An electric meter is a precise device that records the units of electrity (kilowatt-hours) used in your home.  Correctly reading your electric meter can be confusing for a variety of reasons.

You read an electric meter from left to right, recording the smaller of the two numbers on either side of the pointer.

On the four dial meter, as illustrated above, the first pointer is between 1 and 2, so you read it as 1. The second is 7; the third, 2; and the fourth, 2. This gives you a reading of 1722 To figure out how much electricity you have used, subtract the previous meter reading from your present meter reading.

Most residential meters have a sign that says "multiply by 10." Taking the difference between the previous and present readings, and then multiplying that difference by the multiplier, "10," will give you the number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity you have used since the last reading.

When you multiply that number of kilowatt-hours by the price per kilowatt-hour -- Richland's standard residential rate is $0.0570/kWh -- the result is the dollar amount for the energy charge of your current electricity bill.

Previous read (from your last power bill) - current read x multiplier (10) = kWh

kWh x $0.0570 = electricity charge
Base Rate = $10.75 single multi