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The free tool below runs entirely in this browser — no account, nothing stored or transmitted. Redact anything you would not want kept before you type it.
Open the companion tool →Which of the four can a household actually change
Usage responds to behaviour and weatherisation; supply and capacity respond to the contract or the provider; rate and rider cases respond to the commission docket. A record that separates them stops the household from being told that "usage went up" when the increase came from a charge that has nothing to do with usage.
The same split feeds the assistance application, since arrearages are assessed against the amount that was actually owed — not the amount that appeared on the notice.
The protocol
- Collect twelve months of bills and the current one, and write each month's total, usage, and rate into the ledger.
- Split the current bill into base rate, riders or trackers, supply or capacity, taxes, and usage-driven charges.
- Compare the same month a year earlier, and mark what changed: rate, rider, usage, or a new line item.
- Identify which line the utility's own bill summary explains, and write the question you want answered for the rest.
- Call with the ledger, ask for the explanation in writing, and take the same file to assistance or the commission if the answer does not account for the difference.
What the tool does
Attribute a bill increase to rate, rider, capacity, or usage, and turn the difference into a written question. It runs locally in this browser and sends nothing.
Limit first: This is a documentation and planning aid, not legal, energy or benefits advice. It cannot stop a shutoff by itself, compel a commission decision, or certify eligibility.
Open the companion tool →Cost and free path
Cost: Free: one complete run in this browser, no account. Optional $4 one-time unlock allows unlimited runs of this tool on this browser. The free path and safety guidance never require payment.
Rule status (state route): structural: bills combine base rates, riders and trackers, supply or capacity costs, and usage; large-load cost allocation is contested in several states and PJM's independent market monitor attributes roughly $29B over about two years to the region's 67 million ratepayers (reported 2026-10-01). Per-household attribution is not published, which is why the household ledger matters.
Automated decision this documents: cost-allocation and rider filings that raise the fixed portion of a household bill
Free path, in order (no cost):
- Your state commission's consumer division (billing and rider complaints)
- 211 — energy assistance while a billing dispute is open (211.org)
- DOE Energy Saver guidance for usage and weatherisation questions (energy.gov/energysaver)
What this cannot do: It cannot stop a shutoff by itself, compel a commission decision, or certify eligibility.
Sources checked 2026-10-03 · source bank reviewed against the live pages listed in metadata.
One human next step
Call the utility's billing department with the twelve-month ledger and ask for the explanation of the specific new line in writing; if the answer does not account for it, file the ledger with the commission's consumer division.
Research log and safety checks
AI-assist path: not used for a verdict. This builder organises the reader's own documents and names an independent source; it does not infer authenticity, eligibility, or legal rights. §6.9/§6.10/§6.11 disclosed in the batch report; §6.12 status line carried in metadata as `status_line`.
§0.5 protection result: category is utilities-and-essential-costs; crisis-adjacent: no; fear/urgency/scarcity toolkit used: no. The protective function is free and the paid feature is convenience only.