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BruSan, Measurement Canada is the Federal government. I know because I dealt with them in the last month. My natural gas bill was abnormally high in November. A Manitoba Hydro guy came out and checked the meter. He couldn’t find anything wrong but replaced the meter. It was due to be replaced next year anyway. He took the old meter to the shop.
I had to pay to have the old meter taken apart and tested. Manitoba Hydro contacted Measurement Canada. Measurement Canada in Vancouver then phoned me, requested additional information and invited me to be present when the old meter was taken apart at Manitoba Hydro. I declined. I was sent a copy of the final report which showed that they could find nothing wrong.
Netwit, in my case a new meter did not solve the problem. I think I finally figured out the cause of my problem though. My thermostat fan was set to ON instead of AUTO. I don’t know how that happened and didn’t notice the change in setting.
But what would the natural gas part of the bill have to do with the fan which uses electricity? Did you mean the electrical portion of the bill?
When you actually look at links, you'll find people losing their lawsuits. Even when common sense says they should have won. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/man-lo...ower-1.3511546 I don't understand this ruling at all but Hydro is set up differently in Ontario than here so maybe that's why.
And I have paid none of what I allegedly owe so Hydro will have to sue me, I guess, although I hope that won't happen. I pay each month approximately what I would have paid had things been normal. Until someone proves to me just how I used all the power back then, I'm not paying.
And what's really funny is that winter came early to Manitoba and the bill after the new meter was put in was $94 which is completely impossible. That's far too low. And the bill for a freezing cold December was lower still, at $74, which is also impossible. We didn't have such low billings in the more than 25 years we've lived here. So this new meter also has something weird going on only in my favour so far. I am afraid it will swing in the other direction because something is wrong which is why I need to find out the cause.
But what would the natural gas part of the bill have to do with the fan which uses electricity? Did you mean the electrical portion of the bill?
Well, it’s just my theory at this point. Heat in a furnace cycles on and off. With the fan permanently on, it meant cold winter air was blowing through the heating vents when the heat cycle was off. I had vaguely noticed the cold blowing air every time I was near a ceiling vent but vaguely assumed it was normal as my thermostat maintained the set temperature. I’m in an apartment condo. I lived in a house before with floor vents and never spent any time near the floor vents to notice air flow.
In other words, cold winter air blowing in meant more natural gas was being burned to maintain the set thermostat temperature.
Meters here are only read every two months. My meter was changed in early December. I assumed the problem was fixed. My bill in late December was fairly normal because it was based on an estimated reading. So it was quite a shock when I got a huge bill in late January based on an actual reading.
I switched the fan to AUTO two days after the actual reading in January. Manitoba Hydro said I can phone in an actual reading on a specific date in February and that reading would be used instead of an estimate in my next bill. So, if I do that and my February bill is fairly normal, I know I have solved the problem. My condo feels a lot less chilly than it did before despite the fact the temperature setting reads the same.
My average daily natural gas usage in November was 7 times the usage of the previous November. I have no natural gas appliances and live in a 2 bedroom apartment. The condo owners above and below me with the same layout and square footage have had normal bills. Our three meters are side by side attached to the building outside. There is no smell of gas close to the meters or in my furnace room on my balcony.
BruSan, Measurement Canada is the Federal government. I know because I dealt with them in the last month. My natural gas bill was abnormally high in November. A Manitoba Hydro guy came out and checked the meter. He couldn’t find anything wrong but replaced the meter. It was due to be replaced next year anyway. He took the old meter to the shop.
I had to pay to have the old meter taken apart and tested. Manitoba Hydro contacted Measurement Canada. Measurement Canada in Vancouver then phoned me, requested additional information and invited me to be present when the old meter was taken apart at Manitoba Hydro. I declined. I was sent a copy of the final report which showed that they could find nothing wrong.
Netwit, in my case a new meter did not solve the problem. I think I finally figured out the cause of my problem though. My thermostat fan was set to ON instead of AUTO. I don’t know how that happened and didn’t notice the change in setting.
Hey, that's good info. The newer furnaces seem to be default set for constant fan running as when they install it they tell you that's the way they should be run to reduce "zones" (keep air moving) of cool/hot differential. I told them to pound sand as I was not ever going to have a motor running non-stop unnecessarily...ever.
All of this eco friendly stuff is driving me nuts with the planned obsolescence coming built in now. Refrigerators for example use less power while running but they don't tell you the compressors are smaller and less efficient so must run more often and longer and will crap out sooner.
Frustrating, and in Netwit's case, dang aggravating.
I know it can't be your main line of attack, but I would agree with those who have said that you should contact a consumer affairs reporter or even the mainstream media about this.
Public shaming can sometimes be very useful in cases such as these.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
I know it can't be your main line of attack, but I would agree with those who have said that you should contact a consumer affairs reporter or even the mainstream media about this.
Public shaming can sometimes be very useful in cases such as these.
Yup. I've seen issues like this -- appliances replaced, etc. -- completely resolved over Twitter and Facebook.
Netwit, create Twitter and Facebook accounts. Paste your original post onto there, tagging the Hydro company. Everyone who follows them will see it. This is very bad publicity and I bet they'll jump to fix it to show their "good faith." (PS. On Twitter, there's a character limit so you'll have to either heavily edit it or break it into 1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5, and 5/5 chunks.) DO IT! Shame them into fixing their own mess.
I think Netwit is the cause of the electrical interference issues in Carstairs. I mean it's all there, just laid out for anyone to connect the dots.
Haha! My sister had a power outage in November and texted me at the time asking if our power was out. I told her her power was out because we hadn't paid our bill.
Netwit, even if you do or already have contacted other resources that are recommended (i.e. media, etc.) I'll suggest you should immediately contact the Manitoba Ombudsman and request their help. Your kind of situation where you are butting heads with a provincial Crown Corporation that won't cooperate is exactly what the ombudsman is there for to investigate and rectify. It's entirely likely that you are not the only person that has had similar problems and this is the kind of thing that should be brought to the attention of your Ombudsman:
Manitoba Hydro is a provincial Crown Corporation, not a federal or private business, it is governed by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board and the Manitoba Hydro Act, and it is provincial corporations just like that which the Ombudsman is designed to investigate and bring about correction and restitution where needed.
It's not only for you but also for other people who may have already been impacted likewise in the recent past, or who are presently dealing with similar situations. The Ombudsman investigates all of it.
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