Utility bills

I was chatting with my brother's mother-in-law the other day.  (Is there a term for what that makes her to me?  No idea.  But we get along so the only term I can think of for her is friend.)  Her house is a little smaller than mine (I just looked it up online and it's 200 sq ft smaller).  But her total utility bills (gas, electric, water and sewer) are less than half of mine!  One advantage she has is large trees all around her home providing lots of shade (meaning she doesn't need as much air conditioning to cool it down).  But more than half!  So now I'm on a mission to figure out why our gas, electric, water and sewer are so much.  I'm getting together with some friends who are willing to share the intimate details of their utilities so that maybe we can figure some things out.  Maybe MeeMaw (what my nephews call their grandmother) likes it hot in the summer and cold in the winter (I like it cold in the winter though).  Maybe she sits in the dark.  I'm also curious to see if I can find the bills from before I was a SAHM.  Is it because I'm home all day, using lights, more a/c, etc?

We've been talking for a few years about investing in more insulation in the attic, and adding it to the crawlspace.  Maybe this is the difference?

If you're interested in participating in our "research", feel free to chime in.  If you don't live in the same area, we won't be able to compare cost but we can compare usage (comparing therms or kilowatts, or gallons of water).  I'll share the results and our efforts as we go.