My gut feeling has always told me that you cannot trust these new smart meters or the power companies using them. I dropped off to your office today, copies of the July and August power bill for my apartment 3, 117 N Walnut Street Newport Delaware.
In the letter sent to Mr. Bonar and I from Marianne Murphy @ Pepco holdings, which I have copied the paragraph referencing apartment 3 meter reading below.
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 4:36 PM
To: Scot T. Sauer
Subject: RE: Delmarva Power Account #'s 2639842-9987, 2639842-9988, 3171932-9995
Mr. Sauer:
I have completed the investigation into your concerns. The two meters at 117 N Walnut Street were previously installed at another location where they registered usage which is why they were showing a reading on the meter at the time the meters were installed at the property.
I have confirmed that meter number 340557537D was installed with a reading of 0951. That meter is scheduled to be read again on July 18, 2011. The reading obtained on July 18, 2011 will be subtracted from the reading of 0951 (which was the reading on the meter at the time it was installed on June 28, 2011) in order to base the usage.
I waited until the end of July for a bill from the DPL but got no bill for either apt. I was worried that if I turned on the power to the apartments I would be billed for the value that was on the meter so I left the power off for the August bill to arrive. When I got no bill for the Month of August I knew something was up.
Friday September 2, 2011 I went to DPL’s Delaware headquarters on Rt. 273 and asked the representative to print out the bills for my two apartments she had no problem printing out the bill for apartment 4 and it was correct. But when it came time to print out apt. 3 she started making excuses that the printer was not working and tried to get me to leave and go home and look at the bill online. I knew that she saw something on the computer screen that she did not want me to see and was trying to get me to leave without this bill. After demanding that she give me a copy of the bill even if she had to go to another printer, she was able to print the bill on the printer that was supposedly not working. They have video recorders all over their office so you could ask them for a copy of our recorded conversation if you think that I am not being sincere.
I was billed for 0951 kW hours that I never used. This amounted to an overcharge of $101.57. If they could pull this off on a million customers it would amount to one hundred million dollars in theft. There should be safeguards in place so that this could never happen!! If the meters were reset to “0” before every install it could not happen. DPL should be audited and should repay in double what was stolen and have their license suspended or revoked if they are found guilty of conspiring to cheat their customers.
I believe that I received no bills for two months because I had no consumption. DPL may have a trigger to send out a bill on new meter install based on recorded consumption so they can bill you for the consumption plus the value that is already on the meter before it is installed. Most customers were not even home when these meters were installed and not given the opportunity or would not think to record the value on the meter at time of installation. Customers would likely get ripped off on their first bill if they did not catch it themselves. I have talked with many people who claim that there first bill and after were higher than normal after their new smart meters were installed.
I would like to know how many meters were installed that had no value or “0” consumption. Most of the meters installed by DPL were installed for the first time ever and should have had a “0” value. If they had a bench test value they should all be the same.
I would like you to ask for a comprehensive review of total input of electricity verses total billed for any discrepancy. If they sold more electricity than they bought this would be a red flag due to the fact that there are losses in transmission.
I would like to ask you to file a FOIA to recover all records associated with complaints registered with DPL, the Public Service Commission and your office about these smart meters. I have been told by a very good source that there have been far more complaints filed with the Public Service Commission and DPL than they have publicly admitted to.
