More NYSEG customers confused with higher bills after smart meter installation

Cathy Sunderlin, of Depew, emailed 7 Problem Solvers after reading our recent story on NYSEG smart meters.

Sunderlin said her bills have also been higher since NYSEG installed a smart meter at her home.

"Somebody needs to get to the bottom of this because bills are outrageous," explained Sunderlin. “How am I billed so much?"

In January Sunderlin got a bill for $157, but it wasn't surprising since she's busy in the weeks leading up to Christmas with the cookie business she runs out of her home.

"I bake 19 days in the month of December," said Sunderlin.

I went through Sunderlin's bill from the past year. Her bills from February to June were all under $50, just $17 in April. In July Sunderlin said NYSEG installed a smart meter at her home. The next bill, which she got in August, was $235, an increase of $90 from the same month last year.

"My husband was an electrician for the railroads for 41 years...He's baffled," said Sunderlin.

The couple is also confused because they have 26 solar panels at their home. Schwartz looked at her solar panel usage, which shows the panels have produced more electricity than she used so far in 2024, according to her NYSEG bills.

"Everybody needs answers," said Sunderlin. "We don’t mind paying what we're using for, because everything goes up."

NYSEG did increase its service charge by $2 this year, and supply and delivery rates did slightly increase. Electricity rates also went up by three cents in New York State from July 2023 to July 2024.

Some NYSEG customers emailed me and said they hadn't noticed a difference. Some said their bills have been cheaper.

NYSEG's Communications Manager Shelby Cohen has told me that there is no correlation between the smart meters and higher bills.

Because we've received so many questions and concerns from viewers, we brought them directly to NYSEG to get an explanation. You can read more here and watch our report below.

NYSEG does encourage concerned customers to call 1-800-572-1111. There's also an open house about smart meters at the West Seneca Public Library on September 26.

You can also learn how to understand your bill here .

I also went to the New York State Department of Public Service Commission. The commission's executive deputy, Thomas Congdon, was unable to do an interview however, his office sent the following statement:

"In New York, utility rate cases are scrutinized as part of the statutorily required 11-month review process to ensure customers and customers’ interests are fully protected. State regulators pore over the utility’s books to identify ways to cut costs. Nothing about a utility’s rate case is taken for granted or assumed. For the major electric and gas utilities such as NYSEG, the approved rates after this process are nearly always lower than what is requested, due entirely to this time-tested stakeholder review process. In its 2023 decision regarding NYSEG electric rates, the PSC reduced the company’s initial rate request by 50 percent, resulting in a rate increase of 10 percent in the first year and 3.6 percent for natural gas for the average residential customer. At the same time, the PSC made $27.5 million available to eligible customers through NYSEG’s energy assistance program (EAP).

The EAP, which is open to income eligible NYSEG customers, has a goal of reducing low-income households’ electric costs to no more than 6 percent of their income and is very successful in lowering bills statewide. The Governor recently signed a law that will expand the automatic data matching process which puts eligible households into this program with no need to apply on their part; this will increase the number of households in the program as soon as this fall/winter. But for Households that are not added automatically can self-identify to the utility by showing award letters from public benefits agencies, such as the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA). Also, the Department and NYSERDA have launched an Energy Affordability Guarantee Program that will similarly help households that have fully electrified through NYSERDA’s Empower+ program. Finally, if a customer has a concern about their utility bill, they are strongly encouraged to contact their utility directly. In the event that the utility is not responsive to the complaint, the customer can contact the Public Service Commission to file a complaint at https://dps.ny.gov/file-complaint [dps.ny.gov] ."