Smart Meters, AKA: Power Pole Meters.

Your monthly bill will be detailed. That is to say, it will state the kWh consumed (or at least what the meter is saying you consumed) and the dollar rate.

How do the consumption and rate of the latest bill compare to the same month last year?

[edit] I see in the articles that one source cited is a woman "... with many advanced degrees in the holistic sciences." Well, BoingBoing only selects the big brains.

I have been using these inexpensive Chinese electronic meters in my test room for a few months now:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PEACEFAIR-AC-100A-Digital-LCD-power-meter-power-energy-Volt-Ammeter-with-shell-4-led-panel/32320321777.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.eBOrh5

They seem to be reasonably well constucted and reliable. They have a port that will connect to an Arduino or datalogger if you want to log the readings.

You get Voltage, Current, Power and Energy readings.

How did the energy price go in this time?

Double cost does not mean double usage if it is now double price.

If ya know what I mean!

You can buy a 200A class wattmeter and socket from Utility Supply for less than $50. Run it in series with the utility supplied meter to check the usage. The supplier will even send the meter to your local county weights and measures person, who will check it's calibration for free. Utility Supply sells these wattmeters into the RV park world for submetering applications. Their website is: https://www.go-usg.com/.

Good Luck, Rick Shoop AG6KL

<...Radio Amateur...run 1500 watts output...> QRP, then.

<...dimmed LED lights everywhere here, all the time...> Well, try turning them off when they are not needed instead of dimming them. Sheesh.

NSS, have a look at this unit. Look at the 3 phase one and you can track Geyser, Radio and house as separate items. You can program the unit cost charge from the utility company into it and make comparisons. It use current clamps to measure.

http://www.theowl.com/

Hope you find something.

More exact http://www.theowl.com/index.php/energy-monitors/standalone-monitors/owl-usb/

WOW! It is amazing the range of prices available!

The company I work for has a Dent EliteXC Pro, and I've had it monitoring my home for the last couple of weeks. The particular unit we have cost just over $2k, but in conjunction with a FLIR One infrared camera attachment for my iPhone, has paid for itself many times over in energy saved, by finding faulty equipment and bad connections. The pair actually paid for themselves during a single month!

To use it on my home, I had to purchase some smaller current transformers; The ones we use at work can measure up to 5000 Amperes, but when using those (Rogowski coils), anything under 5 Amps is considered zero. The hinged ones I got for the house can only measure up to 50 Amps, but can measure down to 0.05 Amps. If I had it to do over, I would have gotten 100 Amp CTs; the ones I got work fine on my 60 year old house, but are too small to fit over the input cables at a friend's newer all-electric house.

This unit can measure up to four lines (3 phases and ground or neutral), and has enough memory to record twice a minute for a year. I did leave it recording 30 different values, averaged once every 15 minutes, on a 600 Amp 3-phase circuit for over half a year, with no problems.

Do note that the $17 Chinese unit from Paulusgnome's post comes with a closed current transformer, so you would have to disconnect a wire and feed it through the CT, then re-connect it. This is definitely NOT something you should do with the main cables feeding your home! The units I got for my house are hinged, and I have them clamped around the cables just before where they enter the conduit above the roof (Sealed with Plastic and duct tape to keep water and snow out).

It is probable that there is a fair correlation between price and precision, but for monitoring home use, you don't need much precision. Also, I believe that $17 unit only monitors a single wire, so you would require two units for a standard home in the US, but at that price, that shouldn't be a problem; buy two.

On the other hand, you would have to make sure any split Current Transformers you get for those units have the same kind of output as the ones that come with it, and you will probably pay more for those that you paid for the original unit.. The unit Solar Eagle showed is more expensive, but it already shows split CTs, and having the WiFi connection to a smartphone or computer makes it MUCH safer and convenient to use.

Finally, since you clearly haven't used one of these units before, you need to know that you must clamp the current transformer around a single conductor. If you clamp the CT around an extension cord, for example, the two current carrying conductors carry equal and opposite currents, which add to zero, and that is what the CT will see.

Why do you think the old meter was more accurate than the new one?

Have you asked your utility to check their readings and provide you with the calibration records?

If my electric bill doubled or tripled, it would be easy to justify installing my own revenue grade meter as a check on the utility meter. If I was going that far, I would look for a model with software that would help to calculate the potential savings of switching to a time of use rate plan.