Ebbie, I'm sympathetic because a big jump in any expected bill is a shock, but compared to here (Nova Scotia), I'd say you have, normally, very low electricity bills. I'm guessing you live in an apartment, otherwise you'd have some kind of heating alternative like wood or propane. We use both, in order to avoid using the electric heat. We've installed numerous power saving options as well, but we could still do better, like figuring out how to pay for nineteen new insulated windows.