Member heating systems worked overtime to keep up with a dramatic and prolonged dip in temperatures that began shortly after the New Year, and began to reach critical mass starting January 20 as forecasters warned of an impending ice event. While the severe icing never materialized, unusually high electric bills did in many cases.

Bills for January energy use juxtaposed with lower than average December consumption seemed to cause even more concern because what many of us didn’t realize at the time was just how warm it was in December 2021. It was actually the second-warmest December in the past 30 years and the fourth warmest on record since 1933. High December temperatures were reflected in Tideland energy sales of 27 million kilowatt hours (kWh). For the month ending January 2022, kWh sales soared to 38 million.

Of course by the time your meter was read and a statement generated, those unusually warm December days and bitingly cold January days may have been a distant memory. Especially as we entered February with daily highs reaching the 70s.

Anticipating the potential for large swings in monthly energy bills, Tideland took to social media February 1 to encourage members to enroll in levelized billing if their January energy use had not yet been billed. We often promote levelized billing as a way to insulate one’s household budget from seasonal spikes in energy use.

Interestingly, despite the temperature disparities between December and January, the 2022 winter heating season has been on par with past years based on heating degree days. November 2021 through January 2022, Tideland territory had experienced 1,390 heating degree days. We even had a few cooling degree days in December and January. As recently as 2018 we had a much colder January and a remarkably cold heating season.

This is precisely why we encourage members with post-paid accounts to take a serious look at levelized billing and by all means please enroll in high energy use alerts.