$180 electric bill, $364 gas bill!!!!! WTF!!!! And it's been a

[Sperk]

pretty mild winter. We used no extra lights at Christmas, except for our tree.

Forget spying....there's going to be a revolution over energy bills!!!
BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[shoelace414]

1. if we could only give the energy companies more tax cuts...

[xchrom]

5. by gum -- that's the ticket --

more tax cuts for the energy companies -- it must expensive -- or they wouldn't have all those profits -- poor things.

[StephanieMarie]

2. Yeah, my gas bill was $425 for December

and I live in a modest house in Augusta, Georgia!!!! I had a heart attack!

[Sperk]

4. OMG....isn't it mild in Georgia? I guess I wont be running the central

air this summer.

[RebelOne]

11. We get some pretty cold winters here in Georgia.

But this has been a real mild winter. A couple of weeks ago, the temperatures went up into the mid to high 60s. I've been able to get by with only a couple of space heaters. I haven't had to fire up my gas furnace at all.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. Do you have

nite lites??? </sarcasm>

[Mz Pip]

6. $450 for mine

for Dec in CA. ANd this was before the PG&E rate increase. I cann't imagine what January's bill will look like. We've set the thermostat to 64 and dress in layers. IT's pretty pathetic.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[unblock]

7. oil $68/bbl. give your thanks to shrub.

remember during the 2000 campaign and oil was $25/bbl?
and shrubby said if prices went over $30/bbl he would just jawbone the saudis into opening up their spigots?

even $30/bbl sounds like such a quaint memory, doesn't it? thank god we have an oil man in the white house! lord knows, if gore and/or kerry were in there, oil would be double what it is now!

:sarcasm:

[Zynx]

22. I remember when $30 oil was a BIG deal.

Oh how I miss the old days and I'm only 19.

[movonne]

8. What state are you in???

[Sperk]

17. Mass

n/t

[NewInNewJ.]

9. We have a house in Southern Tenn

with no one living in. Temperature was set at 54 degrees. No one there for 1 1/2 months. The electric bill was 247.87. I give up. Can't hardly buy groceries. I hope you are right about the revolution!

[Ishoutandscream2]

10. Hey, but at least gays can't marry...

That's what's really important.:sarcasm:

[Rockholm]

12. Here in Massachusetts we can. And do!

TGFM. Thank God For Massachusetts.

[Submariner]

13. That's why Bush got that $300 tax refund check in 2001/2002

timeframe...remember? Now it's time to pull that out and pay for your astronomical energy bill. Feel better now? :sarcasm: I didn't think so. I'm glad I stepped down to 1 bdrm apt. $74 electric and $38 for gas.

[leftchick]

14. my gas was $346.00 and OMG! You made me open me electric bill!

$139.00!!! Fuck! I hate these bastards! :grr:

[elehhhhna]

23. 208 & 180. Up 40% over last year and it's been mild...

[EFerrari]

15. I know everybody thinks San Francisco has crazy housing

prices -- we do. But we're only paying $50 for electricity a month in the coldest part of the year.

We call our utility bill a "mortgage" I guess.

My heart goes out to you all. I don't know how you manage. :(

[Imagevision]

16. Gas = 2.47 in Fla. now - it'll hit between $3 - $4.00 by summertime

[AllegroRondo]

18. Here in Missouri the state Repubs screwed us

they passed a law last year that basically says: if you cut back on gas usage and save money, the gas company can raise your rates to make up the loss of income. True bastards.

[mnhtnbb]

19. Gas $407 and electric $195. in NC

Last year we put in a new energy efficient furnace (used 30% less gas than old one for same month of the year, same average temp)

Can't understand why our electric was so high--our useage was way up over previous year--and we did the same decorating as previous year with the exception of 2 strings of outdoor lights. I actually went out to read the meter because I couldn't believe the useage. Maybe our son left every light in the house on--and the oven--when hubby and I were gone for 3 days to New York!

[MadHound]

20. It is time to start making preparations

Energy prices aren't going to come down for a long, long while, if ever. Therefore, in abscence of a caring responsive government, we are now forced to do on our own. However if you have a little land, own your house, there are many many things you can do to lessen the blow from energy companies.

The first is to buy yourself a woodstove, either inside or outside variety. The one that I'm picking up this summer is going to be of the external kind, as it doesn't drive up your insurance rate like an inside stove does, and it can be used to power your hot water heater also.

The second thing you can do is install solar panels. Thin film photovoltaics are much more efficient, and cheaper than the old style solar panels. Throw a couple of kilowatts up on your roof, and supplement your electricity.

If you've got a spare quarter acre, and the zoning laws allow it, power not just yourself, but help out your neighbors too and put up a wind turbine. You can pick up a nice 3Kw turbine, complete with deep cycle batteries for storage, all for around twelve thousand dollars. Structure that into your home loan, and not only will you be saving money, you will add value to your house.

Finally, start a garden. Our food is absolutely drenched with oil, from the fertilizers and pesticides it is drenched in to the truck that brings it to your local grocer, agribusiness runs on oil. And with oil going up, we're already seeing that raise the price on our food bill. Start a garden in your back yard and beat the oily food game. A thirty by thirty foot plot of land can supply you with most of your produce for a year if you do it right. And besides, there is nothing like the satisfaction and wonderful reward of taste that comes from raising your own food.

I know, I know, I hear you screaming that this is a hell of a lot of initial outlay. You're correct, but if you do it right, it doesn't have to be. The key to this is to roll the savings from one energy saver over to the next. For instance, I was faced with a 52 mile round trip every day, in a twenty mpg vehicle last September when gas started going through the roof. I looked around for what I could do on a small budget. I tried carpooling, but out in the wilds of Mid Mo, it just wasn't happening. I considered going back to riding my bike, but the idea of getting up at four, and getting home at seven just didn't appeal to me. Then I found out about Bajaj scooters. 145cc qualifies it as an actual motorcycle, and it runs up to 55-60mph. It also get 100mpg, a blessing in these days of high oil. I've ridden it every day I can since then, weather permitting, and am saving a bunch of money.

So I'm taking that money I'm saving on gas, and next summer will be able to roll it over into doing something about high heating prices, I'll be buying that woodstove I spoke of earlier. I'm also doing a garden this summer, and that savings will go into the woodstove also. And then once I have the woodstove in place and heating next winter, I'll be able to take the savings on heating and roll them over into wind turbine, etc. etc. Start where you can, and roll the savings over into the next energy savings device. Before you know it, you'll be energy independent, and won't have to worry about the price of energy. And amazinly enough, if enough people did this, that is drive the demand for energy down, the price would come down also.

So make your start somewhere, either in an energy saving vehicle, a woodstove, etc, and then roll those savings over and over. Then you can go tell Big Energy to go shove it.

[WI_DEM]

21. It's the economy, stupid (and I don't mean you)

Bush's approval rating is down not so much for Iraq or domestic spying as much as becuz of high oil prices and high prices at the pump. When it hits the pocketbook that is when people start getting mad.

[Nicole]

24. $75 electric, $48 gas

I was mad that my electric was more than my gas, electric is usually about $25 in winter.

After seeing the prices others are paying I'm thankful mine is what it is.

[SammyWinstonJack]

25. Between that and property taxes.

:grr: Property taxes will probably force us out of our house. Thanks George you $%#@&*! :argh:

[Warpy]

26. I shudder to think of what my gas bill in NM will be

even though I left the heat set at 50 so the pipes wouldn't freeze.

I'm missing the prime wood heat season, stuck here in Florida.

My dad's bill was $73.00 for December for gas heat, hot water, and a gas dryer. First thing I did when I got here was turn that thermostat down to 60.