Rising energy bills have hundreds of Northwestern Energy customers concerned. Some took to social media to ask: Are others seeing the same increases?Watch the full story below: NorthWestern Energy customers question sudden spike in summer power billsMy bill shows that it has tripled since the last billing period, so from July to August, Michelle Sexton said.Sextons bill showed her electrical usage was significantly higher than any month in the last year. She reached out to Northwestern Energy, which sent someone out to check her meter. They found no problems and later suggested hiring an electrician to fix things.If it wasnt the meter, then it was something wrong with my house, Sexton added.Sexton made a Facebook post for recommendations on an electrician but got a different result. My post exploded. I immediately got responses with people posting pictures of their bills and how it has tripled, and some of those cases quadrupled, Sexton said.Andrea Davis also made a social media post and has had a similar experience.It looked like around the state everybody was increasing, maybe not the same jump I had, but it was significant; the graphs that were huge, Davis said. We were stunned, and it did not make any sense to us.NorthWestern Energy says there are two key factors as to why peoples bills have gone up: how much energy they are using and the cost of that energy.With the extreme heat in July versus the cooler temperatures in June, it was very noticeable. Now our rates did increase a little bit in July of this year versus last year, said Sarah Allen, a NorthWestern Energy manager of customer service interactions.Learn more about Northwestern Energy's billing resources in the tutorial below: Northwestern Energy shares billing review tutorialThe company says the rate increase has generally been around 6% for customers.MTN meteorologist Curtis Greventiz says cooling degree days and average temperature from August of last year to August of this year do not show a significant difference.Those who reached out to the Montana Public Service Commission may have cases filed on their behalf.In a statement on the Montana PSC website, they say, Hundreds of NWE customers are expressing confusion about recent increases in their energy bills. Many have reached out to the consumer affairs unit at the Montana PSC for help. The PSC is asking customers seeing spikes on their bill to: contact via e-mail at [email protected]. provide the account holder's name and service address scan and forward the front and back of the NWE bill submit any other relevant documentation.The PSC also shared that staff are actively working with Northwestern Energy to investigate the cause of the increased energy bills. ...read more read less