Michael The monthly electricity bill in America is usually not charged as a flat rate, but is actually read from a meter and billed per kilowatt. Since our heating, foolishly enough, operates electrically (!), the amount to be paid in winter is about twice as high as in summer.
To read the meter, the man from the water, gas, and electricity company called "PG&E" (Pacific Gas and Electric) goes around the neighborhood buildings with a huge bunch of keys, locates the meters in garages or entrances, and reads them. Where the meter is not accessible, the customer can set their meter reading on a cardboard disc with pointers in front of the house, as shown in 1. Once a year, the meter reader then checks inside the house to ensure that no one has cheated.
The meter reader does not always come on the same day, and thus the bill amount can fluctuate even with constant consumption. PG&E therefore offers an alternative payment method, with a monthly flat rate averaged over the year. This is intended for Americans who spend their entire salary down to the last penny and for whom a temporarily higher electricity bill would cause financial difficulties.