Complaint Rating:

Company information:
Xcel Energy
Saint Paul, Minnesota
United States
www.xcelenergy.com

I just paid my bill and was surprised at the cost. It was over 140$! Let me explain why this bothers me. All of November, I not once turned my heater on (and yes my small 700sq ft apartment got down to 50f). It wasn't on low, I mean it was off. O-F-F. I have 2 computers in there that aren't used very much and site on idle or standby (consuming very little electricity, and one of them is 80 certified if you know what that means).

Me and my girlfriend share this small apartment, and both work long shifts (I work 12 hour shifts, she has 10 hour shifts) so we don't spend a lot of time home.

I was expecting, maybe 40 bucks at the most. But over 140! And to make matters worse, they've done this every, single, month. I used to live in a place that was 3x larger. Had between 3-12 people in it at any given moment, with 4-12 computers running (playing games), 2 tvs on, the stove, up to two microwaves, the AC on full... and never saw a bill over 70$ (In alexandria). I fail to see that the mark up of moving to the cities could hardly justify a 200-300% markup for the same power grid...

I've called them about the problem before. They basically said they don't make mistakes. They even refused to show me were my meter is, why are they hiding? If I had an option, I would leave Xcel energy in a heartbeat. The fact they have a monopoly on the thing makes it all the worse.