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Prior to the smart meters, BC Hydro would often use estimates of hydro usage rather than having someone check meters every month. I was told at one point that their estimating models sometimes produced goofy results but eventually things would catch up when the meter was read the next time.
Just got my hydro bill $983
Started by
selector
, Mar 09 2012 12:27 PM
289 replies to this topic
#22
maniac78
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 03:23 PM
One thing to check is to see if your bill is an estimate or not. Mine is this month and it's double as well. I've had a smart meter for over a year. They still use meter readers on smart meters.
#23
Bob Fugger
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 03:38 PM
One thing to check is to see if your bill is an estimate or not. Mine is this month and it's double as well. I've had a smart meter for over a year. They still use meter readers on smart meters.
This is something that I've not understood in all of the news reports on this issue: I thought that much of the reason of going to smart meters was to check usage remotely and no longer need meter readers?
#24
selector
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 04:19 PM
They asked if I had a heat pump because they are very expensive to operate she said. I said no i use a wood stove to heat and thought heat pumps were cheap to run.
I have lived in this house for 15 yrs. I have a suite down stairs that i don't rent anymore (haven't for years) my bill was cheaper when i had tenants.
The only thing that has changed is the suite is vacant with no heat and a smart meter has been installed. I called neighbors on my street and every one has gone up EXCEPT the ones who pay a monthly average. Electrician said meters can be faulty (the old analog ones) and that electricity doesn't leak.
I have lived in this house for 15 yrs. I have a suite down stairs that i don't rent anymore (haven't for years) my bill was cheaper when i had tenants.
The only thing that has changed is the suite is vacant with no heat and a smart meter has been installed. I called neighbors on my street and every one has gone up EXCEPT the ones who pay a monthly average. Electrician said meters can be faulty (the old analog ones) and that electricity doesn't leak.
#25
Bernard
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 04:35 PM
They also need to install the infrastructure to collect the signals from the smart meters, that is not yet done. When that is complete then the switch happens to the meters sending in the data.
Is your bill double or is your consumption double?
So why would consumption double? There are only four options
1) The smart meter is reading incorrectly - highly, highly unlikely
2) The old meter read incorrectly - possible, depends on age and such. Unreporting power consumption is a problem the old meters have had meaning some people were getting free power
3) Something has happened and you are using more power than before. Could something being drawing a lot more power than before?
4) Your old meter was not read recently and they underestimated your usage for months and now you catch up on one bill.
Is your bill double or is your consumption double?
So why would consumption double? There are only four options
1) The smart meter is reading incorrectly - highly, highly unlikely
2) The old meter read incorrectly - possible, depends on age and such. Unreporting power consumption is a problem the old meters have had meaning some people were getting free power
3) Something has happened and you are using more power than before. Could something being drawing a lot more power than before?
4) Your old meter was not read recently and they underestimated your usage for months and now you catch up on one bill.
#26
selector
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 04:43 PM
consumption doubled. on the bar graph on the bill march spike Huge.
#27
selector
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 04:45 PM
And they want $100 to investigate further.I want a new meter and I'll phone every day until i get one.
#28
sebberry
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 04:50 PM
4) Your old meter was not read recently and they underestimated your usage for months and now you catch up on one bill.
So how much money should I be setting aside in my personal monthly budget for when BCH bothers to come around and read the meter? Have my bills been merely estimates?
I need to know I'm being billed accurately. I don't mind if I have to catch up $10-20 here and there, but what's the chance I'll be hit with a several hundred dollar "catch up" bill?
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#29
D.L.
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 04:56 PM
If many of the old meters were not recording the full power usage of a residence then BC Hydro should have done something to protect or at least warn consumers about the possible jump in cost. BC Hydro is only making smart meters more unpopular by allowing this jolt to happen.
#30
Bernard
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 05:01 PM
So how much money should I be setting aside in my personal monthly budget for when BCH bothers to come around and read the meter? Have my bills been merely estimates?
I need to know I'm being billed accurately. I don't mind if I have to catch up $10-20 here and there, but what's the chance I'll be hit with a several hundred dollar "catch up" bill?
This is how BC Hydro has operated for years. Sometimes you can get hit by a big catch up bill because they underestimated your use. It can also happen the other way.
There is also the problem of there is no way for anyone to know for certain if one of the old meters is reading accurately or not. Each year they take a a number of them out and test them and if a certain number fail they replace all of the ones from the same "batch". If your old meter stopped, what ever amount it stopped at is all you would owe. BC Hydro has no way to prove what you actually used.
The current analog way BC Hydro has been getting the data on electrical usage is from the stone age - ok not the stone age but older than the Model T. Just getting rid of those inefficiencies will save BC Hydro enough money to pay for the whole transition.
#31
sebberry
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 05:15 PM
If many of the old meters were not recording the full power usage of a residence then BC Hydro should have done something to protect or at least warn consumers about the possible jump in cost. BC Hydro is only making smart meters more unpopular by allowing this jolt to happen.
It's too bad that there's no real way to monitor your own power consumption to verify the meter's accuracy.
I'm simply taking Hydro's reading at face value and trusting that it is accurate.
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#32
selector
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 05:24 PM
^^AND if you pay them $100 to come out and investigate further you're taking their word for the investigation report.
#33
VicHockeyFan
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 05:28 PM
It's too bad that there's no real way to monitor your own power consumption to verify the meter's accuracy.
I'm simply taking Hydro's reading at face value and trusting that it is accurate.
You can get the wireless attachment that shows your use in your home, it's like a thermostat-sized device. Then test it by switching everything off except 60-watt bulb, hairdryer, etc. to see what it reads.
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>
#34
selector
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 05:29 PM
Wonder if a magnet would erase the eeprom.
#35
Sparky
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GET OFF MY LAWN
Posted 09 March 2012 - 05:50 PM
Can someone (Sparky?) explain to me what good an electrician would do in determining where the problem is? My understanding that the electrical system in our house is a closed system. The only thing that would cause excess consumption...is excess consumption. If you've not doubled your consumption, then is an electrician going to discover a "leak" somewhere? Electricity does not work that way, iirc.
"Leaks" really can't happen unless it is minute enough that it does not trip the breaker. Up until recently, the meter would spin at the rate that the electricity was being used, kind of like a little motor.
Simple technology.
The smart meter should be able to measure the exact same usage in "watts" or "kilowatts.
In selector's case there must be some sort of measurement malfunction.
You would be hard pressed to double your consumption. You would have to steal all of your neighbor's hair dryers and stoves...and you still wouldn't get there.
Remember Benjamin Franklin did not profit from discovering electricity. It was Charlie Watt, the guy that invented the watt meter, who made all the cash.
#36
VicHockeyFan
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 06:00 PM
Remember Benjamin Franklin did not profit from discovering electricity. It was Charlie Watt, the guy that invented the watt meter, who made all the cash.
Isn't it James Watt? Charlie Watt is in the Rolling Stones. Wait a minute, James Watt was the steam engine guy, but they named watts after him.
Is this on topic?
"Watt you talking about, Willis?"
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>
#38
sebberry
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 06:07 PM
I wonder what component inside the old meters was allowing for inaccurate measurement of power.
On another note - I have been told that the smart meters used by BCH have a usable lifespan of about 10-15 years.
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On another note - I have been told that the smart meters used by BCH have a usable lifespan of about 10-15 years.
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#39
selector
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Posted 09 March 2012 - 06:14 PM
All I know is with a bill like this I'm really wondering why I don't have the cops busting my door down.
#40
Sparky
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GET OFF MY LAWN
Posted 09 March 2012 - 06:19 PM
Grow op..........that's it.......check the kid's closet.
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