Read the plan before judging savings
PG&E describes its budget billing as a way to smooth payments rather than a savings program, with an account balance tracking differences between actual bills and payments. Other utilities can use different review and settlement rules. Read the terms for your own arrangement.
Identify the statement fields for current charges, required payment and accumulated balance. A payment amount may change because the plan recalculates, even when the current month’s appliance routine has not changed.
Follow the balance through a three-month example
Start from a zero balance. In this constructed ledger, positive means an amount still owed and negative means credit. Real statements may display the signs differently; use your provider’s definitions. There are no fees, other fuels or separate credits in this example.
| Month | Current charges | Payment | Closing balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80 | $110 | −$30 credit |
| 2 | $100 | $110 | −$40 credit |
| 3 | $150 | $110 | $0 |
| Total | $330 | $330 | $0 |
Closing balance = opening balance + current charges − payment, before any other adjustments. Month 2 starts with the $30 credit from month 1, so its extra $10 payment difference grows the credit to $40. Month 3 uses that credit even though the payment remains $110.
A stable payment therefore cannot tell you whether a new AC setting saved energy. The last month had $150 of current charges. Looking only at its $110 payment would miss that distinction. PG&E’s program is an example of payment smoothing, not a promise that every utility keeps payments fixed or settles on this schedule.
Measure an energy change with kWh
If you change AC settings, compare consumption for suitable periods and account for billing days, weather and occupancy. Do not infer savings merely because the budget payment is lower than last summer’s large bill. That payment may reflect averaging or an earlier credit.
Keep electricity separate from gas if the payment plan combines services. A single combined payment cannot tell you which fuel or household activity changed.
Prepare for a move or plan change
Review how your provider handles accumulated balances when service ends or the plan changes. Use the current account terms rather than assuming a low payment means nothing remains to reconcile. For routine tracking, save actual kWh and charges alongside payments in your monthly notes. This makes the energy budget useful for both cash-flow planning and evaluating household changes without treating two different questions as the same calculation.
Keep usage, charges and payment in separate columns
Copy electricity kWh and billed days as well as money amounts. Use kWh per day for an initial usage comparison; use actual charges and account terms for cash-flow planning. If gas is combined into the payment, separate its charges before attributing a change to electric appliances.
The blank ledger has fields for credits and opening balances. It contains no formulas: enter the statement values and check the closing balance against the provider’s record. Keep account numbers out of a copy you share for help.
Electricity bill and payment ledger
A free CSV to use in a spreadsheet app. Fill in your own copy; it contains no automatic formulas and does not upload your bills or readings.
Download electricity bill and payment ledger (CSV)Choose your next step
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Sources & further reading
Numerical examples are illustrative unless explicitly described as measured. This guide does not claim hands-on product testing. Read the methodology and editorial disclosure.