PG&E Admits Hot Weather Caused Problems in SmartMeters

[Peace Voyager]

https://www.baycitizen.org/pge/story...mers-affected/

PG&E Admits Hot Weather Caused Problems in Some SmartMeters
1,600 customers to get refund; advocates say thousands more affected

By: John Upton

Updated 5/2/11, 6:25 p.m.

Pacific Gas & Electric will divide roughly $100,000 in refunds and credits among nearly 1,600 customers whose bills were inflated because of faulty SmartMeters, the company announced Monday.
The faulty SmartMeters, which represent a small portion of the 8 million electronic metering devices installed by the company during a controversial rollout, contained manufacturing flaws and will be replaced, the utility said.
Most of the affected customers live in Antioch, Bakersfield, Brenwtood, Clovis, Fairfield, Fremont, Fresno, Manteca and Vacaville, according to company spokesman Jeff Smith.

Each of those customers will receive a refund, worth $40 on average, a $25 credit for “customer inconvenience,” and a free energy audit as a sign of good faith, according to Smith.

“We’ll be reaching out to these customers individually,” Smith said.

Manufacturing flaws caused the meters to overestimate the amount of energy customers consumed in hot weather, according to PG&E. The energy management giant Landi+Gyr manufactured and sold the devices to PG&E.


PG&E will provide a full analysis of the problem, which affects some of the millions of SmartMeters in use, to the California Public Utilities Commission.

“We will monitor PG&E’s progress to ensure the affected customers receive refunds,” CPUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said in an email.

The Utility Reform Network, which is a consumer advocacy organization, called on the CPUC to review thousands of other customer complaints of inaccurate billing caused by SmartMeters.

“Customers complaints about smart meter accuracy continue to pour into TURN,” TURN Executive Director Mark Toney said in a statement. “Today’s admission that hot weather causes some smart meters to run fast may mean the Commission needs to take another look at thousands of complaints, particularly those that came from Bakersfield in the summer of 2009.”

Joshua Hart, a Scotts Valley environmentalist who organizes opposition to PG&E's SmartMeters, said he believes that billing inaccuracies affect more than 1,600 PG&E customers.

"It's a real turnaround that PG&E is finally beginning to admit some of the many problems with their SmartMeters, rather than denying everything," Hart said. “If they had tested these adequately and rolled them out on a small scale, and had a proper in-depth public consultation, then this could have been avoided."

On Thursday, the CPUC will consider ordering PG&E to provide a $1,400 refund to Vera Sokolova and Alexei Kacharovsky, after an administrative law judge ruled that the Mountain View residents are entitled to that sum owing to SmartMeter billing discrepancies. Those discrepancies were first brought to light in a ABC 7 news report.

[Lisa W]

Unless one is really watching, how does one know if they are being overcharged? Will PG&E somehow know if a meter is overworking thus overcharging? Even if I am only being overcharged by a few $'s each month, it adds up but isn't necessarily noticeable by me. Wish they had left things alone.

https://www.baycitizen.org/pge/story...mers-affected/

PG&E Admits Hot Weather Caused Problems in Some SmartMeters.....

[2Bwacco]

from television news stories, it appears PG&E is crediting these wonderful little dumb_me_meeters for highlighting the malfunctions! aren't they SMART??!!

not a surprise huh?

PG&E is also trying to set up a special accounting system to track their expenditures relating to maintenance and upgrading the gas pipelines so that they can charge everything back to the California state-wide customers!

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