Hey guys check those electric bills carefully

[eliza61]

I just got mine reduced.

Ok, got my electric bill today and it was almost 400 bucks. at first I was going to chalk it up to a very hot summer but some thing made me look at the electric usage.
I logged onto the provider sight and saw that historically we use about 800-1200 kwh's. well this month the bill said we used 3000.
Now I know it's been a hot summer but no way could we have used 3X's the amount of energy.

Called Atlantic city electric and what happen was, the needle on the meter was between the numbers 2 and 3 so the meter reader automatically chose the higher number.

I called ACE and they agreed that 3000 KWH could not be correct and are issuing me a corrected bill. Whew!!

So guys check those bills and don't automatically assume that they are higher because of the heat waves.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Something similar happened to me last month. They estimated last months bill and it was double what we have ever used so we called in the numbers ourself and they corrected it and sent out a new bill.

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[sweetdana]

This happen to me on a gas bill. Our reader was inside the house. We had an estimate for 10 months in a row than a real one. It was almost 1000$. Chalked it up to bad rounding. The next month they read again and we had a 800$ credit and didn't pay gas for almost a year again.

 

[Tinkerboy00]

DH told me last night that our electric bill last month was $400 and I was like NO WAY!! Its been hot but come on.

I told him he needs to check it out, that it doesn't seem right at all.

 

[SandrA9810]

Happened to me on my water bill one time. By the time they sent some one to reread the meter, it was too late to adjust the bill for the billing cycle. I had to pay the extra amount, but had a credit for the next 2-3 months.

On a fun note, it was great when we reached one year of service and they applied the deposit to the account. That was 3-4 months of electric paid for.

 

[TwistGrl101]

My summer water bill is always $400+ for the quarter. Everyone I talk to says it is too much. We have a small yard with a sprinkler system. They have come out twice now and say it is simply usage, no leaks.

 

[hsmamato2]

my bill says 'actual read'.... we went from approx. 7oo kwh to 1136 and doubled our bill

 

[MEM]

DH told me last night that our electric bill last month was $400 and I was like NO WAY!! Its been hot but come on.

I told him he needs to check it out, that it doesn't seem right at all.

I'm in the Boston MetroWest area, too, and our bill last month was nearly $600!
I asked DH how that could be possible and he said its because we have an electric dryer, electric hot water tank, electric stove and 3 window A/C units. We do have a 14 room house but only really use half of the rooms. After reading some of the electric bills on another thread here I cannot believe our bills should be that high. I guess I'll have to do the investigating since DH just shrugs his shoulders.

 

[eliza61]

my bill says 'actual read'.... we went from approx. 7oo kwh to 1136 and doubled our bill

Mine did too but the problem occurred because the needle on the meter was between digits and the reader just assumed it was the higher digit. sort of like when you have a dial clock and the hand is between the 6 and 7.

Luckily when I called the cs rep agreed that it would have been very unusual for me to almost triple my usage in 1 month.

 

[tcarr5]

mine is always high I think I need a new meter....

 

[nancygirl1]

I'm in the Boston MetroWest area, too, and our bill last month was nearly $600!
I asked DH how that could be possible and he said its because we have an electric dryer, electric hot water tank, electric stove and 3 window A/C units. We do have a 14 room house but only really use half of the rooms. After reading some of the electric bills on another thread here I cannot believe our bills should be that high. I guess I'll have to do the investigating since DH just shrugs his shoulders.

Our bill last month was $699!! That's about $200-250 higher than it usually is. Our electric bills are wicked high, but that scared me! We are an all electric house with oil heat, but even that was high for us.

Makes me re-think the bill...thanks

 

[Sheaboys]

Check your bill is right:
We had the meter removed from our house that was damaged in the tornado. National Grid removed it. House was burned down by our local fire department for training. A month later, get a bill for $22. Tornado hit in 2011, ever since then our bill for that house was about $7, since we kept the electric on, we had it removed 3/2013. National Grid kept telling me, it is estimated usage. Ok, but on a house that is no longer there, and National Grid removed the meter from the house. It took 3 months for them to straighten it out. DH, said just pay it. Pay it, seriously, NO, not for something that is not there. He had to call and straighten it out, since it was in his name, they would not talk to me. Although, I am the one who ordered the meter be removed and they did.

It was beyond ridiculous, frustrating and nearly comical all at the same time.

 

[kymom99]

We have all electric in our house but there is a gas meter because the old furnace was gas. we still pay a nominal amount for the gas meter. That is really stupid but I assume we have no choice.

In our old house I read the meter myself because it was inside. The directions say to round all the numbers down. I would think a trained meter reader would know that.

 

[nordkin]

I just got mine reduced.

Ok, got my electric bill today and it was almost 400 bucks. at first I was going to chalk it up to a very hot summer but some thing made me look at the electric usage.
I logged onto the provider sight and saw that historically we use about 800-1200 kwh's. well this month the bill said we used 3000.
Now I know it's been a hot summer but no way could we have used 3X's the amount of energy.

Called Atlantic city electric and what happen was, the needle on the meter was between the numbers 2 and 3 so the meter reader automatically chose the higher number.

I called ACE and they agreed that 3000 KWH could not be correct and are issuing me a corrected bill. Whew!!

So guys check those bills and don't automatically assume that they are higher because of the heat waves.

I am a metering supervisor for an electric company in Virginia. Our company would never adjust a bill for something like this without first verifying the current reading on the meter. The past month had record heat and the majority of people had bills higher than usual. If I were you, I would be prepared for another high bill the next billing cycle because if the blind adjustment was wrong you will be billed for the discrepancy.

You do not say how much they adjusted you bill but, one digit being read incorrectly will result in 1, 10, 100, 1000, or 10000 kwh difference not 2000 unless you have a multiplier of two on your meter and in 31 years in the business I have never seen a multiplier of two. Almost all homes have a multiplier of 1.

 

[kkmcan]

Same thing happened to us on our water bill last year. Normally around $60/month and our bill said $175. I didn't really question it, just thought with it being the summer that we must have used a lot for our swimming pool. So I paid it and then a few days later decided to check the meter and see if it matched up with what they said it was on the statement.

They read the meter wrong. I was way less than the number on the statement. I called, they said they'd have our meter re-read and send us a new bill with a credit. Ok..... a few days later the new bill comes and I check it with the meter and they read it wrong again. Said we only got a credit of like $20. Called again and she said asked what I thought the meter should read based on the previous bills. I told her and she said she'd send me another new bill with the new credit.

By the next meter read and bill they got it right. Finally! Now I always make sure the bill is around what I normally pay.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Our meter readers are lazy and use any excuse they can think of not to read the meter. One meter reader actually said that meter reading was not his job! They estimate more often than not. Luckily NIPSCO now realizes how lazy their meter readers are and is installing meters that can be read from their vehicle. I am hopeful that this will help with the poor estimates but I will continue to double check unusual billings. Chicagoland has been much colder than usual (tied with Alaska several days this summer) so that excuse for higher bills doesn't work here. I would think that trained readers would know to round down but if it is close I don't think they actually check closely.

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[nordkin]

Our meter readers are lazy and use any excuse they can think of not to read the meter. One meter reader actually said that meter reading was not his job! They estimate more often than not. Luckily NIPSCO now realizes how lazy their meter readers are and is installing meters that can be read from their vehicle. I am hopeful that this will help with the poor estimates but I will continue to double check unusual billings. Chicagoland has been much colder than usual (tied with Alaska several days this summer) so that excuse for higher bills doesn't work here. I would think that trained readers would know to round down but if it is close I don't think they actually check closely.

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WOW!!! You really think your meter readers are lazy.. Sounds like they are still walking house to house and are probably walking 5 to 10 miles a day to get the routes finished.

Hate to tell you, but your electric company is way behind the times if they are just now going to drive by technology. We have had it since 1996 and are now moving to smart meters. The down side of both is they put people out of work. They are not changing technology because they realize how lazy their Meter Readers are, but because they can cut jobs and save a lot of money on payroll.

 

[Kathi OD]

Hate to tell you, but your electric company is way behind the times if they are just now going to drive by technology. We have had it since 1996 and are now moving to smart meters. The down side of both is they put people out of work. They are not changing technology because they realize how lazy their Meter Readers are, but because they can cut jobs and save a lot of money on payroll.

This! And don't think those lower wages & benefits will translate to lower energy bills for you....however it will translate to higher profits/dividends for stockholders.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

My summer water bill is always $400+ for the quarter. Everyone I talk to says it is too much. We have a small yard with a sprinkler system. They have come out twice now and say it is simply usage, no leaks.

That would be typical for here too. Ours bills monthly and it's around $80/month with no sprinkler. We plan to get one next spring and I think I'll have to be sitting down to open the first bill.

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

Mine too was read wrong- I got a credit for $36 which dropped the balance down to $102. I still think it's a little high but not going to argue with them...this time around. lol