PSA: Utilities Charge Whatever They Want

So like, if you're paycheck to paycheck, if you're having financial difficulties, pay close fucking attention to your utility bills...

Because look at this bullshit.

Guess what happened in the 61 day billing period for 9/28/2023 statement date?

I moved into my fucking house. And started running my stove/oven and then eventually my furnace.

Guess what wasn't being used in every previous billing date shown here...?

NATURAL GAS. Like literally (in the actual definition of literally) none of it. Almost had my dad going to check if there was a leak in the lines at one point over the summer because nothing was being used. But nope, it's just the gas company charging whatever the fuck they feel like, whether you've used anything or not.

CONCLUSION: Pay attention to your bills because what they do is charge you based on an estimate of what your neighbors are using, not what you actually use. If you're having financial issues, call up your utility company and tell them that you will be calling in a reading every month (because they only send a person out to do an actual reading every other month, or now, every few months with ours, and just charge you whatever they want otherwise, and adjust it later when they do an actual reading... you can see in my bill they owed me a ton of money, because $11.17 is lower than the base charge for even having the gas turned on). And at least in NYS (or my county anyway), you have the right to demand they bill you on your actual usage by calling in a reading yourself because they don't want to pay someone to go out and do it monthly (but you can be damn sure they're going to charge you monthly).

*Also note: the double-billing 61 days on top of already being billed for 35 days of presumable the same time-period, and yet still, completely nonsensical invoice when you click on it. Their numbers come out of their ass.