My Latest Electric Bill; what the heck is a kWh?

I got my latest electric bill from September 20 2007 to October 21 2007. It was $54.63 for 31 days. This bill is so complicated that I will take a few posts to explain it.

Here is the bill:

Residential Service 31 Days
Basic Service Charge $6.00
Energy Charge Summer 169.68 kWh @$0.067550 $11.46
Energy Charge Winter 356.32 kWh @$0.058070 $20.69
Environmt Imprvment Rider 526 kWh @$0.002100 $1.10
Fuel Cost Charge 526.00kWh @$0.0207898 $10.94
Resource Adjustment $1.11
Subtotal $51.30
State Tax @6.50% $3.33
Total Amount $54.63

The arithmetic is always correct but you can check a few things: I used about 170 kWh and was charged about 7 cents for each kWh.
I used another 356 kWh and was charged about 6 cents for each additional kWh. The sum of 169.68 and 356.32 is 526 kWh exactly. I was charged another 2/10 of a cent times that much for an "environmental improvement rider" which added a dollar to my bill. I was charged about 2 cents for each of the 526 kWh for a "Fuel Cost Charge" (which added about $11) and then $1.11 "Resource Adjustment."


This all added up to $51.30 and then 6.5% Minnesota sales tax was added. What is a kWh? Explanation in next blog entry.