Are your electric bills giving you sticker shock? We want to hear about it.

Upgrades to aging utility equipment and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have caused electricity costs to rise across the country, with the national average rising year over year.

As a business reporter for the New York Times, I investigated the impact of rising electricity costs on consumer bills. Together with my colleague Madeleine Ngo, I recently examined how higher rates have put pressure on the budgets of low-income consumers – many of whom cannot afford clean energy technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles.

We're planning more stories about rising energy costs and their impact on people across the country. How expensive has it become to keep the lights on? What impact do electricity rates have on the household budget? What steps are people taking to reduce their bills?

And we need your help. The electricity bill shows exactly what consumers pay for electricity. If you have an electric bill that has surprised you, we'd like to take a look at it. I will read every response to this questionnaire and may contact you to learn more about your story and possibly include it in a future article. I will not publish any part of your response without speaking to you first. I will not share your contact information outside the Times newsroom or use it for any purpose other than to contact you.