Can I sue my electric provider for the bills being double what everyone else's are?

Question

Who should I complain to about this? Should I also file a report with the police... I think we are fraudulently being charged double to pay for someone else's meter usage... I have noticed a man messing with the meters on the weekends... when I asked him to check ours... he says he is only doing what the apt mgr told him to do... Reliant wont even come out to check our meters... So who is at fault here both the Electric Provider for not doing anything and the apartment mgr for messing with the meters? How do I have this investigated for fraud? I told the electric company, we are do a huge credit for ever since we moved in and have been paying double.... They could care less.... The man could have been lying about the apt mgr telling him to do it? Our electric bills are too high for a small 2 bedroom apt. Everyone else in our complex is only paying btwn $50 -100 for their electric Y? Another apt complex we are considering moving to close by offers a commerical rate of 9-11 cents per kilowat hr...The Cornerstone Ranch Apt homes in Plano... The best u can do for us is 15 cents per kilowat hr... An employee at Home Depot has a house and her electic bill is only 50-100 per month ... I went to Home Depot to price programmable thermostats....She uses TX U. They will come out to her home or my apt and check for air leakages and give u a list of items that need 2 be fixed and check your meter to make sure it is set and adjusted properly... I asked Reliant to do this for us today and they say no...." Uve been paying this rate for a year"... well I am here to tell you it is too high and discriminatory because no else in our complex is paying this much for electric and You guys wont even come out to check the meters..... U DONT CARE.... I think we are due a huge credit for ever since we moved into this apartment and our bills have been double the kilowat usage it should... in effect we are paying for someone elses meter usage as well as our own and that is fraudulent.... I want an investigation....I have noticed a man on the weekends messing with the meters... he said the apt mgr told him to adjust it Will someone please explain this to me Y is our meter not being adjusted to a proper rate or is someone making us pay for someone elses electric..... Y can you not put a lock on the meter to keep other people out of it. Please advise.... Thank you. A Very concerned customer. I will find out who to register a complaint to on the internet... and my options.... Including switching electric providers.

Answer 1

If you are unable to get answers from the utility, complain to the Public Utility Commission.



However, it is worth noting that there is nothing an apartment manager can do to 'adjust' the meter. They are sealed by the utility and any tampering would be seen at the next reading. I find your claim they do not check the meters difficult to understand, since the meters are the basis of their charges. They may skip a month and 'estimate' the charge, but this is always corrected on the next reading.



If you are for some reason paying for TWO meters, or if your have somehow been saddled with the main building charges, then you do have a valid complaint. Your bill should state the meter number, read it and verify that is yours.



Lastly, I agree with the person above: pare down your complaint to the facts, and remove the duplicate claims you have above. It does nothing for your case, and just makes it look like a rant.

Answer 2

You shut all the power off in the house and the meter stopped. Shut it off via the breakers/not the main switch See if the meter is still running If it is then you know someone is stealing power. But your cost is double that of a neighbor (like you were supplying another household. You say you run nothing major. A hairdryer is major, a stove is major, a heated waterbed always sucks energy-anything that makes anything hot (or cold) is major. Lights are minor. The energy efficient ones can run 24 hours and use maybe a penny. A clothes dryer is major. You will have to keep a record of all the power you use(what is plugged in and used and for how long) That is the only way to narrow down the problem is do an energy audit of yourself.

Answer 3

If you can prove the guy that is messing with the meters is not an electric company worker then yes the electric company can sue them then you might get some of your money back but you cant sue the guys for touching the electric companies equiptment. I had this same problem not to long ago usually the electric company and the gas companies dont do actual meter readings its just an estimated readings. We realized how high our bils were each month and started to request someone from the company to come out each month and do an actual meter reading. it went down by 50% when we started doing this. you can actually ask them where the numbers are and give them the readings over the phone or online so they dont have to come out to you.

Answer 4

If you suspect impropriety on the part of the property manager and ultility company, you should file a claim/complaint with the local authorities or utility commission, depending on which one you have.



But you should also remember that unless you're being charged a different rate, the problem lies in the unit or the usage of the unit (sorry to say).

Answer 5

Contact the Public Utilities Commission. Here's the complaint page for the Texas PUC:



http://www.puc.state.tx.us/ocp/complaints/complain.cfm



May I suggest that you trim down your explanation so that it's less of a rant, and just list facts.

Answer 6

Simple: why not check with the apartment manager?



Have you been DOCUMENTING your complaints?



Did you complain to your local PUC (public utilities commission)? They oversee utilities in your area.



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Kasey C, PC guru since Apple II days

Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.