Her electric bill has been about $550-700 a month.
She's called Edison, and they send out a guy to "read the meter".. then they accuse her of being the problem. They claim is our "excessive usage"
[Yknow.. about 5 months ago I lived in a 4-story, 3 bedroom townhouse, shared with 4 other people, and our electric bill was only $300-400 a month, with even more computers and tvs in use. So that whole speech about "excessive usage" is just that, BULLCRAP]
We all leave in the morning around 9am. We turn off everything – A/C, lights, fans. At night, we come home around 6:30pm, and between both our houses, there are 2 plasma TVs, and 3 computers that are on, for probably about 5 hours.
She's called about 3 electricians, and 3 central air techs, and no one has been able to find a problem with anything. They all just say it must be our excessive usage.
[Our A/C central air in the studio apartment was running out of freon quite a lot. It would also cycle 5 mins on, and 5 mins off -- all day. No matter what the temperature was set at. We replaced the thermostat 3 times. We no longer use the central air, yet the electric bill is still $700!]
What can we/my landlord do to fix this problem?? We feel like we've exhausted every single option
Suggestion:
So you say that you lived in a 4 story townhouse and only paid $300 per month? Where was that? San Francisco? Remember, this is EDISON we're talking about, and talking about your old situation is irrelevant unless it was in the same climate and also with Edison.
So where is the building? That matters. If you live in the IE, I can see your bill being $500 per month.
Considering the fact that this is a converted garage, it's not going to be insulated. Any A/C is going to go right out the roof and sides. And the fact that you're leaking freon is also an issue. Every time that A/C starts up, it pulls a TREMENDOUS amount of juice. Off, on, off, on, etc. That's a pattern for a $500 bill right there.
Has anyone put a meter on your appliances and/or A/C to find out how much it's pulling? How about a meter read every day? You're going to need to figure this out scientifically, and Edison may not really care to help you that much. After all, you are one of their best customers.
Not much we can do to help you here in cyberspace.
