DonÂ’t pay for your neighbourÂ’s power

Crossed Utility Meters can trigger energy billing errors, meter mix-ups, and overcharges for gas and electricity. Cases at Enbridge, Hydro Ottawa, and Direct Energy show delays, audits, rebilling, and refunds.

How would you like to get billed for energy you're not using in your home?

Lately, I've resolved a few gas and hydro complaints from people surprised to find they were paying for a neighbour's gas or electricity.

Ryan Hill: After renting a townhouse in Ottawa since 2007, he heard from Hydro Ottawa that his meter had been crossed with that of another unit on his street.

Complicating things was the fact he had signed a fixed-rate door-to-door energy contract for electricity with Direct Energy in 2008 – also based on his neighbour's usage.

Eventually, both companies adjusted his bills to reflect his actual electricity consumption.

Ken and Betty Bartholomew: Their Enbridge Gas bill said they had received a new high-tech meter at their address. They knew something was wrong, since their meter had not been replaced.

"After many, many calls to Enbridge, they believed me. I have been overcharged significantly since June 27, 2009," says Ken, who lives in Peterborough.

Only last December did Enbridge come to their home, check their meter's serial number and confirm it had been crossed with a neighbour's meter. By January 23, the Bartholomews were still waiting for their bills to be adjusted and a refund to be issued.

"We agree this delay is inappropriate and does not reflect our normal service standards," said Enbridge spokeswoman Lisa McCarney-Warus.

"The normal turnaround for a crossed meter is usually 90 days between when they are identified and when they are corrected."

After upgrading its billing system last fall, Enbridge has received more complaints about errors and delays. It sent a gift card to the Bartholomews for their long wait.

Katherine Skene: She tried to set up an account with Enbridge three years ago, after moving into a Toronto house that had been divided into multiple apartments.

"Quite simply, we couldn't get a bill for our new account or an answer as to why our account wasn't being set up as requested," she says.

Last year, she got suspicious when her landlord asked for a large amount of money for gas used. She asked Enbridge to come to the house.

"We soon learned that our neighbour had been paying for our gas usage. So, we paid her the amount owed and transferred the account to our apartment, assured that the matter was resolved."

But in October, Enbridge told her that she wasn't using any gas. She started calling and again, she was getting no answers.

"It's frustrating when one considers that we originally alerted Enbridge three years ago and again in October (and then November, December, January and three times already in February) of the issues with crossed meters at our residence."

The ombudsman's office at Enbridge will provide a status update, McCarney-Warus said. This leads me to wonder where the ombudsman was when Skene was calling the past five months.

Mary Wilson: Instead of getting billed for meter charges, she was charged $273.75 for a service call to her neighbour by Direct Energy. And after asking for a correction, she found the service call removed from her bill and added again as an undefined charge.

DE spokeswoman Crystal Jongeward blamed an error reading the technician's writing on the invoice and applying the right credit to her account.

"We have provided further coaching to the representatives who worked on the account," Jongeward said.

All this goes to show that mistakes can happen when it comes to your address and your energy meters. Always check your bills and call when charges seem too high or too low, and remember that bill payment bullying might backfire in disputes.

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