Like most Entergy customers, Baker resident Danielle Brown is having trouble with her power bill.

The mother of seven says her $600 bill is forcing her to pick up extra shifts at the gas station and make major cut backs.

"Trying to keep the lights down with the kids, trying to keep just one TV on. It's hectic. It's really crazy," Brown said.

This summer has been particularly bad, Entergy says, for three reasons. A big one is people turning down the thermostats to combat the record temps.

"The biggest tip that we can provide at this time is to encourage customers to keep their thermostats at the recommended setting of 78 or the highest comfortable setting," spokesperson David Freese said.

"They say keep the air on 78 degrees. It's south Louisiana. It's hot, so keeping it on 78 degrees does not work," rebutted Brown.

The second is the fees from the company trying to recoup its costs from hurricanes. The third is the cost of natural gas.

"It's costing us more to produce power and provide electricity, and those costs are showing up on customer bills in the form of a fuel adjustment," Freese said.

Fuel surcharges dramatically increasing bills will likely stick around until those prices fall.

The Public Service Commission, whose job is to regulate companies like Entergy, says there is no magic solution.

Commissioner Craig Greene tweeted this week asking frustrated customers to send their complaints to him so he can take them to the next meeting.

"You feel very frustrated if you don't have a voice and you don't have a choice," Dr. Greene said. "We want to hear your voice. If you're in my district, I want to hear your voice, and that voice should be one of very much frustration."

Entergy says a good way to not be caught off guard by your next bill is to utilize the usage tracking feature on its app or website. You can see just how much power you are using and get an estimate for how much it will cost.