Man’s BC Hydro bill spikes after smart meter installed
Posted March 6, 2012 12:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Frustration for a man in Vancouver who has seen his BC Hydro bill shoot up since the installation of a smart meter. In just months, he’s paying three times what he did.
“A few months ago, they flipped to smart meters in our condo and our bills have gone from usually around $160 for two months,” explains Brad Hugel. “The most recent one was $515 for the two-month period.”
What changed? “Just the smart meter. I mean we actually even got a more energy efficient washer-dryer in that time period too.”
Hugel isn’t even heating a detached home. He’s talking about a 900 square foot condo with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
He’s also not surprised that a hydro bill would be more in the winter. That’s one of the explanations given by BC Hydro. The rep also claimed the amount to be comparable to others in the building. “They said most of neighbours are also using about that same amount of energy.”
So he emailed several people, “When I talked to my neighbours, their bills are all under $200 at this time of year.”
Hugel asked BC Hydro to come check the meter, “They said we don’t need to because the meter seems to be working fine because it’s giving us a reading and it’s what all my neighbours are experiencing as far as their bills. Which they are not.”
Hugel moved to the province earlier last year. He knew BC was expensive but figured this was a bit much, “I’ve kind of given up. I don’t see what I can do. I’ve talked to them twice without any kind of resolution.”
Hugel is happy to pay the bill, in fact he already has, but just want to make sure it’s right.
We are still waiting for a response from BC Hydro.
If you’ve seen a huge spike in your BC Hydro bill since your smart meter was installed, let us know about it in the comments section.
