Sep 26, 2024
Imagine doing everything in your power to reduce your mysteriously high energy bill — to the point where you’re turning off the breakers every time you leave the house — to no avail.
That’s exactly what happened to a Vacaville, California, man as he struggled each month to lower his power usage to save money on his costly bills.
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Ken Wilson has lived in the same apartment complex for 18 years, and said he’s always been incredibly cautious with his budget.
Yet, despite his best efforts to save money on his electricity bill, Wilson’s monthly charges continued to skyrocket. He even purchased a device to help him calculate exactly how many watts each appliance gives off, but it made no difference to his charges.
It was only after calling his utility provider, Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), that it was discovered he’d been charged for his neighbor’s power usage for nearly two decades. His bill was linked to unit 90 — but Wilson lives in unit 91.
"I thought there was a leak or someone was stealing my electricity or the meter was faulty because something wasn't right," Wilson told CBS News Sacramento. “I feel powerless right now because I can't control my own meter."
So far, PG&E confirmed they have credited more than $600 back onto Wilson’s account, which reflects three years of overpayment. However, watchdog organizations believe Wilson should get far more considering PG&E admitted he’d been connected to the wrong meter since 2009.
Who monitors power and electricity usage?
With regards to Wilson’s situation, PG&E released a statement to CBS News Sacramento: “We acknowledge an error occurred in this instance, and we are fully committed to rectifying the situation with the customer and make the customer whole. We sincerely apologize for the oversight and regret any inconvenience caused by the duration of this issue.”
No matter who your utility provider is, they have an obligation to provide an accurate reading of the usage meter for their customers.
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In the case of PG&E, the company acknowledged that they own the meters, which also makes them responsible for maintaining, operating, and reading them for each customer. From there, the actual usage is determined, so that customers can be charged appropriately.
However, that doesn’t always happen. In April 2024, another investigation by ABC News Sacramento discovered some PG&E customers were receiving bills for more than $1,000 for their alleged electricity usage.
It was later determined that there was an issue with their SmartMeter technology. As the batteries began to die in the meters, they began sending out erroneous readings to the utility provider. As a result, PG&E replaced more than three million meters for customers.
But some situations aren’t related to meters at all. Although cases like Wilson’s are quite rare, they are known to happen without any real explanation.
In one case in San Diego, a woman’s utility provider was accidentally charging her for her entire apartment complex’s power usage before cutting her power off.
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How to push back on incorrect utility bills
If you believe that your utility bill is higher than it should be, the first step is to start your research at home. Going through old bills can help you determine any patterns or drastic changes, and help you see if there is a dramatic spike in usage.
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If prices increase seemingly overnight, or your bills don’t go down despite concerted efforts to decrease usage, there could be a larger problem.
Once you’ve determined there’s an issue, the next step is to call your provider. Be prepared to have some examples showing that there’s an issue, and be direct in your request for a credit or refund.
Should the company be unwilling to work with you to determine a way forward, the next step is to take your case to the utility’s regulatory body.
In each state the process is different. If you are working with a municipal or regional utility provider, you may need to go through the city or regional authority to dispute the bill.
Otherwise, the state utility commissioner’s office should be able to help you work with the provider towards a satisfactory ending.
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) website has a directory of public utility offices that will help you track down the regulator in your state.
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Joe Cortez is a freelance contributor to Moneywise.
