ASHLAND, Mont. — One Ashland household is already seeing its daily electricity cost climb before regular winter heating has even begun.
Truth in Focus publisher Steven Bullcoming Haworth reports that the household’s electricity cost is currently running at about $5.16 per day. During the summer, the same household was generally running a little over $4 per day.
The comparison is intentionally narrow. It is one household’s experience, not a claim about every customer, a utility-wide rate increase, or the average cost across eastern Montana. Usage, billing periods, appliances, household size and heating systems can all change what a customer pays.
What makes the number worth watching is the timing: the higher daily cost is showing up before the household has begun its normal cold-weather heating routine. As temperatures fall, Truth in Focus will track whether that daily figure continues to rise and whether other households are seeing similar changes.
Readers who want to participate in a local cost-of-living comparison can send Truth in Focus their current daily electricity average, the approximate summer average, and their community. Please remove account numbers, meter numbers and other private information before sending a bill or screenshot.
If enough households participate, Truth in Focus can report the range of experiences while keeping individual account information private. That would provide a clearer picture than treating one household as representative of the whole region.
Sources & Record
Firsthand household cost figures reported to Truth in Focus by Steven Bullcoming Haworth on Sept. 28, 2026. Figures describe one household and are not presented as a utility-wide average or rate study.