About a month and a half ago the local natural gas company finally brought natural gas through my neighborhood, and I switched over from LP. A month passed, and I started getting curious when my first bill would come, and was getting anxious to see what my savings would be. I knew they had to be huge, cause I was getting screwed on my LP prices due to how little LP I used throughout the year (use less, pay more... bleh).
I finally got my bill, opened it, and was shocked. For one month my bill was almost 25% of what I was paying for LP for the whole year!
Flipped over the bill to the details. They apparently didn't even bother reading the meter, and just estimated it. Even on the very first reading. They estimated I used 190 CCF. I went to my meter, and it was reading only 64 CCF used total, and it's two weeks after their "estimate".
Lazy utilities. Now I have to call them up and get them to redo my bill.
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Can't sleep, clown will eat me.
Out of curiosity, which utility? I assume since they still have to read it manually that they haven't installed a smart meter either.
Jophiel wrote:
I managed to be both retarded and entertaining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTE_Energy
It's a dumb meter. I'm pretty sure electrical meter is also a dumb meter, as it was installed in 1994 and hasn't been changed since. I've never actually seen the meter reader come out to my house, and even in the winter I never see foot prints in the snow, but every electrical bill I get says "Actual" and is accurate enough that I doubt they are estimating it. Either they installed a smart meter without my knowledge (though, I don't see anything on the meter to indicate it, and I'm familiar with them) or they can read it from the road somehow.
It's a dumb meter. I'm pretty sure electrical meter is also a dumb meter, as it was installed in 1994 and hasn't been changed since. I've never actually seen the meter reader come out to my house, and even in the winter I never see foot prints in the snow, but every electrical bill I get says "Actual" and is accurate enough that I doubt they are estimating it. Either they installed a smart meter without my knowledge (though, I don't see anything on the meter to indicate it, and I'm familiar with them) or they can read it from the road somehow.
Can't sleep, clown will eat me.
TirithRR wrote:
or they can read it from the road somehow.
) at the meter and read it that way. They never have to get closer than the sidewalk. Edited, Dec 17th 2014 10:08pm by Bijou
remorajunbao wrote:
One day I'm going to fly to Canada and open the curtains in your office.
There is nothing. It's a 20 year old meter. Nothing but the meter base that my dad and I mounted when we built the house and the meter with no apparent comm devices or remote ports.
Edit:
Getting customer service to understand and correct the bill took a lot more words than it should have. Apparently this "Doesn't happen very much" and took a while to work the new numbers. I'm still not convinced they will read my meter next month instead of just (over)estimating it again like they did the first two readings. We'll see I guess.
Edited, Dec 18th 2014 9:31am by TirithRR
Edit:
Getting customer service to understand and correct the bill took a lot more words than it should have. Apparently this "Doesn't happen very much" and took a while to work the new numbers. I'm still not convinced they will read my meter next month instead of just (over)estimating it again like they did the first two readings. We'll see I guess.
Edited, Dec 18th 2014 9:31am by TirithRR
Can't sleep, clown will eat me.
TirithRR wrote:
It's a dumb meter.
Now now, let's not be cruel, "metrically challenged."
Friar Bijou wrote:
They drive (or walk) by and point a device (which around here looks not unlike an tri-corder 
) at the meter and read it that way.
) at the meter and read it that way. 
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
Interesting.
FWIW, a Smart Meter is completely electronic, so it doesn't require meter readers in any capacity. You can understand why the meter reader unions (yes, they're unionized in certain areas) are upset about them.
FWIW, a Smart Meter is completely electronic, so it doesn't require meter readers in any capacity. You can understand why the meter reader unions (yes, they're unionized in certain areas) are upset about them.
Jophiel wrote:
I managed to be both retarded and entertaining.
We have a smart meter.
No ill health effects noted.
No ill health effects noted.
Alma wrote:
I lost my post
We have a smart meter.
No ill health effects noted.
We got one and my sister was bit by a moose.
No ill health effects noted.
We got one and my sister was bit by a moose.
Disclaimer:
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.
We apologize for the fault in the posts. Those responsible have been sacked.
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
Smasharoo wrote:
We have a smart meter.
No ill health effects noted.
We got one and my sister was bit by a moose.
No ill health effects noted.
We got one and my sister was bit by a moose.
We do have one extraordinarily large gray squirrel in the yard that acts a little goofy at times.
Alma wrote:
I lost my post
Some people are vehemently opposed to getting a smart meter installed. I've heard stories of people literally chasing utility employees off their property with a shotgun.
In Baltimore, sure, but still.
In Baltimore, sure, but still.
Jophiel wrote:
I managed to be both retarded and entertaining.
Thats how smart meters work, they will estimate your usage, and adjust over time based on real usage. Having both a Gas and Electric "smart" meter, its like being put in a random draw every month. Twice. Some months I pay ridiculously low compared to others where its crazy high. I had a month this year with a 385 utilities bill, and months with a utilities bill of under 150. Its whack how inconsistent it is. They say its supposed to improve but going on year 4 at the same residence, and im still playing russian roulette at bill time.
Old meter was always consistent, bang on every time within reason, summer time less, winter time more. Natural ya know.
Edited, Dec 19th 2014 6:48pm by rdmcandie
Old meter was always consistent, bang on every time within reason, summer time less, winter time more. Natural ya know.
Edited, Dec 19th 2014 6:48pm by rdmcandie
HEY GOOGLE. **** OFF YOU. **** YOUR ******** SEARCH ENGINE IN ITS ******* ****** BINARY ***. ALL DAY LONG.
rdmcandie wrote:
Thats how smart meters work, they will estimate your usage, and adjust over time based on real usage. Having both a Gas and Electric "smart" meter, its like being put in a random draw every month. Twice. Some months I pay ridiculously low compared to others where its crazy high. I had a month this year with a 385 Water/Gas bill, and months with a water/gas bill of under 150. Its whack how inconsistent it is. They say its supposed to improve but going on year 4 at the same residence, and im still playing russian roulette at bill time.
Old meter was always consistent, bang on every time within reason, summer time less, winter time more. Natural ya know.
Old meter was always consistent, bang on every time within reason, summer time less, winter time more. Natural ya know.
The Smart meters I have at work send real usage data, so they don't have to estimate. And very detailed info. I've seen the reports generated by the meters when studying our usage history trying to figure out how to lower our energy costs by shedding on peak load to the non peak hours.
And my meters are not Smart in any way. They have no ability to communicate to the Utilities without a person reading them. My electric company has enough usage history on me that they can pretty accurately estimate my usage. Most of the time my electric bill is an Estimate, and it's within a reasonable amount when I check.
The natural gas meter on the other hand is brand new, but dumb. And I'm sure they based their estimates on some area average so they didn't have to send anyone out to read anything, even though I was a new customer and they had no usage history on me.
Edited, Dec 19th 2014 6:56pm by TirithRR
Can't sleep, clown will eat me.
I guess my question is: If they just installed this recently, why didn't they install smart meters? The value to the company to use those meters instead of the old ones is massive. So much so that in most areas they're upgrading them and eating the cost to do so because they know they'll make it back down the line. I guess the point mentioned earlier about meter reader unions could be a driving force, but that seems more likely to make it hard to replace existing meters with new smart ones, and shouldn't affect brand new meters in a new customer area.
I'm also not sure why people would have a problem with smart meters. It's not like they're doing anything the old ones didn't. They just send the information electronically, so that someone doesn't have to come out physically to read it. You'd think the shotgun wielding population would like not having people walking onto their property to read their meters. Am I missing something with these things? Do they cause cancer or something? Beam messages into non-foil-protected brains? I'm not getting the problem.
I'm also not sure why people would have a problem with smart meters. It's not like they're doing anything the old ones didn't. They just send the information electronically, so that someone doesn't have to come out physically to read it. You'd think the shotgun wielding population would like not having people walking onto their property to read their meters. Am I missing something with these things? Do they cause cancer or something? Beam messages into non-foil-protected brains? I'm not getting the problem.
King Nobby wrote:
More words please
I guess my question is: If they just installed this recently, why didn't they install smart meters? The value to the company to use those meters instead of the old ones is massive. So much so that in most areas they're upgrading them and eating the cost to do so because they know they'll make it back down the line
What does this even mean? As opposed to charging people a set fee to upgrade meters? "Eating the cost" implies they aren't either 1) recouping completely in lowered labor and admin costs or 2) adding the cost to the base delivery rate. Both of which are insane.
What does this even mean? As opposed to charging people a set fee to upgrade meters? "Eating the cost" implies they aren't either 1) recouping completely in lowered labor and admin costs or 2) adding the cost to the base delivery rate. Both of which are insane.
Disclaimer:
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.
No public utility in the country is "eating the cost" of installing anything they don't absolutely have to, much less very expensive electronic meters.
Jophiel wrote:
I managed to be both retarded and entertaining.
Also,
It's a very small percentage of the people residing in these service areas, and my understanding is that they either don't want no Evil Corporation to have real-time access to their electricity/gas usage (because they're scared of technology), or they're scared of the very small number of meters that have been shown to cause house fires (mostly due to old connections, not the meters themselves).
Edited, Dec 20th 2014 1:00am by Demea
gbaji wrote:
I'm also not sure why people would have a problem with smart meters. It's not like they're doing anything the old ones didn't. They just send the information electronically, so that someone doesn't have to come out physically to read it. You'd think the shotgun wielding population would like not having people walking onto their property to read their meters. Am I missing something with these things? Do they cause cancer or something? Beam messages into non-foil-protected brains? I'm not getting the problem.
It's a very small percentage of the people residing in these service areas, and my understanding is that they either don't want no Evil Corporation to have real-time access to their electricity/gas usage (because they're scared of technology), or they're scared of the very small number of meters that have been shown to cause house fires (mostly due to old connections, not the meters themselves).
Edited, Dec 20th 2014 1:00am by Demea
Jophiel wrote:
I managed to be both retarded and entertaining.
Back in the day, I linked to a story of some woman pulling a gun on a utility guy for trying to install one of those Big Government electric meters on her house.
So that's the sort opposed to them, I guess. Hey, she's from Texas, too. Boy, there's a surprise...
http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/07/20/11774640/
So that's the sort opposed to them, I guess. Hey, she's from Texas, too. Boy, there's a surprise...
http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/07/20/11774640/
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
http://stopsmartmeters.org/
To be fair, it looks like our idiots are worried as well. NSA, cancer, all sounds bad. Probably they give you NSA cancer.
Edited, Dec 21st 2014 12:09pm by Smasharoo
To be fair, it looks like our idiots are worried as well. NSA, cancer, all sounds bad. Probably they give you NSA cancer.
Edited, Dec 21st 2014 12:09pm by Smasharoo
Disclaimer:
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.
I'd be up for some NSA cancer, judiciously applied.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
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