Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - NYSEG customers say they were shocked to see a higher electric bill after new smart meters were installed. The utility company went on WBEN to present its side, denying the link between the new meters and higher charges.
NYSEG's Shelby Cohen tells Tom Bauerle there have been complaints, but not as many as you think.
"We send out 2 million bills each month, and less than half of 1% of those cause a complaint. So while we are seeing a lot of people associating issues with their bills right now with smart meters, that is not the case," said Cohen with WBEN.
She says there is no correlation between the smart meter and an increase in the electric bill.
Cohen contends there are a number of factors a customer that may be seeing a fluctuation in their bills.
"We have customers on different plans and with a wide variety of service configurations. We are in the summer season, and it has been an unusually hot summer and an unusually wet summer, and so people are using your air conditioners more. Their sump pumps are running more. They may be using dehumidifiers or other small appliances, but they wouldn't necessarily be using at other times of the year," Cohen said.
She adds supply price is another factor.
"Supply price is a pass through cost. It's not something that NYSEG makes money off of, but customers may want to look at their supplier and see who they're using and what kind they're using, and if that number is up over the last year, and then they may be experiencing the fact that they had an estimated read before they got their smart reader, and an estimates are based on the year before," Cohen explained.
NYSEG's Angie Capps says all meters have to be approved by the state Public Utility Commission.
"It has to go through rigorous testing above and beyond all industry standard testing, including a lot of extra accuracy testing. So every meter we've ever purchased has gone through this testing, including these smart meters," explained Capps during her appearance on WBEN.
She adds NYSEG does sample testing of each meter.
"We've tested about 3.3% of every meter we purchased for this project, and they're testing perfectly well. And the same can be said for our older meters. They were very accurate again," Capps said.
Capps says the meters belong to the utility company, so they can go on the property to access them. She notes NYSEG has been notifying customers about the change.
Cohen adds there is an opt-out option, but it will cost you $13 a month.
"The fee that comes with that is to maintain our legacy meters and our meter reading capabilities, as well as the old billing system associated with those meters," Cohen noted.
She adds more than 70% of the United States has smart meters in over 100 million homes across America, and New York is catching up. Cohen says other utilities will soon do the same.
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