Andrew Rosenthal, 8 April 2021, "Is the bill amount different from what you would typically expect during this time of year? (Q31a)", contributed by Andrew Rosenthal, Briana Leone and Alison Kenner, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 17 August 2022, accessed 19 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/bill-amount-different-what-you-would-typically-expect-during-time-year-q31a
Critical Commentary
This chart reflects responses to Question #31a from the Spring 2020 survey, which asked respondents who had received bills, “Is the bill amount different from what you would typically expect during this time of year. Please check what is applicable.” The options were “electric”, “gas”, “water”, “internet”, and “oil.” All eighty-six respondents answered this question.
Twenty-one respondents (24.4%) indicated their electric bills have increased.
Eleven respondents (8.6%) indicated their gas bill has increased.
Ten respondents (11.6%) indicated their water bill increased.
Three (3.5%) indicated their internet bill has increased. (Most internet bills in the United States are not based upon usage, so those respondents may have either gone over a data cap or have switched to a new plan.)
Five respondents (5.8%) indicated their electric bills have decreased.
Three respondents (3.5%) reported gas has decreased.
One respondent (1.2%) indicated their water bill has decreased.
One respondent (1.2%) indicated their internet bill has decreased.
Thirty-three responded (38.4%) their electric bill has stayed the same.
Thirty respondents (34.9%) responded their gas bills stayed the same.
Twenty-nine respondents (32.6%) indicated their water bill has stayed the same.
Fifty-three respondents (61.6%) indicated their internet bill has stayed the same.
One person (1.2%) indicated their oil bill was the same.
Eighteen respondents (23.4%) did not know about their electric bill.
Twenty-two respondents (23.4%) did not know about their gas bill.
Twenty-five respondents (29.1%) did not know about their water bill.
Sixteen respondents (18.6%) did not know about their internet bill.
Thirteen respondents (15.1%) did not know about their oil bill. (Considering that this is more people than even had an oil bill, it is likely the case that respondents indicated this for bills they did not get.)
The data was produced by the Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 Survey - Overview, which was administered to 86 people over a six week period in May-June 2020. Visit the Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 - Survey Results page to view more data from our survey. The project is approved by Drexel’s IRB.