people in your unit rather than your individual water usage, a toilet leak may not show up in your utility charges. Be sure to check your bill to verify how you are being billed! Check out this article for more information: Leak/Meter Checklist
3. Thirdly, and far less common is a service charge increase. What we mean by this is there is some kind of billing change, or service change that causes a bill to go up. A service charge increase happens when a utility company increases their fees for providing the service. For example if your local water provider is the water department of the city you live in, and a new law was passed that increased water fees, then your charges would increase, even if the usage did not. Service charge increases are often seen in trash billing. Because it is difficult to measure how much trash each individual unit consumes, trash companies often bill based on the number of pickups they provide. Each pickup has a fee associated with it, so if your trash charge increases, it may be because there were more trash pickups that occurred. Please check out this article for more information about this: How am I billed?

Here is a good process you can use to help determine why your bill increased:

1. First, double check what the time period on the bill is. If we are billing you for a summer month, it may be a seasonal increase that caused bill to go up. 
2. Secondly, check your billing method to see if your usage is used to generate your bill. If it is, check on your bill or on our website to see if your usage increased. If there was an unexpected substantial increase in usage, check to see if there is a maintenance issue in your home.
3. Third, if your charge went up and you have confirmed it was not due to a seasonal increase or a maintenance issue, it may be a service charge increase. This is not shown on a bill, but there may be a message in the Message Center on your bill about the increase. 
4. Finally, if you cannot find a reason why it increased, please contact us! Chatting with us using our chat box at www.utilitiesinfo.com can help you get information quickly! Our chat representatives will be able to help you find the reason why the bill increased.