I can prove that a spike during cold weather has nothing to do with the increase in Central Maine Power bills.

Last winter, during that January cold spell, my furnace died and I had to have a new one installed. I was without my furnace for four days and during that time, I ran two portable infrared heaters 24 hours a day.

January’s bill came and it was a bit higher ($89) than my average bill of around $55, but because of running the two heaters for those four days, I expected it would increase for that month.

Then February’s bill came; it was back to normal, at $56.56. What wasn’t expected or normal were the next three months of bills. Again, I was back to normal use. March’s bill was $310, and then April’s bill was $335 (no cold spells in April). But this one is the kicker – May’s bill of $439. There were definitely no more cold spells in May.

I have charted my usage since the first of the year. I can see those four days without my furnace. My kilowatt usage had been between 4 to 6 kilowatt-hours per entry; the total usage for January’s bill, I had 1,678.865 kilowatt-hours for the month. As I’ve noted, that bill was $89.

Then the highest bill was in May, when my usage declined by 958.220 kilowatt-hours to 720.645 total kilowatt-hours for the month, and my bill went up about 400 percent. Again, there was no cold spell in May. I don’t buy their hogwash!

Lynn Bucknell

Windham