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Old 02-24-2011, 03:09 PM
 
1 posts, read 5,190 times
Reputation: 11

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I moved into my apartment exactly one year and two weeks ago. ComEd did a meter reading to activate my account at that time. Apparently I have been underpaying, due to a low estimation on their part, for the past year. We have paid about $450 for our electricity usage in the past year. They performed another meter reading two weeks ago and are now saying I owe an additional....are you ready...prepare yourself...here we go...$886 (you read correctly) in unpaid services for the past year! Yep. So apparently I have used close to $1400 worth of electricity in one year? Hmmm. Can anyone help? Does anyone have any suggestions? If they have been estimating our usage all this time can you accurately make meter readings that have happened in the past (can they really see what my usage was every month for the last year, or are they just guessing based on my usage from this past month)???? Please help!!!!!!
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Old 02-24-2011, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,623,677 times
Reputation: 3799
This is why you should never do budget billing the first year you live in a place. Almost $900 seems like a lot of extra electricity for you to have used, but maybe the folks who lived there before you were damn near Amish because $38 average seems an almost impossibly low electric bill per month.

What I don't understand is how you didn't know this was the case. I didn't do budget billing for our electric but I did for gas when we lived in Chicago and on the monthly bill they showed if we were above or below the last year's usage that we were being billed based on. Was there nothing like that on your bill?
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Old 02-24-2011, 03:17 PM
 
Location: Barrington, IL area
1,594 posts, read 3,057,223 times
Reputation: 4957
ComEd? Scam? That's impossible!
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Old 02-24-2011, 04:14 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,085 posts, read 4,336,436 times
Reputation: 688
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaraG View Post
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Learn how to read your own meter and report the readings yourself.
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Old 02-25-2011, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
289 posts, read 897,151 times
Reputation: 184
When I bought my condo in 2001 it was a rehab and I was the first to occupy. I moved in April and always wondered why I didn't get an electric bill. Turns out the billing address was still the developer. In September I got a postcard with a friendly message like, "We noticed that electricity is being used here, but we don't have billing info. Please give us your info and your move-in date". I gave them my info and said I moved in August. Done and done.
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Old 02-25-2011, 11:11 AM
 
Location: Chicago
3,339 posts, read 5,989,780 times
Reputation: 4242
I think it is very possible that you used $1400 in electricity in one year, yes. I live in a pretty large house, but our bill is in the $110 to $200 range, usually (I blame my husband's insane server which sounds like a jet engine in our utility room).
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Old 02-27-2011, 07:49 PM
 
4 posts, read 12,643 times
Reputation: 16
I can relate, Cara G, and you are wise, aragX6; I just moved into a rental in Sept. after owning a home. I assumed that the electric & water company would do an initial reading since I'm a new customer. Nope! Just received a bill for over $800 for just Sept. thru Dec.! When I called, they said "well, it was an estimate." Based on past renter? "Yes." Just wonderful. They said they'd have someone come out & do an actual reading & rebill me. Here's the hilarious part: when they came out, they had to use a shovel & DIG down to get to the spot they read this meter at...how recently could it possibly have been read?! Unbelievable. So I know now...insist they do actual readings upon move-in, every month, and then read it MYSELF to verify.

Last edited by Royermom; 02-27-2011 at 07:51 PM.. Reason: Small mistake connected :)
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Old 02-27-2011, 08:35 PM
 
Location: Chicago
41 posts, read 104,363 times
Reputation: 24
$450 for a whole year? You should have known that was too low. Your bill should be at least $150 a month at the very least.
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Old 02-27-2011, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,085 posts, read 4,336,436 times
Reputation: 688
Quote:
Originally Posted by Royermom View Post
They said they'd have someone come out & do an actual reading & rebill me.
Don't rely on them at all. Do it yourself. You can report readings online or by phone. Take a digital picture of the meter reading too for backup proof.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tonythetuna View Post
Learn how to read your own meter and report the readings yourself.
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Old 02-27-2011, 08:52 PM
 
Location: Chicago
41 posts, read 104,363 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by tonythetuna View Post
Learn how to read your own meter and report the readings yourself.
In the building where we live there is no access to the meters. They are in a locked utility room where the main electricity enters the building from the alley. He may be in the same situation.
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