What price electricity?

If you've gotten your first $300 summer electric bill and wondered how on earth you managed to use that much electricity, here's a deal you might be interested in: Reliant Energy is offering a few customers a device called a cent-a-meter — go ahead and take a second to process that highly sophisticated wordplay — that gives a running total of how much you're spending on electricity.

The cent-a-meter looks a lot like those indoor/outdoor electronic thermometers you can pick up at Radio Shack, except it shows the price of electricity, how much you're spending each hour based on your home's electric use and the equivalent amount of greenhouse gas produced by running your electricity-hogging appliances. There's even an alarm that sounds to warn you of "excessive electricity use" based on a level you set. Oh, and it shows the indoor temperature and humidity, too. Sensors for the cent-a-meter clip into your home's breaker box, and the results are shown on a little portable LCD unit.

KTRK talked to Laura Mireles, who has a cent-a-meter in her house, and she said the device has helped her family be more conscious of energy conservation. "I can actually look at this and think to myself, 'Is the computer on upstairs? Did one of the boys leave a light on upstairs?'" Mireles told Channel 13. We bet the kids love that.

Reliant plans to issue about 50 cent-a-meters now and see how they go over; in the future, a spokeswoman said, every customer might have one. Anyone who owns a home and has a fairly recent breaker box that can accommodate the cent-a-meter is eligible to sign up for the pilot program — if you're interested, sign up here. If you're chosen, you'll have to attend a one-hour training session and keep a journal about your cent-a-meter experience for six weeks. Hey, we think it's a small price to pay for a gadget that'll make you paranoid about yet another expense.