Smart Meters Have Been Documented For Overcharging
Electrical engineer William Bathgate was employed in the industry for 40 years. He states that Smart Meters have a six-month power supply. That feeds into the current sensors – and it has caused a 15% increase in his bills.
Results can be precise without being accurate. It’s not like a gas pump. Bathgate says that your utility bills are higher because they’re being measured at the highest level of electrical peaks. We are at the total mercy of the utilities because of no transparency and inaccurate by 10% to 15% or more per month.
Overcharging Fact 1:
A Wall Street Journal article states that “Consumers from Texas to California has reported disappointing results and even higher electric bills after converting to smart meters”. They overcharge homeowners and our HOA on readings taken at the peak of each 24/7 cycle, which is 10% or higher than actual use.
Overcharging Fact 2: PG&E Sued Over Smart Meters, Slows Down Bakersfield Deployment
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that PG&E is facing multiple consumer lawsuits over inflated energy bills following smart meter installation, while GreenTechMedia.com noted that PG&E has “paused” installing smart meters in the Bakersfield area because of residents’ complaints that their new smart meters were overcharging them.
PG&E denies the allegations, noting that the rise in electricity bills some customers have seen come from other factors, such as regulator-approved rate hikes and air conditioning spikes during heat waves. Nonetheless, it has put a halt on new meters for now, utility spokesman Paul Moreno said Tuesday.
Complaints for power have now taken the form of a lawsuit.
Pete Flores, of Bakersfield, claims in the suit filed last week in Kern County Superior Court that ever since PG&E installed a smart meter at his home, he’s been charged for more electricity than he has used. Right now Flores – who says his average bill as jumped from about $200 a month to about $500 to $600 a month since he got a smart meter – is the only named plaintiff.
Smart Meter Consumers Anger Grows Over Higher Utility Bills And Problems with Accuracy
and Unacceptable Customer Response Standards & Practices
Why are consumers reporting dramatically higher utility bills after smart meters are installed?
Higher than normal utility bills and overbilling due to “inaccurate” smart meters have lead to lawsuits, including two class-action lawsuits in Bakersfield, CA, and Texas.
As you read the news reports and complaints below, you’ll be alarmed to learn that even though consumers are shifting their energy use, reducing energy consumption and making their homes more energy efficient, their utility bills have suddenly doubled or tripled. You’ll be saddened to hear the tragic stories of families who can’t meet these new higher bills and must choose between either feeding their kids or paying the utility bills, or are resorting to ice-age living, turning off the heat and resorting to candles. You’ll also be angry to learn how the current billing, customer service and field accuracy testing standards and practices are inadequate and failing consumers. They are grossly unacceptable, and affecting consumers’ quality of life. Our families and seniors are already stressed and burdened trying to survive and manage in today’s hard-pressed economic times.
This recent New York Times articles includes a consumer story about an average fixed-income family that has reported extremely higher bills after the wireless smart meter was installed, and their complaint story echoes those being reported by consumers around the world reporting billing and accuracy problems from their smart meters.
Sgt. John Robertson 2nd, an Army mechanic at nearby Fort Hood, is fuming about the so-called smart electric meter his local utility has installed on the side of his tidy, 1,800-square-foot home. Like thousands of consumers with the new meters around the country, Sergeant Robertson suspects the device is not as smart as advertised.
In his case, he says it is inaccurately measuring his family’s power use and driving up his bills — some months by as much as 50 percent, to as high as $320 — since it was installed in December. This, he said, is despite his efforts to cut back on energy use.
“I’ve done two tours in Iraq, and when I come home I’m getting ripped off by my electric meter,” said Sergeant Robertson, who with his wife, Kim, is raising four children on a tight budget.