| I ask the REC and they said we 'just used more'. They also tried
| to blame 'recovery usage'. I'm not buying it. They claim they didn't
| estimate the bill and when I received the bill I immediately checked and
the
| meter reading seemed in line with normal. I'm talking KWH her not $$ which
| can be affected by rate changes, surcharge and taxes etc.

Perhaps the meter reader is 'cooping' and the utility does not know it.

We had a similar problem. We hooked up a motion activated 'critter cam'
facing the meter. No one showed up for months then the bill jumped.
Surprise, surprise that was the month the meter was really read.