| Author |
Message |
    
beppolina
Citizen
Username: Beppolina
Post Number: 22
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 12:24 pm: |     |
Before I phone them, did anyone else have a GIANT PSEG gas bill for July? We had a meter reader come by two weeks ago, and suddenly we went from the usual $40 to EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS. I'm not kidding.
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sportsnut
Citizen
Username: Sportsnut
Post Number: 488
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 12:27 pm: | |
Yes, mine was higher. It went from $69 to well over $200. At first glance it appears that the previous month was the dreaded "estimate" and the most recent month was an actual reading. That combined with the new rate increase led to the surprise.
$800??? ouch. |
Nohero
Citizen
Username: Nohero
Post Number: 2007
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 12:29 pm: | |
It did not happen to me, but it happened to someone I work with, on his electric bill. PSE&G just had a large rate increase (on both the gas and electric sides of the Company). You should check to see when your last ACTUAL meter reading was, prior to the last one. If PSE&G was estimating your bill for a long time, and then comparing your recent actual reading to the prior estimate, your usage number could be REALLY big for the last month.
So, rate increase, plus inflated monthly usage figure, equals a big bill.
So, call them and complain. |
jab
Citizen
Username: Jab
Post Number: 105
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 12:48 pm: | |
The bill we received this week was in the normal range, but they included a notice that because of electric deregulation electric rates are no longer capped as of August 1, 2003. The notice also said that PSE&G is now allowed to recover from its customers for debts accrued while rates were capped. Does anybody know how this will affect our bills? The notice does not seem to say anything about gas prices. |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 1687
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 1:00 pm: | |
In May or June, we had quite a shock as our monthly payment plan was adjusted upwards following the cold winter. The adjustment was in the neighborhood of $500 to compensate for underpayment during the last few months of the fiscal year. |
johnny
Citizen
Username: Johnny
Post Number: 711
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 1:07 pm: | |
I have been hit with adjustments as much as a couple of hundred bucks once I get an actual reading for gas (after many months of estimates). |
algebra2
Citizen
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 1172
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 2:15 pm: | |
mine went down? silly question ... was it the gas or electric that went up, I don't have gas. |
bets
Citizen
Username: Bets
Post Number: 374
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 2:19 pm: | |
Be cautious if it went down, Algebra. A few years back, I did not notice that I didn't have an "actual" reading for a few years (I don't have access to the meter), and they kept lowering my averaged bill based on the entire year's estimated. Then - boom! - an actual reading occurred, I was hit with a bill for $500+, and my estimated monthly went up over 100 percent.
I don't know how they get away with it, especially since they're "deregulated." |
tototoo
Citizen
Username: Tototoo
Post Number: 137
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 5:58 pm: | |
Our "budget balance" month is in December. Last December we got a rude awakening from PSE&G to the tune of about $50 more per month on our bill plus about $470 to balance our "budget" with PSE&G. Whew, that hurt at Christmastime for sure. Okay, now we're paying more per month. In July, in the middle of our "budget" we get an adjusted bill for about $50.00 more per month. I was going to call and complain but then I remembered the hit I took last December for the "balance" part. It was a brutal winter and we do have gas heat. I'm just scared about what their recovery allowance is going to attach to my bill come this December. It's a rock and a hard place, I like lights and I like heat and I don't have many options. I'd predict it's going to get worse (costlier) before it gets better. And the Farmer's Almanac is calling for BRUTAL this coming winter. |
OK, it's Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 398
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 6:17 pm: | |
In my last home, I used PSE&G's bill evening service. My monthly payments were the same every month. If, at the end of the year, an adjustment was necessary, they'd send me a thirteenth bill for the year. One year, they sent me money and adjusted my bill downward!
I might sign up for this again.
Tom Reingold
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Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 1877
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 9:43 pm: | |
Beppolina:
It sounds like you either have been receiving estimated readings for a long time or you have a faulty meter. PSE&G will check the meter if you ask.
If your problem is the result of a number of months of estimated readings, you might consider having a meter installed outside your house. We did this after experiencing the kind of energy charge fluctuations you describe. There was an initial cost but we found over the years that it was well worth it since we have avoided the kind wildly fluctuating energy bills that you describe.
Signing up for PSE&G's equal payment plan should also help avoid the kind of widly fluctuating payments that you describe. There was information about PSE&G's equal payment plan enclosed with this month's PSE&G bill.
Good luck! |
DrFalomar
Citizen
Username: Drfalomar
Post Number: 9
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 10:09 pm: | |
After I kept calling and scheduling appointments for a meter guy to come when someone was actually home, despite much resistance on PSE&G's part, they now regularly come on Saturday morning around 10am. Everyone is happy. |
ashear
Citizen
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 678
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - 9:21 am: | |
You can also just read your own meter and either call in the readings or enter them on the PSEG website. |
beppolina
Citizen
Username: Beppolina
Post Number: 24
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - 11:16 am: | |
Wow -- thank you so much, everyone, for the info. I'd stand you a pint at St James's Gate but....I'M BROKE. ;-) |
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