Some Austin residents have found the triple-digit temperatures more uncomfortable thanks to a spike in their electric bills.

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KVUE's Jim Bergamo reports

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Jimmie Bloodsworth spent his morning cleaning the chicken coop behind his North Austin home. He and his wife enjoy the fresh eggs. What they don't enjoy is their summertime electric bills.

"The way it is now -- I have no earthly idea when I see July's bill," Bloodsworth said.

That's because he knows what he'll have to pay isn't chicken feed.

"It was a hundred dollar jump just for June and I'm expecting $150 to $200 higher this month," Bloodsworth said.

The summertime electrical financial burden is especially hard on Bloodsworth, who is disabled.

"It's tough when you're on a fixed income to jump up $150 to $200 that you are not expecting, it is so hard and I know I'm not the only one," he said.

Retirees Ed and Dolly Golden replaced the insulation in their home, vented the roof, put in a new meter, new energy efficient windows and keep their ceiling fans running and their thermostat set to 78 or higher. Yet when Ed looked at his last two energy bills he thought it was a misprint.

"(It was) $315.36 for May and $487.74 for June. It was a shock because we had $120, $140, $150 in the first part of the year -- then all of a sudden, it's up to over $400," he said.

The Golden’s say the best energy alternative for them just may be taking up full time residence in their RV.

"I suggested we close up the house and move into the motor home, it's smaller so we could have it air conditioned in there," Dolly Golden said.

Both families who spoke to KVUE News say this year's bills may make them check to see if they qualify for Austin Energy's customer assistance program (CAP). It is where a year's worth of electric bills are averaged out so that each month's bill is about the same.

Austin Energy reports the number of people taking advantage of the program has increased by more than 2,000. The community-owned utility says that's due primarily to an aggressive awareness program it started last year.

It should be noted that Austin Energy's residential rate per kilowatt hour for all kWh over 500 kWh increases from 6.02 cents during the winter months to 7.82 cents from May through October.