I just got my bill for the period including 1/1/00, and it had a "usage adjustment" that I've never seen before, along with a different meter reading labelled "Override" (which I've also never seen before) that disagreed with the "Actual" meter reading from the previous bill. The result was that they owe me $1.84 for last month's electricity. And no, before anyone asks, I wasn't running my alternative energy system and selling them electricity.

Y2K? Who knows? Sure is weird, though.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), January 23, 2000

Answers

Looks like economic impact to me.

-- W (me@home.now), January 23, 2000.

Sounds suspiciously like that "Override" is an estimated meter reading.

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), January 23, 2000.

It is normal. They like to estimate power usage, as well as water and sewer, then when they do go and check the meter physically, they correct the discrepency.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), January 23, 2000.

That must be it Cherri. Looks like they overestimated my usage by $10,345.60. Completely normal.

-- notme (nothere@notthere.com), January 23, 2000.

Cherri: It is normal. They like to estimate power usage, as well as water and sewer, then when they do go and check the meter physically, they correct the discrepency.

Please read my message before replying. The original bill was based on actual readings, whereas the later bill was based on an "overriden" reading, whatever that is.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), January 23, 2000.

Hi there Steve. I have put a voltmeter on my house and they are sending us almost 130 volts constantly. We are out in the country. We are also paying for that extra percentage of juice, which is why I think they are doing it.... spread it out amongst a million or so customers, it adds up to real money.

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), January 23, 2000.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

Agree to share information only if they give you legal permission to draw a TRW on them and choose a single credit card based upon the report, for which they will provide you their December, 1999 statement. You should be granted permission to share with the forum the five most interesting items from that statement. In return, you'd provide a statement of Y2K Expenses in a format something like this:

$50K Full purchase price of remote woods & meadow w/ hunting cabin 20K Solar power system 10K Well 5K Camping equipment (hunting, fishing) 5K Solar powered bicycles for entire family 5K Long term storage foods 4K Improved stock level of pantry 1K Ham radio equipment

BTW: This is not what I spent. Only what I would have liked to spend.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), January 24, 2000.

Steve:

It seems that my original question has been deleted.

I have seen many half-truths, exaggerations, and falsehoods posted on this and other sites. This is why I wanted direct confirmations. I am sorry if I offended anyone by asking whether you spent $100,000 on Y2K preps.

I expected a straight answer to a simple question. In response (also deleted) you said I must first send my last 5 years income tax return.

I am not going to send the forms, but your response really has made me curious. Does anyone have a way to search the threads for 100K prep number. Maybe then we could backtrack and find the source of this statement.

Dancr:

I do not believe it is fair that I should supply third party verifiable data while Steve supplies a shopping list. By the way, I live a pretty sedate lifestyle. If you think you can find 5 interesting things on my last credit card statement, I will be happy to list all my transactions, but you must understand that I would never give my statement to anyone.

RMM

-- robert menger (robertmenger@email.msn.com), January 24, 2000.

Not real sure what the other replies above are about .... "the trolls that be" certainly don't seem to be helping you.

It's possible that errors were made: keep very careful track of each reading from here until you are confident in their bills. Today, (and each week until you get a confident feeling in your bills - maybe two or three) read your meters and write them down.

Two problems on my end: power and water.

Power. Cobb EMC made no automatic deduction in Dec for mynormal December bill - it should have been deducted Dec 23...well before rollover.

Instead they made a January + December bill (due January 25) that covered the meter reading(s) for the 67 days from the end of Oct until end of December. The numbers themselves seem to agree, it just that we got one big bill (late) rather than two smaller bills.

Water. County water dept completely misread the water meter on December 29: they wrote down a number almost 40,000 gallons high. No problem in the meter, no leaks, simply wrote the number down wrong....supposedly.

Anyway, it took three trips to the office and a couple of phone calls to get the actual meter reading redone, re-entered, and re-billed. Having "real" numbers for the three weeks from January 05 (when I got the first wrong bill) until the inspector and supervisor came out the 20th) showed exactly whne the error happened and the real usage was.

If the bill coming next (due Feb 03-04 to my house) is correct, idon't think I'll have more problems.....but who knows.

I wouldn't recommend writing down each reading each day - just once a week should be enough to make sure you're paying the right final amount on the day they actually get the reading correct.

---...---...

Yes, they sometimes estimate readings, and sometimes use "average" readings....but when the amount is in dispute, you have to protect yourself with real numbers.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), January 24, 2000.

I expected a straight answer to a simple question.

Okay, here's your answer: it's none of your business. I hope that helps.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), January 24, 2000.