Electricity in CA!

Holy Moly...I was sitting in the office this afternoon and spied the electricity bill. I don't pay bills so I don't really see what goes out each month. Our electricity bill for this past month was $266.00!!!!!!!! I almost passed out. It has to be a mistake. In FL, our bill was usually around $80, give or take a bit for the seasons and what was going on at the time. I guess electricity wires in CA are lined with gold or something because we do not use an excessive amount (I was raised to turn off lights when I leave a room, etc etc), we do not have AC, we do not keep a tv on constantly, I only do ~5 loads of laundry each week. I cannot understand, for the life of me, why our electricity bill is so high. Apparently, Steve's cousin told him that once we have to turn on the heat in the winter it will be even more outrageous. Guess we'll be breaking out that kerosene heater afterall.

Living out here is nice, the weather is beautiful, our pool is great, yada yada, but seriously, I'm almost ready to leave this place just because of expense alone. I think we will end up paupers in just a year. Again, I reiterate a question from a previous post...HOW DO PEOPLE SURVIVE HERE LONG-TERM???