Triple Billing

Smart meter troubles not over for man whose bill tripled - News 1130

"It went from $160 a billing period to $515." says Brad Hugel.

"I think if I took all the appliances that we have in our house and turn them all on and raised the temperature to 30 degrees, I'm sure that we wouldn't have that much energy being used," he said. "I'm not an electrician but I'm sure we could probably go out and get that tested. We just have a small place."

[The technician's] response was, 'everything is working fine, it must be the winter.'"

Hugel still isn't convinced. Over $500 for a 900-sq. ft. apartment with high efficiency appliances?

Because Hugel didn't move in until April 1 he asked Hydro to check what the usage was last winter in the suite.

"They said it is all about usage and so we don't know if they were using more appliances than you were. What I'm being told is there's no way to tell."

He then requested third party testing of the smart meter. The technicians tried to convince him not to, because Hugel has to shell out for it. If the meter proves to be faulty, BC Hydro will cover the $90 cost.