Electric bill went up 78%...

We are on a "comfort plan", payment is the same monthly. Just got a notice saying our payment went up 78%. Absolutely nothing has changed since the last time they reviewed our use age. We did have the issue with gophers chewing on the power supply to the pump house, I dug a,ditch, dropped conduit in and pulled new wires. Weven were using hot water when we lost water, electric water heater was not full and the elements were energized. Since then the water heater is louder than it was prior to losing water. It is a 4500 watt 240v unit. When it is on it is pulling about 18 amps. Just checked the elements, bottom one is reading 13.4 ohms, top 13.3-13.5 ohms, power off and one wire pulled off the element being tested. If my fuzzy brain remembers right the elements should be reading 12-13 ohms...will being slightly over that cause any trouble?