Why is My Utilities Bill So High?

Our utilities bill shot up in the month of July 2020.

Wah since when did we use so much in July compared to other months?

TL;DR: Why is my bill in July so high?

The July bill includes a cumulation of the extra unbilled utilities we used in April, May and June.

1. Why SP estimates usage instead of sending their meter readers to our home every month

Instead of sending their meter readers down to take monthly readings during April to June, when Circuit Breaker and post Circuit Breaker were in force, SP estimated our usage for these 3 months.

This is to keep in line with safe distancing measures.

2. How do I know which months are estimates?

The asterisks in the photo indicate months which SP estimates our usage, i.e. April to June. I’ve also boxed these estimates in blue boxes.

3. Why would actual utilities usage for April to June typically be higher than estimated?

Estimated usage is based on previous readings.

As HBL and working from home started in April, we would have used more utilities than usual, and more than estimated.

4. What does this mean?

As the increased usage was not captured in the estimated bills for April to June, this means we were charged less than actual usage.

The unbilled amounts for April to June were then consolidated in July bill, hence the high bill for July.

5. Why didn’t anyone say so earlier?

SP anticipated this would happen, hence in June it commissioned a Mothership article to explain the phenomenon of higher bills. You can read it at https://mothership.sg/2020/06/utilities-bill-circuit-breaker/

Stop imagining that this is some post-GE retribution. Don’t forget to note the U Save payment you receive in July will help offset the higher bills.

Featured photo: ST