<prompt> Human: I hope this is an appropriate place for this type of thing, but I need advice and I dont know where else to post. So, here goes.To preface, I live in a small, two bedroom duplex that is just over 900 square feet. I dont have any excessive power usage, and we keep our thermostat fairly low. Last month I got two bills at once was late on the first that totalled almost 900 dollars. I believe it was about 890 USD or so. The first month was almost 400 and the second was 512.55. I went to a kwh calculator site and it said my usage should be somewhere around 497kwh. Theyre saying I used 3,088.Ive been back and forth with the company, who is basically a middle man between the power source and myself, as I understand that most electric companies are. I insisted that there had to be some mistake.Theyre claiming that I used 3,088kwh for that month. They also claimed that since I was on a variable rate plan that my bill would be a little higher than I was use to. Still, I insisted that there had to be some mistake. They told me that they would have the meter read. He showed up a few days ago, leaving me looking at a disconnect notice. The meter guy told me that hes worked the job for many years and he has never read a meter that was inaccurate.I called them back and they basically told me that I have no choice but to pay it. All of their charges are valid. I spoke with one representative and a supervisor, and asked each what kind of house they live in and what they pay. The first said a four bedroom home, and about 200 per month, the second said she lived in a 3 bedroom and about 150 per month. I attempted to use logic and tell them that there either had to be a mistake or that they were overcharging me, but they only would state that I understand you FEEL that the bill is high, but the charges are valid. They tried to explain it away as it having been a cold month. They said my only option is to sign another 12 month contract with them at 10.7 cents per kilowatt hour, which is only about 3 cents lower than the average price I paid for the 500 month was. And then I would still have to pay half in order to keep my electricity on. I do not think I can get another company to turn on electricity before the 13th. What do yall think I should do? Do I have any recourse?  <response>: First off you cant necessarily compare electricity usage at an apartment to a house. Youre probably heating your apartment with electric, which eats up a huge amount of power. A house is probably heated with gas or oil. Also apartments are often terribly insulated. I have run into this at some places Ive lived at. Next, do you know if your apartment is metered individually or if there is just one meter for the whole building and they divide the bill among everyone living there? I have run into this too. You think youre saving money turning the heat down but it does almost nothing because everyone else is blasting it. You could call the electric company and ask them to do an energy survey of your apartment. This is a standard thing and they might be able to help you figure out why your bill is so high. One possibility, which Ive heard of occasionally, is someone could be stealing your power or you could be powering a common area. So for example if there is a heater in the hallway make sure its not connected to your meter. Try shutting off everything in your apartment and check to see if the meter is still running. If the charges are legitimate though youre stuck. There isnt much you can do. You could talk to the electric company and try and work out a payment plan if you cant pay it. If you are low income you could ask about heating assistance. 