Your bill, in plain words

Supply is the energy itself: the electricity or the gas you used. Your bill shows a price for each unit, like cents per kWh.

Delivery pays your utility to bring the energy to your home over its wires or pipes. It also pays for reading your meter and fixing outages.

Delivery charges are the same whoever sells you the energy. Only the supply part can change when you pick another company. See supply and delivery.

Electricity is counted in kWh (kilowatt-hours). Your bill shows how many you used this month.

Gas is counted in Ccf, Mcf or therms. A Ccf is a hundred cubic feet of gas. An Mcf is a thousand, so 1 Mcf is the same as 10 Ccf. A therm is a unit of heat from gas.

To compare prices, the units must match. Judy does this math for you.

Look in the supply part of the bill. If you never picked a company, you pay your utility's own price. Many bills call it the Price to Compare. Other states have other names for it, like Standard Offer or Basic Service.

If a company's name shows in the supply part, you may be on a plan with that company. Some gas bills print a company name even on the standard price, so a name alone doesn't prove you signed up.

Your total can change because you used more, because the price changed, or both.

• In winter and summer, most homes use more energy.
• Standard prices change on set days. Gas prices often change every month.
• A plan with a price that can change each month may go up with no warning.

Take a photo of your bill and Judy reads it for you. Judy finds your price, your use and any fees, then compares them with the prices in your area.

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