Does the electric company still read the meters every other month and estimate the usage on the off month? If so, if someone was moving at the end of an off month, could they get away without having to pay? Do the new tenants get stuck with the bill?
I believe that when you move out and the new tenants establish service, the electric co. will come out and read (and inspect?) the meter.
I don’t know if it’s the same where you live (although I would assume it’s similar), but here, the tenant moving out contacts the electric company to give them a final reading (not doing so means you risk being liable for any extra electricity that might be used between tenants). The new tenant contacts the company to give them an opening reading; they usually take the readings on trust, but I have heard of them being audited if they are way off the estimate.
DTE Energy here in Michigan still reads the electric and gas meters every month.
This brings up a related question of my own, though:
I recently locked the gate to my driveway because the damned, contracted workers (they’re not really DTE employees) kept leaving the gate open (which lets the dog escape). Now they don’t have access unless they knock on the door, and they seem to be too lazy (or rushed?) to do so. Anyone with experience in this? Will DTE send me a nasty letter, or just ask me to phone in my meter readings every six months or so? If it makes a difference, I use the budget plan so I can have Quicken make the same payment every month without waiting for their slow, paper bill.
So Cal Edison doesn’t send anyone around to read my meter at all any more. The meter has a telemetering unit in it and it sends my meter ID and the reading back to the central computer whenever it is interrogated.
Snetho,
In answer to your first question, it depends on where you live. My parents live in rural Minnesota and they actually read their own meter every month. When they pay their bill, they write the current month’s read in the space provided. All the rural meters have analog displays similar to a car’s odometer wherein the ‘city’ meters have the more common (but much harder to read) dials. Here in the big city, the power company still has meter readers that come by once a month and read our meter. On our bills the next read date is printed on the stub in the hopes that we will be kind enough to allow access to the meter and have our dogs secured. We also have an ‘averaging’ option available should we wish to avail ourselves of the service. Basically, they look at historical usage and you are allowed to make payments based on a 12 month average. Twice a year they will read the meter and adjust the billing. This allows customers a bit of relief in the hot summer months when energy usage can double. Other utilities have gone to the 2-month reads to keep labor costs down; half the meters are read in the ‘even’ month, and the other half are read in the ‘odd’ month. They average the 2 months together and you basically pay the same each of those months. In this way, they have all their meters read with only half the labor.
Still other utilities have gone to telemetric meters much as David Simmons mentions. There are different methods employed in this; one method consists of a small transmitter in the meter itself and is read by ‘driving by’; another method communicates with the company through a wireless canopy and can give real-time usage information. Some of these meters even have the capability to disconnect you from the system should you fail to pay your bill or if evidence of tampering is detected.
As to whether you can get away with moving out in the ‘off’ month without paying the bill, i guess that just depends on how difficult you are to find. Unless you are renting with ‘utilities included’, you will have, at one time, signed up for service with the supplying utility. Once you have signed up, you will be responsible for all energy recorded by the meter until you request disconnect. Unless you plan on spending some time ‘on the lamb’ or have no desire to sign up for service in the future, it’s best to request the disconnect and pay the final bill when the USPS finally gets your change of address straight.
Balthisar,
If you are having problems with the meter reader (contractor or DTE) leaving your gate open, the first thing to do (and i am assuming that you have already gone this route) is to contact DTE and lodge a formal complaint. If DTE does not resolve your issue to your satisfaction, contact your Public Utilities Commision (or Public Service Commission, whichever the case may be) and file a complaint. Be sure to include as much information as possible; the date and as close an approximation of the time as possible. This will aid DTE in determining who the guilty party was and allow them to hammer the contractor. If all else fails, you can request a ‘remote’ display. This is basically a small odometer type display wired to the meter proper that can be placed on the front of your house. Keep in mind that the utility has the right of access to their equipment. They are generally more than willing to work with their customers to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solutions to whatever problems may arise.
Fiat Lux,
octothorpe,
Regarding the remote display, that is a great idea! I shall call and ask about it. I can no longer wait and report the subcontractors, though, because I won’t unlock my gate and let them lose our dog. I honestly agree they have a right to access their equipment, and if they bothered to knock instead of passing up the house, I’d happily let them traverse. I don’t think they care too much, anyway, since the “budget” option I mentioned is the same as the “averaging” option you mentioned – hence, it doesn’t really matter but once per year during the “settlement” month.