Man Blames Smart Meter For More Than $1000 Electric Bill
By: Brendaliss Gonzalez
Updated: February 27, 2013
Stephen Price couldn't believe his eyes.
"Immediately I get upset," said the Abilene resident.
There are just too many zeros on his electric bill.
In fact, it's for more than $1,000.
That's twice as much as hes used to paying.
"So how are you justifying that one month is $300 and then the next month is $700?", said Price, "It's the same house, the same heater."
According to Price, there's only one difference on his bill this year from last's: the new smart meter.
"I didn't have this problem before they put the smart meter in," he said.
But after contacting his service provider, Stream Energy and American Electric Power (AEP), they say it can't be the meter.
"It's actually going to take a more accurate reading of a users utility consumption because it's in your product," said Omar Lopez, a representative from AEP in Texas.
Adding that the only difference between the new smart meter and the old one is that they no longer have to manually check it.
"The consumption is directly related to the usage and that reading is a direct reflection of that usage," said Lopez, "so whatever the reading is is going to be exactly what was consumed during the month."
Price has covered his doors, even cut open his roof to ensure is home is properly insulated and that there isn't any more cold air coming in than there should be.
But obviously, it hasn't helped.
Now, the electric company is saying they'll disconnect his service unless he pays.
"I'm never home during the day," said Price, "I only come in at night about 5 or 6 o'clock at night so I don't understand their logic."
He's even tried adding up the figures for himself, "$582.20 and not $788.03," he says, after adding up the costs from his latest bill for February.
All he knows is that the math just doesn't add up.
"Immediately I get upset," said the Abilene resident.
There are just too many zeros on his electric bill.
In fact, it's for more than $1,000.
That's twice as much as hes used to paying.
"So how are you justifying that one month is $300 and then the next month is $700?", said Price, "It's the same house, the same heater."
According to Price, there's only one difference on his bill this year from last's: the new smart meter.
"I didn't have this problem before they put the smart meter in," he said.
But after contacting his service provider, Stream Energy and American Electric Power (AEP), they say it can't be the meter.
"It's actually going to take a more accurate reading of a users utility consumption because it's in your product," said Omar Lopez, a representative from AEP in Texas.
Adding that the only difference between the new smart meter and the old one is that they no longer have to manually check it.
"The consumption is directly related to the usage and that reading is a direct reflection of that usage," said Lopez, "so whatever the reading is is going to be exactly what was consumed during the month."
Price has covered his doors, even cut open his roof to ensure is home is properly insulated and that there isn't any more cold air coming in than there should be.
But obviously, it hasn't helped.
Now, the electric company is saying they'll disconnect his service unless he pays.
"I'm never home during the day," said Price, "I only come in at night about 5 or 6 o'clock at night so I don't understand their logic."
He's even tried adding up the figures for himself, "$582.20 and not $788.03," he says, after adding up the costs from his latest bill for February.
All he knows is that the math just doesn't add up.
Comments
There are actually other differences between this month%u2019s electricity bill and a bill from one or more years ago. The most significant is the outside temperature. It takes more energy to heat a home if the average temperature outside is lower than it was the year before. Just as it takes more energy to cool your home if the temperature is higher in the summer than it was the year before. Other differences include the setting you have your thermostat set on, the health of your appliances, when you are using electricity, new usage over the past year. Is there someone new living in your home? Is someone in your home now using medical equipment that requires energy all day, every day? Are you paying the same per kWh as you were paying last year? In fact, every data point on your bill represents a factor in your usage and cost of your usage.
Because we cannot see electricity like you can water or smell a gas leak, we do not realize when electricity is %u201Cleaking%u201D. There is a tool available at your local hardware store called a Kill A Watt EZ Meter. The meter measures the amount of electricity used by a given appliance. The cost is under $30.00. You may not realize that an older appliance in your home is struggling and therefore using more electricity, and this tool can help you identify that. I worry about an older freezer in my home. To determine if it is a problem, I would plug the freezer into the Kill A Watt EZ Meter and plug the meter into a wall plug. Leave it for at least 24 hours then take a reading and divide by the number of hours plugged in so that I can see my cost per hour for the freezer. I can then determine if purchasing a new freezer would actually have a significant lower running cost and save money on the electric bill that would pay for the new freezer.
Another way to conserve energy is by using a programmable thermostat. By not heating or cooling your home as much during the times you are not home, you can save a great deal of money on your electricity bill. I began turning my thermostat up during the summer when I left for work and turning it back down when I got home and saved $50.00 a month on my electricity bill.
If someone is really concerned about their meter reading, consider reading your meter everyday at the same time. It helps you see when and where you are using electricity and what is causing you to use more electricity. Perhaps you have guests staying with you and you are cooking more and people are in and out of the house. You will be able to see a rise in your electricity usage. Also, if you are computer friendly, you can track your usage in fifteen minute intervals at www.smartmetertexas.org. I can literally see when I am awake, and what I do during my day. I can download the information and again, track when I use energy.
My biggest point is that there is so much more to electricity usage than just the meter reading. It%u2019s not just turning off the lights when you leave a room.
Shelley M.
February 28, 2013 at 9:10 am
