New meters spark concerns in Oklahoma
OG&E SAYS WITH HIGH BILLS, TENANTS ARE MAKING UP FOR UNDERESTIMATED POWER USAGE

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BY ANN KELLEY
Published: January 10, 2009

When Donna O’Brien opened her electric bill this month, the little green statement and her jaw dropped to the ground.

"It’s normally no more than $75, and it was $177.86 — absolute robbery,” O’Brien said.

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She was among more than 100 tenants at Whitby Courts, 7525 Knight Lake Drive, who got unexpectedly high bills from Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.

Apartment residents are blaming new electric meters installed in October, but they’re not the problem, OG&E spokesman Brian Alford said.

Alford said meter readers were unable to read the meters in November because of poor weather, so bills were estimated based on usage history. The estimates were lower than the actual consumption, which was recorded a month later after an actual reading, he said.

Landlord isn’t happy
"Basically, those customers got smaller bills one month because we undershot the estimates,” Alford said. "They were billed this month for the difference.”

Whitby Courts owner George Csertoi insists it’s the meters.

"I was billed $177.72 for a vacant apartment where the only thing that was on was the hot water heater,” Csertoi said. "It’s baloney.”

Csertoi said he’s hoping state regulators will investigate what he and others think are "meter errors.” He has circulated a letter to tenants encouraging them to contact the state Corporation Commission.

Alford said the new meters were tested before they were installed and found to be in good working order.

If a bill poses a hardship, payment arrangements can be made, he said.

Patrinia Johnson said her electric bill this month for a one-bedroom apartment was $213 — $100 more than usual. She’ll have to make payment arrangements with the electric company, she said.

"I just scraped together 20 bucks to put gas in my car,” she said. "Things are tight enough without this.”


 

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Barry, you had some good ideas in your post. Don't know about the apts in the article, but my apt is an all electric one. Normally there are at least a couple of weeks in the spring and fall when I can just shut the air/heat to off. This year, haven't been able to do that. Keep mine at a constant temp either way. Even with that, my kw usage has been lower for most months than the same time last year. Also have the average billing so when it does fluctuate, it takes the sting out some. Yesterday we had a record breaking high of 75 and about an hour after sunset, the temp was in the low 40s. OG&E said they guessed the readings because of weather reasons. There were NO weather reasons in OKC that would prevent them from reading (unless cold counts, we have had a few nights when the lows were in the low teens and a few days when it didn't get above freezing). No ice storms. No snow. Nothing. The same guy from OG&E claims the meters were tested before installing and found to be in "good working order" (need to define what good working order is, does that mean it powers up? Is it accurate?) Now, since they are wrong about the weather, maybe, just maybe they might be wrong about the meters too?
Larry, Oklahoma City - Jan 12, 2009 at 2:14 am
@ The poster claiming to be "Troy" of Oklahoma City: How do you know that I don't live in Beverly Hills? I shouldn't be surprised that the same mentality that generated that idea also generated the ideas that (1) facts are useless, and (2) that I work at OG&E. Again... those that aren't interested in taking responsibility for themselves aren't really all that interested in their freedom. That you don't or refuse to understand it doesn't make it any less true or applicable.
Larry, Beverly Hills - Jan 11, 2009 at 5:05 am
it is curious how an empty apartment has a bill only 14 cents less than a rented one. Go buy a little spiral notepad and pencil and each day when you go get your mail, jot down the number. The date the meter is read is posted on your bill so compare them. You can also see your own usage and compare it to averages you can get from OG/E. Also remember, in October, you probably had no heating on at the place but in November you probably did which would account for the increase. And remember, it is cheaper to maintain a constant temperature in a house than it is to let it go low while you are away and make it work overtime to heat up the place when you get back home.
Barry, Fort Collins - Jan 11, 2009 at 1:04 am
O,G,& E=Oklahoma Graft and Enequity's, especially in Edmond. It's the blind leading the
blind.
jo, edmond - Jan 10, 2009 at 9:51 pm
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Just for those who think I don't pay attention to my bill.....I do!!!!! I am Patrinia Johnson and my bill was about $108 last month which is about normal all year long. My new bill was $213. I am not looking for anything for free, I just don't want to be robbed!!!!!!!!!!
Laura, Oklahoma City - Jan 10, 2009 at 8:31 pm
well OG&E new meters do read incorrectly as in my house they had to replace the meter that went out that was 5 years old and I kept track of my bills and meter readings and the new meter doubled my electrical bills and OG&E tried to say there is no way the new digital meters can over read and well to find out after they replaced it there was an issue and now my bills have returned to normal readings that had been recorded with the previous meter.
Michael, Yukon - Jan 10, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Larry, do not get so irate. Your paycheck is safe with OG&E. Larry you are a coward for not using your correct city. I guess Beverly Hills was a funny thought in your mind. Please quote some more useless facts. OG&E is still trying to pay for the windfarms and the past ice storms, and they will take any opportunity that they can for getting extra out of customers. Larry, what is your job title at OG&E.
Troy, Oklahoma City - Jan 10, 2009 at 4:45 pm
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Unable to read. That is a BS response. The weather as an excuse in Oklahoma is a joke.
Troy, Oklahoma City - Jan 10, 2009 at 4:41 pm
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Right, Burt. Nevermind that the original meters could have been defective and could have been charging the customers less than they should've been paying. It doesn't matter. The customers are now entitled to the lower rate and the rate they should've been charged is now a "rip-off".

According to these folks, they are entitled to cheap electricity. Nevermind that it still costs those who provide it or causes prices in general to go up for the other customers. Strange mentality they have... all against the atrocities of Lincoln-era slavery, but so quick to make modern day slaves of their fellow man.
Larry, Beverly Hills - Jan 10, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Doug is right, its up to you to manage your energy and resource use. A well managed home will have electronic monitoring. That way there are no surprises. I once had a defective meter in my favor. Every month it started slowing down exponentially. After 6 months, it was down to a trickle no matter how much electricity I used. However, I had a catch-22 situation. I had a 70 year old home with a half dozen remodel projects done on it. The last was an apartment over the attached garage. The electrician ran a large conduit on the outside from the meter connect to the upstairs apartment then to a circuit breaker box. An electrician came out and said if I called the electric company about the meter, they would reject the conduit and make me install a new breaker box behind the meter and run new wiring up to the apartment. You cannot have an exterior conduit running to a breaker box. So I sent an anonymous letter to the electric company and they confirmed what the electrician told me. So, I just acted dumb. The bill kept coming in around $25. Then, out of the blue, they replaced the meter. I got no warnings or notices, just a new meter and it went back to $40 to $100 on the bill. I guess they decided to look the other way.
burt, edmond - Jan 10, 2009 at 2:55 pm
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I didf have a bill higher than I figured it would be and the electric company on the last reading found they had over estimated and my bill last month was zero and i still have some credit left
BERT, HENRYETTA - Jan 10, 2009 at 2:37 pm
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Lawrence, Perhaps you should just quit using the proiduct if they have you by a body part
BERT, HENRYETTA - Jan 10, 2009 at 2:35 pm
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A wise man, Thomas Sowell, said recently in his 5/10/06 article "Is Thinking Obsolete?":

"Nothing is easier, or more emotionally satisfying, than blaming high prices on those who charge them, rather than on those who cause them."

You can read the rest of this article by taking responsibility and doing an easy Internet search for Mr. Sowell and the article's title. Of course, since this requires action rather than gum-beating, I'm not going to hold my breath.
Larry, Beverly Hills - Jan 10, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Um, of course the customers aren't going to admit that they were lower... they are obviously not in the habit of taking responsibility for themselves. That's because they obviously never doing anything wrong. It's ALWAYS somebody else's fault, isn't it? It's always the big, bad company, the evil rich, or the government's fault, right?
Larry, Beverly Hills - Jan 10, 2009 at 1:41 pm
It seems to me there should be a better process than "estimating" the useage of electricity. Maybe charge the 12 month average... maybe add 10% to the previous month bill. Anything but guessing. But one thing for sure, the utility company's and gasoline company's have us by an unmentionable body part and they sure like to squeeze, all in the name of corporate profits.
Lawrence, Guthrie - Jan 10, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Um, of course the customers aren't going to admit that they were lower... they are obviously not in the habit of taking responsibility for themselves. That's because they obviously never doing anything wrong. It's ALWAYS somebody else's fault, isn't it? It's always the big, bad company, the evil rich, or the government's fault, right?
Larry, Beverly Hills - Jan 10, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Larry, hmmm, OG&E said they were lower, didn't see any of the customer's say they were lower. That is something I would like to see, maybe they were maybe they weren't.
James, oklahoma city - Jan 10, 2009 at 10:31 am
Well OG&E is wanting a rate increase. I guess they can make their own increase without going through the corporation commissioner. Pretty good idea, especially if you can get away with it!!! And they will!!!!
James, oklahoma city - Jan 10, 2009 at 10:27 am
Learn where your meter is, how to read it, and watch it like a hawk. Gas, Water, and Electric. It's very common to only get a real reading once every other bill. Maybe one of these days they will put a network connection of some sort to the meters and allow the home owner to monitor usage, but till then.
Doug, Midwest City - Jan 10, 2009 at 9:44 am
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Amazing... when the bill was estimated (b/c of bad weather, whatever) and it was lower than normal the month before, did these people complain and/or do the common sense thing and save the money for next month's bill just in case? Of course not. This story is slanted against the bad, bad electrical company... thank you for your objective reporting, Ms. Kelley...
Larry, Beverly Hills - Jan 10, 2009 at 9:24 am
"...meter readers were unable to read the meters in November because of poor weather..." Ummm, what poor weather was that? It got really cold for a few days but we haven't had any snow or ice storms or anything that should have interfered???
Larry, Oklahoma City - Jan 10, 2009 at 1:40 am

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