The Electric Company...

Just stopped in to ask why our usage was atypically low this year. Heh heh heh!!! is why.

stonyloam wrote:Just stopped in to ask why our usage was atypically low this year. Heh heh heh!!! is why.

HA! I love it! I bet they didn't find it so funny.

they were just following procedure... maybe somethin smelled funny??

well I hope they do not ask for a bail out since I am saving at least 125 a month with burning coal.

They didn't stop by to ask, they stopped by to LOOK. When someone's usage suddenly drops the first thing they do is suspect that you've jumped the meter somehow.

Congrats on using less!

Freddy wrote:They didn't stop by to ask, they stopped by to LOOK.

My thoughts exactly!

You wouldn't believe some of the clever ways that has been done but, in the end it all gets found out. Not worth the risk, There are plenty of ways to lower your electric bill without stealing it such as burning coal and believe it or not the little fluorescent scwirlly lamps save big bucks in the end. I'll have to admit some times you see some real ingenious methods, pretty funny sometimes, pretty scary other times.

Freddy wrote:They didn't stop by to ask, they stopped by to LOOK. When someone's usage suddenly drops the first thing they do is suspect that you've jumped the meter somehow.

Congrats on using less!

Ditto!!!

Some years ago The power company had a meter with a clock that registered peak and off peak usage and billed at two different rates with off peak usage at night with a very much lower rate.

I noticed that the meter readers never bothered to re -set the clock whenever there was an interruption in service. Over time the clock was about 10 hours off.

I installed a timer for the hot water heater so it would only go on at the night rate which was now day.

After a few billings they sent a man to check and arbitrarily reversed the readings. Still never noticed the clock was off.

I raised hell and accused them of fraud in falsifying the readings. They eventually reversed the readings again. They never did thank me for saving them so much money by bringing to their attention how careless their meter readers were.

Richard

franco b wrote:Some years ago The power company had a meter with a clock that registered peak and off peak usage and billed at two different rates with off peak usage at night with a very much lower rate.
I noticed that the meter readers never bothered to re -set the clock whenever there was an interruption in service. Over time the clock was about 10 hours off.
I installed a timer for the hot water heater so it would only go on at the night rate which was now day.
After a few billings they sent a man to check and arbitrarily reversed the readings. Still never noticed the clock was off.
I raised hell and accused them of fraud in falsifying the readings. They eventually reversed the readings again. They never did thank me for saving them so much money by bringing to their attention how careless their meter readers were.
Richard

I got one of those meters. Just went out and checked..... Sure enough, the time is one hour off! I'll call 'em and give 'em a piece of my mind.!
We got a timer on our electric HWH, as well!
Durn!!!!
Franco b, Thanks for the tip !!

Our electrical useage is half the amount that it was last winter because we are not using electric space heaters for supplemental heat.

National Grid stopped by the other day to swap out the meter. It appears that we were among the RANDOMLY chosen households whose meters are removed and sent to their quality assurance labs to make sure that the meters are running correctly.

Smells a little fishy to me.

No meter readers here. A few yrs back they replaced all the meters with new ones that send a signal through the wire and it tells the usage. Almost every meter reader lost their job the year those went in!

Years back I knew a fellow that lived in an old, old, log cabin. He discovered that his electricity came into the main box before the meter! Any 110V stuff he paid for, any 220V was free. He had welders and electric heat for a couple of years, free. Then, he had a change of heart and made it so he was paying correctly. It was shortly after that that the Hydro noticed something was odd. They sent out a truck and but a GiAnT brass padlock on his meter. Nothing like locking the barn after the horse is gone.

Every way that someone steals power has one thing in common: Some unsuspecting person can die.

National Grid - those are the crooks I have. Usage stays the same(real close) per month, but price monthly keeps going up? I've just about had it with them. Called & complained a few times. I have 2 teenaged daughters in the house & constantly am going from room to room & shutting things off they've left on. To no avail............

Cyber36 wrote:National Grid - those are the crooks I have

National Grid is the same company I have, Compared to Unitil they are a real bargain.
I have notice a pretty good savings by switching to those curly-que compact fluorescent lamps with no significant difference in light output. I have also noticed a drop kw use with the coal boiler as the oil burner hasn't fired all winter.

Cyber36 wrote: I have also noticed a drop kw use with the coal boiler as the oil burner hasn't fired all winter.

I have also noticed a drop in kw used. A BIG drop, since we installed the stove. Its because we now use the coal-fired clothes dryer, instead of the electric-fired clothes dryer.
A temporary cloths line stretched across the room with stove in it. Clothes are dry in less than 4 hours.
And the benefits of using coal just continue to amaze me.