" we live in a rental unit "

Are there other tenants? If so talk to them.

you need to look at the therms not the price. Has therm usage notably changed between this month last year, and last month?

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What about last year? Are you new to this place? Is 229 therms expected for this time of year? How many sqft is your place? How old is your heater? What temperature do you set the heater at?

I'd also ask for an investigation, but I'd also assume it's something weird in your house, because it's always easier to actually diagnose the problem if you assume that first.

Do you have the ability to look at the numbers at your meter? Look at the numbers. For me they're measured in hundreds cubic feet (ccf). 1 ccf of natural gas = 1.036 therm. You can visually see if the readings on the meter add up.

it's a house with two separate units. As far as we know we are told, he doesn't use our gas downstairs. But we do plan to talk to him.

According to their reading it has changed significantly, we aren't sure about the WHY. We didn't start using the heater until this month.

It's a house with two separate units (A and B). We are told downstairs doesn't use ours, but we need to talk to him.

4 months in. Unsure of all the answers, will have to ask the owner but this place is managed by a company. Will have to investigate where the reading meter is. Thanks for the tip.

Often depending on the meter they estimate the reading and then when they actually check it you get a bigger bill

Look back at your old bills. If you were being charged an estimated amount for the last few months and they finally took an actual reading, it may be the case that they had been underestimating/undercharging and now they've loaded the difference onto this month. If this is the case, it sucks to get a big bill, but it's money you indeed owe and you can rest assured your bill will go back down next month.

Are you in the district? If so, you might want to reach out to the Office of Peoples’ Council. They’re a district office that can help residents challenge overcharges on utility bills like this. They also have some utility bill calculators that might be useful for diagnosing your bill as well: https://opc-dc.gov/consumer-assistance/utilities-help/gas/

229 therms is Jan/Feb usage levels for us, in a 4 bedroom house. Also check your water heater if it is gas.

Absolutely, we understand the bill owed, just trying to figure out if it was accurate. Thank you for the tip.

If you haven't looked at your billing history over the past year to see if they were estimates rather than actuals, I'd start there and not bother your neighbors. Rental units aren't supposed to share a gas meter if they're legal. Unless you suspect you're living in an illegally subdivided building, your neighbors using your gas is the least likely explanation.

Thank you.

Check if you share washer/dryer.

How big is your house?! I've got a 4 bedroom house, gas stove, gas heat, gas water heater, and I've never used more than 110 therms.

If your using a smart thermostat like nest make sure the schedule is cleared. My nest was running without shutting off in November - February my bill was like $224 each month.

Try the Public Service Commission as well as they regulate and work through issues with Washington Gas.

Poorly insulated and full of people with weak constitutions, but not particularly large.

If the initial bills were estimates, it looks like they adjusted it. Not much of a mystery on that point…but someone at the property is using a lot of gas.

how much gas did you use last month?

we can't really help you unless you provide more information. You need to get your old bills and tell us how many therms you've used in the past.

I'm currently dealing with Wash Gas right now. Our last bill indicated that our therm usage was 6 times what we normally use. They came out and verified that was the actual reading. We called them back and the lady on the phone said "Please understand that this is the winter season and your usage will be higher." I told her we have lived her for a couple of years and to look at last years usage, which is still not 6 times our average. But they won't come out to investigate the meter until another month of high usage.

And just so I have links to reference later if I have to file a complaint

https://dcpsc.org/Consumers-Corner/Utility-Bills-Complaints-and-Service-Providers/Utility-Consumer-Complaints-Mediation-Inquiries.aspx

https://opc-dc.gov/consumer-assistance/utilities-help/gas/

Keep me updated, I have opened up an investigation but that will take some time. I still need to go back to last year and compare the gas usage here.