Shocked by electric bills, customers ask if meter is to blame

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Electricity is more expensive in New England than in many other parts of the country, but imagine getting thousand-dollar electric bills almost every month. That's the shocking reality for some people, who believe their electric meters might be to blame.

However, they say trying to get the electric companies to replace a meter has left them feeling powerless.

David Simmons' electric meter spins so fast, it'll make your head spin. It's easy to see the difference when you compare it to his neighbor's meter just across the driveway, especially because the two homes are the same size, built at the same time by the same builder.

All the spinning leads to some shocking electric bills for Simmons. This summer, his bills ran $900, $1,000, and even $1,200 a month. Yes, he has a pool, but he says he gets jolted with high bills from National Grid every month of the year.

"The bill is greater than $750 pretty much every single month," Simmons said. "I don't see how it can't be a meter issue. When you look at it, it just makes no sense to watch what it does."

Simmons says multiple electricians have been out to test his panel and look for errant wiring or any other energy hogs, but they've all come up short.

"I would like them to, at a minimum, replace the meter,” he said. “They won't do it. They say if it's not broken, it's not damaged, your feed is fine, you have power, there's no reason for us to come back out."

National Grid says it has no record of Simmons asking for a meter replacement, and Simmons admits it’s been years since he last asked because he had largely given up.

It's a similar story for Eversource customer Lou Cohen, who says the electric bills at his condo on the Cape -- which have always been on the high side -- went through the roof this summer.

In July, "it said I used 3900 kilowatt hours, which generated a bill of $1,289," Cohen said. "I'm being assured that the meter is fine, but how do I know that?"

Except for the Fourth of July week, Cohen says he and his family only use the condo on weekends.

"Everybody I talked to was reasonable and said, ‘Lou, it just doesn't make sense,’" Cohen said. "’ There's just no way you could be using that amount of electricity.’"

Cohen has also had electricians out and tried shutting his main breaker off in case another condo was accidentally connected to his system. The only explanation anyone could give him is a faulty meter. Eversource told him it tasted fine, but he said the company couldn't offer any other explanation.

"'We tested the meter. Case closed,'" Cohen said Eversource told him. "And that was the end of it. I said, 'Can I get a new meter?' 'No.'"

Hoping to shine a light on all this, Cohen filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. Under state law, electric customers are entitled to a meter test with a state inspector present. That happened at Cohen's condo last week. But DPU says it showed his meter working correctly, which doesn't explain the high bills.

"I don't know what more I can do," he said. "I now have a threatening note that they're going to shut off my electricity if I don't pay by the end of October."

Other customers say it still may be worth pushing for a meter replacement. An Amesbury National Grid customer -- who did not want her name used -- said the company insisted her meter was fine despite years of massive bills. Only after getting her state lawmakers involved was she able to get it replaced. She supplied NewsCenter 5 with her electric bill for the month the meter was replaced. It showed her daily electric use suddenly dropped from an average of 81 kilowatt hours per day to 51-kilowatt hours per day as soon as the meter was swapped out. That's a decrease of 38 percent.

A National Grid spokesperson says the company will now test David Simmons' meter.

Eversource says they don't have an explanation for Lou Cohen's high usage but says the meter tested fine twice. The company only replaces a meter when it's defective or if a customer makes a change, like installing solar panels.

Everybody in Massachusetts will be getting a new meter in the next several years as both companies begin the transition to smart electric meters.