OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Utility companies are rolling out technology that impacts how your meter is read for billing. It may mean more work for you, or you could pay a big price.
There is a simple thing you can do to make sure your bill is accurate and doesn't cost you hundreds of dollars or more when the utility catches the mistake.
Whether it's homework with his son or paying bills, Bill Talley tries to avoid mistakes. He pays attention to detail, so it's hard for him to understand how a gas company messed up his bill for 16 months.
"We have this big lump sump bill that for the most part was unavoidable," Talley said.
Due to a programming error, Talley's automated meter sent Kansas Gas Service incorrect data. The gas company says it found the error during maintenance of the meter, and called to alert Talley to the problem, but he didn't know how much it would cost until he says 16 revised bills arrived in the mail. Talley says the mistake added up to $1151.84.
"The billing statement indicated we had 3 weeks to pay it," Talley said.
Talley says he offered to pay six months of the revised bills as a fair settlement. "We thought that was a fair period of time for
Kansas Gas Service to determine there was a problem with their equipment. At that point they refused to accept that and insisted we pay the full amount," Talley said.
Talley complained to the state regulatory authority (
Kansas Corporation Commission) citing specific statues that he believed the gas company violated. Talley later withdrew his complaint, when the gas company agreed to waive the charges.
"What we were challenging was the way
Kansas Gas went about revising the bill and submitting the bill to us. We did feel a bit bullied by Kansas Gas and that was one of our concerns," Talley said.
Kansas Gas Service tells us it works with each customer individually but tries to offer customers the same amount of time to repay the bill as it took to find the problem.
Audit To Determine Accuracy
An internal audit found 30 other homes, out of 162,000, had the same programming issue as Talley's.
"That's a pretty low number in comparison to the number of devices we have installed out there," Kansas Gas Service Communications Manager Al Walker said. "Occasionally something might slip through where the programming is off by a fraction but that fraction could effect the accuracy of the meter reading," Walker said.
Automated meter reading devices were also the subject of a call for action in March when Gardner neighbors got 5 and $600 bills from Kansas Gas Service.
Customers wondered how they could come up with payments that were half the size of their mortgage.
After our calls, Kansas Gas realized the customers were set up in the wrong billing cycle which caused the problem. Still, Kansas Gas stands by its technology.
"Electronic meter reading is about 98.9% accurate which is better than what the human eye can read and record," Walker said.
There are two ways to increase the accuracy of electronic meter reading. Look for an "e" on your bill. It means it's estimated and may signal a bigger problem.
"I also think that at some point throughout the billing year Kansas Gas should be mandated by the state to send someone on site to verify the meter readings correspond," Talley said. Until then, he suggest you take your bill outside to your meter and make sure the usage information is relatively close. "If I had gone outside to physically verify the meter reading on my meter -- at that point I would have noticed a discrepancy because the billed amount would have been different than the actual reading on the unit meter itself. The meter unit itself was correct. It was the wireless transmitter that was sending improver usage data," Talley said.
How To Complain
There are regulatory agencies with every state that you can complain to if you dispute a bill. Talley's letters cited specific billing standard regulations to help bolster his argument. There are
billing standards for electric, natural gas, and water. You need to do your research to accurately prove your point. That goes for complaining about any product or service.
In Missouri, you can complain to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC). The state handled 1120 gas complaints in Fiscal Year 2009. That's the most for a specific utility, but just slightly more than electric complaints. The biggest issue with gas complaints involved service being discontinued and disputing high bills. The state says its Consumer Services Department saved consumers $383,820.
The regulatory authority even has a
how to complain tipsheet. It suggests you should first try to resolve the complaint with the utility. That goes for any complaint about a product or service. Don't go around the company until after you've tried to solve the problem yourself. The PSC has a hotline to complain 1-800-392-4911 or you can
file a complaint online. Make your complaint specific, by including a statement indicating what you believe the utility did wrong or the issue you are disputing.
The Kansas Corporation Commission dealt with 915 billing complaints for electric, gas, and TELECOM companies in Fiscal Year 2009. Slightly more than half of those dealt with gas billing issues. You can file a
complaint online in Kansas, or call 800-662-0027.
