BATON ROUGE - The effects of winter storm Uri aren't over yet. Utility customers should be expecting higher than normal bills from February. The week of the record freeze, homes were working overtime to circulate heat.

"Don't be surprised at larger kilowatt-hour usage," said David Latona with DEMCO.

DEMCO members might be getting those bills now. The utility company says even if the thermostat is kept at the same temperature, the unit was working overtime during the cold snap increasing energy use and bills as a result. People who lost power might see an increase in their bills, too.

"We're not charging you when that meter is not spinning. There are days when you may have zero usage," said Latona. "When that power came back on you were definitely efforting to keep our homes warm and comfortable."

DEMCO says space heating and water heating are two big drivers of energy use but there's a difference when it comes to electric and gas heat.

"If you have electric then DEMCO is serving you that power to heat your home and it can be more costly during those super cold winter months," said Latona.

Both DEMCO and Entergy say they want to work with customers who might be having difficulty paying their bills. Entergy customers who need help paying their bills should visit entergy.com/billhelp.

Some options include Deferred Payment Arrangement and Level Billing. DEMCO also offers level billing and more information can be found here. If customers need help, they should contact the companies as soon as possible.