Utilities - Looking Back on My Household Utilities Cost

I am always interested in comparing how much I spend to "operate" my house to what others spend.  The cost of running a home is a fairly large expense, so keeping it under control is key to meeting my financial goals.  I am continuously looking at ways to be more energy efficient.

Background

• We are currently a household of three, but the 3rd person is only here temporarily.  She moved into my house in November 2011 so the expenses below mostly reflect two people living in the house.  
• I live in the Birmingham, Alabama area.  We have hot, humid summers and mostly mild winters.  I only turn on my heat a handful of times every year, but I should note that my neighbors use much more heat than I do.
• I set the thermostat to 60 in winter and 81 in summer.
• We have some of the highest sewer rates in the nation, which is reflected in my water bill.

Cable TV

2006: $156

2007: $0

2008: $0

2009: $0

2010: $0

2011: $0

Electricity

2006: $755

2007: $679

2008: $1173

2009: $436

2010: $500

2011: $564

Internet

2006: $120

2007: $229

2008: $196

2009: $575

2010: $296

2011: $239

Natural Gas

2006: $205

2007: $0

2008: $132

2009: $529

2010: $485

2011: $447

Telephone

2006: $598

2007: $329

2008: $1323

2009: $1335

2010: $900

2011: $913

Water

2006: $327

2007: $432

2008: $571

2009: $573

2010: $522

2011: $559

Total

2006: $2161

2007: $1669

2008: $3395

2009: $3448

2010: $2703

2011: $2722

There are opportunities to reduce my utilities expenses in 2012.  

• I am in the process of cancelling my wireless phone service with AT&T and moving to Republic Wireless.  Initially I will incur the early cancellation fees which will increase my costs but after that I should be able to reduce my annual spending from $900 to $300.
• In December 2011 I tested my faucets for water usage and replaced two sink aerators and one shower head with low flow devices.  With a third person in the house and the rate increase on our sewer service and water, my goal is to keep this expense from rising rather than reducing it.
• I'm actively looking at ways to reduce energy consumption.  We sold our second TV last year and I replaced the refrigerator with one 40% smaller.  I have mixed feelings here because if we can entertain ourselves at home more (streaming movies via Netflix and surfing the Internet), we can save money on entertainment and fuel for the car.  Of course, we could just start reading books and magazines but I think it's going to be tough to convince the others in this house to do this.