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More than a few of us at DCist have been chatting over the past week about how this month’s double-whammy snow storms provided at least one hidden benefit: to our wallets. Not being able to really go out and spend money for almost a full week has left us with slightly heftier bank balances than normal. Great for us, not so great for local businesses, but hopefully that’ll all balance out soon enough.

But one thing we thought we’d remind our readers (and ourselves, for that matter) about is that with all that time spent at home this month, February electricity bills are likely to be on the high side. Those hours of extra television watching, increased heating usage, cooking at home more, etc., definitely can and will add up. So keep that mind when you’re weighing whether to take your surplus cash out this week and go on a spending spree. You’ll probably need some of it to pay your utilities.

One other wrinkle to keep in mind: most local power companies are warning customers that they may be getting estimated bills this month. Estimated bills are generated when meter readings cannot be made due to extreme weather. Pepco has some more details on how their estimated billing system works, which basically says you’ll get charged for about how much electricity you used this same time last year. Once the snow clears and Pepco is able to read your meter again, the following month’s bill will then be reconciled with the previous one. So in other words, if you get an estimated bill this month, it’s possible it could be lower than what you’ll eventually be charged, since you probably used more electricity this year than you did last February.

If you have more questions about estimated billing, you can call Pepco Customer Service at 202-833-7500.