New electric meters

[Gary Fowler]

Anyone have the new digital RF electrical meters installed at home. The power company swapped mine out last month. The house meter didn't change much but my shop bill went from normal $50-60 per month to $110. OF course they claimed it was accurate and nothing could be done. They did say they would send someone out to check it. I think they billed me the normal rate (minimum charge per month usually) but billed me for both meters, the one they removed and the one they installed. The took the old meter so no way to tell what the reading was when they pulled it. They didn't notify us of the intent to switch, just pulled them and replaced them. On the phone call, they claim to have notified us that we had a choice to keep the old meters but we didn't receive any such notice.

 

[flyerdan]

What likely happened is that your shop was on the same residential rate as the house, and when they changed the meters they updated their accounts and put in on a higher rate. That's what happened here; the basic meter charge was over twice as much and the shop bill was higher than the house. What I ended up doing was dropping the house account all together and having them run a line from the shop service, which was then considered residential as it fed the house.

 

[TnAndy]

What likely happened is that your shop was on the same residential rate as the house, and when they changed the meters they updated their accounts and put in on a higher rate. That's what happened here; the basic meter charge was over twice as much and the shop bill was higher than the house. What I ended up doing was dropping the house account all together and having them run a line from the shop service, which was then considered residential as it fed the house.

That could be. Base charge for house here is $21/mo. Anything non residential is $35 (business, shop building, even a stand alone meter on a well I used for watering cows) plus the kwhr rate is 30% higher.

I put in a 400amp service at my house just so I could run 200 of it back to the shop to eliminate the separate service of a meter there, as many months I don't even come close to meeting the minimum use. Winter time, I use my woodworking shop in there and the 200amp is handy, but spring thru fall, it's often just few lights or garage door opener that gets powered.

 

[RalphVa]

Replaced ours with one that can count backwards when we put in our solar panels. It's digital.

Ralph

 

[RNeumann]

The digital meters have been around for quite some time. Their were some here who fought them back in the day. They can turn them on and off remotely, and change the rate depending on the time of day etc. I have had them on the last few places.....not really a way to fight the man on this one.

Good luck with what sounds like a double bill.

 

[Diggin It]

They changed mine several years ago. No change in rate. At east not due to that. They've been hiking rates nearly every year though. I like that they read it remotely and don't have to come on my property any more.

 

[bunyip]

They changed mine several years ago. No change in rate. At east not due to that. They've been hiking rates nearly every year though. I like that they read it remotely and don't have to come on my property any more.

We have those but still get the odd note saying they could not access the meter as the dogs were out, we had to change when we went solar so we could get the infeed credit, environmentalists (again) claim they cause cancer.

 

[oosik]

Three years ago the utility installed new meters that send their readings to strategically located "hubs". Previously - I'd log onto the utility site and enter my monthly reading. The utility would come out once a year and check to see that I was being honest.

Well - I'm so remote that the new meter did not have a powerful enough signal to reach any "hub". Now I have a utility installed high power transceiver installed on the next to last power pole.

New meter collects reading > high power transceiver > strategically located "hub". I've had no unexpected hike in monthly bills but that high power transceiver & all the associated paraphernalia didn't come cheap for the utility.

 

[grsthegreat]

That could be. Base charge for house here is $21/mo. Anything non residential is $35 (business, shop building, even a stand alone meter on a well I used for watering cows) plus the kwhr rate is 30% higher.

I put in a 400amp service at my house just so I could run 200 of it back to the shop to eliminate the separate service of a meter there, as many months I don't even come close to meeting the minimum use. Winter time, I use my woodworking shop in there and the 200amp is handy, but spring thru fall, it's often just few lights or garage door opener that gets powered.

did same thing with my shop. A separate meter would have been way easier, but not only cost more to install, I’d have been hit with $30 minimum bills each month.

 

[WM75Guy]

The local electric coop switched both of mine out several years ago, no issues. I have a 400A for the house/stables and 200A for the shop. Meter fee is $20 a month each. I love my local electrical coop for the low cost of electricity, $0.1048/kWh.