- Nashville Electric Service power bills are largely driven by seasonal weather, with one customer’s experience illustrating how costs can spike unexpectedly.
- Many NES customers could see high bills this fall and winter without understanding that weather, not usage habits, is often the main cause.
- NES says it has no evidence of a widespread billing issue but is encouraging customers with concerns to contact them directly through the customer portal.
- The story follows a winter ice storm and an extremely hot summer, both of which NES says can drive up heating and cooling costs.
Tenn. (WSMV) – Weather has the biggest impact on an Nashville Electric Service customer’s power bill, according to the utility, as some customers continue to report unusually high charges following the winter ice storm and this summer’s heat
Electric bills traditionally spike in June, July and August with warmer weather, NES said, and cooling costs account for approximately 40-50 percent of a customer’s total bill amount. Weather also has a big impact on bills in the fall and winter months.
In the winter, after the ice storm, some NES customers saw extremely high power bills that were likely due to multiple factors, such as reheating a home after an outage or extreme cold temperatures forcing heating. With the hot summer, A/C units may have struggled to keep up, which can also lead to a more expensive bill.
One NES customer, Gary Smith, said he was never able to confirm why his bill jumped hundreds of dollars. He said his extraordinarily high electricity bills started after the winter months, and back in May he was charged $300 by NES for a 500-square-foot apartment at Novel Edgehill.
“I never use any lights, I barely cook and I kept my A/C higher than I would because my bill was so high,” Smith said.
Smith said he went back and forth with the apartment complex and NES but never got a definitive answer as to what may have caused the increase. He moved apartments in July and said his bill stabilized after the move.
“My apartment is twice as big, and my bill is a third of what it was,” Smith said.
NES provided the following tips to keep energy bills low heading into the fall and winter months:
- Set your thermostat to as close to 68°F as you feel comfortable with. Every degree lowered can trim up to 1–3% off your heating costs.
- Switch your ceiling fan motor to run clockwise at low speed. This creates an updraft that pushes warm air trapped at the ceiling back down into the room.
- Keep curtains and blinds open on sunny south-facing windows during the day to heat rooms naturally, then close them at dusk to insulate against cold drafts.
- Replace dirty air filters monthly or every 90 days. Restricted airflow forces your heating system to run longer and consume more power.
- Apply caulk and weather-stripping around drafty windows, exterior doors, outlets, and plumbing penetrations to prevent heat loss.
- Keep attached garage doors closed to buffer cold exterior air from cooling neighboring indoor walls.
- Lower your water heater temperature to 120°F to save energy and prevent scalding.
- Upgrade lighting to LED bulbs, which use up to 90% less energy and produce far less unnecessary heat.
NES said there is currently no evidence of a widespread billing issue, but customers with concerns can email or call NES through its customer portal.
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