Electric Bills 'Shock' Sandy Victims

[Hum]

LIPA customers who spent weeks without power got zapped with their normal electric bills ? as if the outages never happened.

The clueless utility charged Sandy-soaked Long Island residents an estimated rate that covered the entire billing cycle, and the statements made no mention of potential refunds to account for the prolonged blackouts.

Jonathan Saporta was slapped with a double whammy by the Long Island Power Authority ? a $649 bill for the Long Beach home he left in October and a $281 bill for his new Great Neck pad.

He also is expecting a $1,700 bill for his storm-ravaged restaurant, Jake?s Wayback Burger, which is in hard-hit Long Beach and remains without power.

?I can?t get LIPA to acknowledge my existence on earth to talk to me about anything,? he ranted. ?But I guess they had power, so they could print my bills. Nice, right??

Saporta, 33, moved to the Great Neck home on Oct. 1 and got the bill in the mail on Wednesday for a cycle covering 43 days ? including the two weeks he spent in the dark following the Oct. 29 storm.

Even though he switched his account to the new address on Sept. 26, he still received an e-mail bill for the Long Beach house on Nov. 10 ? and somehow it was $390 more than the previous month.

?I am not paying any of my bills, that much I promise,? said Saporta. ?They can put me into collections, and I?ll fight them tooth-and-nail.

?It?s simply criminal.?

Michael Hilferty, 29, an attorney from Long Beach, was e-mailed his bill ? which was about a dollar more than the previous month ? as he chowed down on some turkey.

?To get this message on Thanksgiving was crass and classless. It?s just heartless,? he said.

His oceanfront building was flooded with 7 feet of water and inundated with 4 feet of sand, covering the LIPA meters.

Hilferty left the apartment, which remains dark and boarded up, and has been staying in Connecticut.

Yet he was hit for 29 days of electric usage, including delivery and system charges.

David Wasserman, 40, of Merrick, tried to report online the difference between his actual and estimated electric usage.

?I got some message that said, ?Service records show your usage would be higher. Please call an operator for further assistance,? ? he said. ?No one ever picked up.?

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[Japlabot]

Of course no one ever picked up, everyone else who was hit is also calling them up at the same time as you. Surprising that there is no website statement/Facebook/Twitter messages from the company, but it only takes 2 braincells to realise that it's a billing error they will most likely send out revised bills on their own accord since they would become aware of the mistake VERY quickly as soon as people started receiving them. Just don't pay and wait. No way that anyone will pay their bill, no way would they be in a position to force collections on anyone in these circumstances, and the only way they are going to get cashflow again is when they get around to clearing up the mistake.

edit: They are probably off for the Thanksgiving weekend too, and that's why no website/facebook/twitter updates or calls answered.

[Hum]

I think the power company is simply greedy.

[FlintyV]

Don't really see this big deal with this, and don't really see it being greedy when they're charging for a service they provide.

It's an estimate from the electricity based on their previous usages.

[Growled Member]

I think the power company is simply greedy.

Me too. They surely didn't read the meter.

[*RedBull*]

Yeah I hate stuff like that. It sucks more for those who have direct billing to their accounts.

[Hum]

Me too. They surely didn't read the meter.

In some cases, there's no meter left to read.

[nekkidtruth]

Don't really see this big deal with this, and don't really see it being greedy when they're charging for a service they provide.

It's an estimate from the electricity based on their previous usages.

Oh give it up. There's no way you could possibly defend this stupidity. Is it greed? Probably not, more an error if anything. But it's still stupid. Don't pretend like it's not. It's not like nobody knows about Sandy and or what it's done.

[Alladaskill17]

Probably a billing error. I highly doubt those bills will stand, if anything for PR reasons..

[Growled Member]

In some cases, there's no meter left to read.

My point exactly. :D

I know how the power company does things. We had an ice storm a few years ago and we had our power off for a solid week. Our power bill never came down because they estimated what our bill should be according to our past bills. Needless to say, after thousand of complaints they read our meters much more regularly now.

[shinji257]

Now they won't stand since there is publicity to it. If it never made it out to the public I think they would of tried to get away with it.

[adam7288]

Nothing to see here folks. This is how electric bills are done. Until they do a meter reading (usually once every 2 months) it goes by estimated use.

The customers will be credited once the reading occurs.

[FlintyV]

Oh give it up. There's no way you could possibly defend this stupidity. Is it greed? Probably not, more an error if anything. But it's still stupid. Don't pretend like it's not. It's not like nobody knows about Sandy and or what it's done.

As I said it's an estimate based on the previous usage of the household. How do the electricity companies know if each individual house is receiving electricity and using how much?

Until they get an actual meter reading they give out an estimate. It's really not a big deal.

[nekkidtruth]

As I said it's an estimate based on the previous usage of the household. How do the electricity companies know if each individual house is receiving electricity and using how much?

Until they get an actual meter reading they give out an estimate. It's really not a big deal.

"Oh look! A hurricane just ravaged the east coast! I bet they're all still using electricity though." Yeah...I'll go with stupid mistake. Thanks anyway.

[pack34]

I think the power company is simply greedy.

Well, I can pretty confidently confirm that's true. But I'm betting that this most likely has to deal with lazy meter workers. This will especially be an issue when you have older buildings where the worker has to physically visit your house and read the meter on the outside. If there's any chance of inclement weather (rain, cold, debris) or even if the meter is on the inside of your house, the worker will normally simply guess. With guessing what many of them do is to not use the same number every time but vary it to make it look like they are doing their job. Normally you're sure to get an accurate reading maybe once a quarter or yearly.

[abecedarian paradoxious]

If they have "smart" meters, and if not waited until the next billing cycle, the next billing cycle will show greatly reduced usage and a smaller than normal bill... and maybe even a credit for over-charging for the previous cycle.

[Chris123NT]

Any of you who say this is no big deal have clearly never dealt with LIPA before. They charge the highest electricity rates in the US and we get **** service for it. Oh and they expect you to pay even if there's an outage, they hardly ever give credits for outages.

[Anibal P]

CL&P tried that BS after last year's storm and freak snow storm, the State reamed the company a new one and were fined for that and many other issues that arose because the Company cut corners after the storm, hell we lost power for a week, before the bills went out it had the **** had already hit the fan, they had no choice but to make sure all the meters were read

And they still managed to completely screw up again this year, hopefully the fine will be twice as large as last year's and keep doubling till they get it right

[Japlabot]

And they still managed to completely screw up again this year, hopefully the fine will be twice as large as last year's and keep doubling till they get it right

And then they put the rates up so they can cover these fines without going into shareholders profits. Customer always loses.

[chrisj1968]

I think the power company is simply greedy.

probably hoping no one will see it or say anything about it. talk about trying to get something for nothing

[Hum]

Any of you who say this is no big deal have clearly never dealt with LIPA before. They charge the highest electricity rates in the US and we get **** service for it. Oh and they expect you to pay even if there's an outage, they hardly ever give credits for outages.

So my conclusion is correct.

I figured they were hoping few would notice or complain about the over-charging.

The power companies must have spent a fortune in overtime labor and new equipment, wiring, etc., and they want the customers to cover all the extra expenses, even tho they got little for the money they paid.

[jnelsoninjax]

Nothing to see here folks. This is how electric bills are done. Until they do a meter reading (usually once every 2 months) it goes by estimated use.

The customers will be credited once the reading occurs.

Here in Jacksonville, the electric and water meters are automatically read via the computer, no longer does anyone come out to physically read the meter, and now they just recently installed a new meter that allows the company to shut off the service remotely, so that do not have to take the risk on sending a tech out who might get attacked by an irate customer...

[AJerman]

I think the rules on power companies are far too lax. They have a natural monopoly, and too many of them use it to screw their customers. I had a nightmare of a time trying to get my electricity set up correctly at my new place. I'm not one who is usually for government regulations, but any natural monopoly should have VERY strict government regulations. We have no choice who to get power from, so it's not like we can just go with another company. There's absolutely no excuse for not billing an exact amount every single month. I hadn't heard about estimates before, but that shouldn't be allowed. I don't care how many accounts you have to service, smart meters make it so you don't have to physically check now, so every bill should be billed correctly each time. I don't think they'd be ok with people paying an "estimated" amount prior to getting my bill and just making it up next bill, so why is it ok the other way around?

[FlintyV]

I think the rules on power companies are far too lax. They have a natural monopoly, and too many of them use it to screw their customers. I had a nightmare of a time trying to get my electricity set up correctly at my new place. I'm not one who is usually for government regulations, but any natural monopoly should have VERY strict government regulations. We have no choice who to get power from, so it's not like we can just go with another company. There's absolutely no excuse for not billing an exact amount every single month. I hadn't heard about estimates before, but that shouldn't be allowed. I don't care how many accounts you have to service, smart meters make it so you don't have to physically check now, so every bill should be billed correctly each time. I don't think they'd be ok with people paying an "estimated" amount prior to getting my bill and just making it up next bill, so why is it ok the other way around?

Why can't you change energy provider?

[xendrome]

So, for those of you who don't know how this works, and obviously the customers responsible for this story being written.

If for some reason your meter cannot be read, the power company will do a pro-rated billing for the last 6 or 12 months, usually 12 months. and your bill will turn out to be whatever the average is, for that period, say 12 months.

Then next month, when they actually do a read, if your actual bill was more then the average your bill will be higher or if it was lower then the average, your bill will be lower.

Yes, some houses are gone and meters are not there anymore, the power company will just continue it's automated billing until those situations can be assessed. People jump to conclusions and get all irate without even calling the power company first or trying to talk to someone. They instantly call the local news and get on facebook/twitter to complain. Apparently that is human nature in this day and age.

Why can't you change energy provider?

Because energy providers own their own infrastructure. In the US at least, if you live in one region, your power is provided by a specific company. And if you live in another region, it would be provided by another. The power companies are also regulated be federal and state law.

If there were 15 energy companies in one region, you'd have a ton of power poles and lines running down all the streets, it would look like a really badly organized network patch panel everywhere you went.

There's absolutely no excuse for not billing an exact amount every single month.

You can't be serious? So someone's house was destroyed and no longer standing, not to mention where the meter may have ended up... that's not a good excuse? Please explain how you expect them to get an exact reading... I'll wait while you reply.