70-72? Where did you move from? Florida? Turn it down and put on a warm layer.

When you moved in, did you call BG&E or did your landlord set up the switch over?

You many need to call BG&E and provide your move in date and when you assumed responsibility for the utilities. Make sure there weren’t any residual charges that were left over from a vacancy or the previous charges or residual fees.

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You should be able to ask BG&E for the usage history for the last 12 months. Not super helpful if the place was empty. But it could help give you an idea of the efficiency of the place.

I bet you have water and heat using gas as well. If you were using $400+ in gas for just a stove and oven, you'd have to be heating the place with it.

Something isn't right here. You're right. Time to dig. Read into your lease as well.

There's an active thread on Nextdoor where everyone in Columbia is complaining that their BGE bills have doubled or even tripled this year, so it's not just you. Luckily, mine only jumped from $54 to $74 so far.

https://nextdoor.com/p/Y_YwXGFLKW38/c/897151711?init_source=notification_center

Change your gas provider to one offering cheaper rates: https://mdgaschoice.com

You'll still pay BGE, but the underlying provider of your natural gas will change.

That thread is crazy! Someone said their bill was $1000 and that’s for a townhouse. 😱

BGE should have a place on their website with a home energy report where you can compare your gas and electricity usage to "average" neighbors and "efficient" neighbors. They try to compare like with like, so similar sized apartments in a similar area. That way you can see if you're using a lot more gas than other people

That seems way high for an apartment, but it is a 6 week period and you keep temp a bit high. I have gas heat, water heater and stove in a SF home and used about 120 therms on the last bill. Heat usually 65 - 67, well insulated house. If you are ground level apt, your bill will also be higher since no heat rising from unit below. In summer, a/c would be less though.

I get a letter from them like every month about that.

"You use the most electricity in your entire neighborhood! You should try to conserve more!" I also have the only EV in the neighborhood...

I agree 100% after OP clears up WTF is happening now because that's not just "BGE more expensive per therm."

Last month my BGE was around $500. That one week cold snap did a number on my old house

Thank goodness (besides that stretch) we have had a mild winter so far!

I am convinced they all show the recipient is the energy hog. We have a beach condo where no one is over the winter. The heat is set at like 40. I think we’ve had a handful of days that even got below 40 and it always shows we use more than anyone else.

I bought my house last Fall and BGE would not provide the true usage over the past 12 months, just the average utility bill amount.

It does seem a bit high, but I would suggest turning it down to 60-65 when you leave for work, 68-70 when you go to bed, and 55-60 when you're away for extended periods of time.

If the water heater is accessible, and it's on gas, on extended periods of leave you can turn it down to 'Vacation' mode.

LOL my gas one is usually reasonable tho. And before the EV they did praise me sometimes.

I keep our house around 67 at the thermostat. Routinely that's 64 elsewhere. Hat, sweatpants and sweatshirt. Still ~$350 gas/elec bill.

if you have a smart meter from bge, when you log onto your account, you can view usage and there is a daily and hourly view on how much electricity and gas is used. could help pinpoint whats using the most energy

Yeah my bill went from 120 or so a month to 230 or so. For a townhouse. Sucks.

My bill is usually $180ish, it was $350 for the same billing period as yours. It sucks.