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friskeywhiskey
06-19-2007, 11:08 PM
I can not believe my power bill this month.

I do not normally check how much power I actually use as I am on Equalized billing. However, tonight I was looking at my power bill to see if it looked like I would be recieving money back from SJE come September. I could not believe what I saw.

They had me as using 4238 Kwh of power, last June I only used 1326 Kwh.
Also means the only other months that I used more power would have been February and March. I then go outside to check my meter and the number that they have my meter as reading on June 11 is more than 2500 Kwh higher then it is reading today.

I wonder how many times does this actually happen and people do not notice because it is not such a high amount. I know there were a few times before I got equalized billing that I wondered how I could use that much energy in a month but then thought we must have took a few more showers or did more loads of laundry. Now I wonder if it ever was that at all. At that time I did not check the meter wish I had of though.

From now on I will be checking the reading every month on my own to make sure there are no mistakes as they are costly mistakes to be making no matter what the actually number may be with the high price of energy.

SJE will be recieving a phonecall first thing in the morning from myself.

karen
06-20-2007, 08:04 AM
My power consumption was up as well but it was also a lot colder the beginning of this year compared to last. I didn't end up turning the heat completely off until either the end of May or the beginning of June. Also do you know how to read you meter properly? It's not left to right, it's right to left.

kimberleyferg
06-20-2007, 08:37 AM
It is very suspicious......our power bill indicates much more usage as each month goes on......something's fishy.

shadoww
06-20-2007, 08:54 AM
I never check mine either because I do the equalized billing but I will from now on!
I have a friend whos bill was almost 400.00 this month and she has never in the 5 years she has owned her home had a bill that high, so she called them and they said they couldnt get to her meter so did an estimate. She said how can the estimate be higher than any bill she has ever had there?? They had no answer. They redid the bill after they sent someone out it was redone at 137.00!!! Thats quite a mistake!!

trinity
06-20-2007, 09:30 AM
I don't get how they can "not get to your meter"- they forced my landlord last year to move the meters from the UNlocked front porch to the outside of the building 2 feet away for easier access. I think they made him put new entrances on at the same time, but would not let him leave the meters where they were, even though the porch cannot be locked.

shadoww
06-20-2007, 09:40 AM
I don't get how they can "not get to your meter"- they forced my landlord last year to move the meters from the UNlocked front porch to the outside of the building 2 feet away for easier access. I think they made him put new entrances on at the same time, but would not let him leave the meters where they were, even though the porch cannot be locked.

Apparently my friend has hers in her garage and the door was closed, but the thing is she works at home so there is always someone there, all they had to do was knock

friskeywhiskey
06-20-2007, 06:31 PM
called the power company today they said that they would send someone right over to take a new reading, my bill would be null and void and a new bill would be sent immediately.
as far as reading the meters go they are all different (read left to right or right to left or even digital). my meter is actually a digital meter not sure how it was possible for anyone to make such a mistake

pepsimama
06-20-2007, 08:27 PM
I always thought that equalized billing took your previous years usage divided by 12 and you paid for that many kwh every month for a year, regardless if you use more or less. But then at the end of the year the actual meters would be reconciled....

The_Dave
06-20-2007, 08:36 PM
pepsimama, you are correct, so something is smelling fishy for friskeywhiskey.

friskeywhiskey
06-20-2007, 09:33 PM
no that is not correct i have been on equalized billing for about 5 years or maybe 6 now and they have always read my meter every month just like everyone else

they do this so if say around april or may it looks like you are going to be owing them money come september they can readjust your payments for the remaining months in order to not have you owing alot come september or vice versa if it looks like you will end up with a large amount for a refund they will lower your payments for the remaining months

come september they take your previous 12 months of consumption and give you a new payment amount for the next 12 months

The_Dave
06-21-2007, 09:51 AM
pepsimama is correct and you are correct, they still read the meter so that they can see if you are over or under your usage which is based on your previous year bills.

lizard_lover
06-21-2007, 01:56 PM
ok...i am so confused, but worried. I am getting my first apt. (moving in) on Saturday...went in this morning to the power place to get it hooked up, and paid a 240$ deposit on it...Now first of all, I am wondering what that is for? Do I not just pay a bill every month? or does that cover my first bill or two? I just want to know what I am paying 240$ for...and how can you read meters? Because I have heard of this happening before, and do not want it to happen to me...like what happened to shadoww's friend....like if i got a bill that high i would not know how to argue it...

dan j
06-21-2007, 07:39 PM
The money you paid for a deposit is because you have no history of payment history with either them or NB Power (if you do have history of payments with NB Power you could have used that as proof and you still may be able to).

How they calculate the $240 for your case is they use the highest bill and times by two, up to a maximum of $300. So, the place you're moving to must have had their highest bill to be $120 in the last 12 months. Not bad.