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CC
cascade curmudgeon



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CC
cascade curmudgeon
PostSun Jan 31, 2016 10:33 pm 
Sigh. CJ, you really need to let this go. Did you read this quote from the king5 story you posted? "Every 60 days you are going to pay just for the amount of electricity you have used on a two month basis," said Jim West, Assistant General Manager for Customer Service. " Did you play the Almost Live skit that Sluggo posted?

First your legs go, then you lose your reflexes, then you lose your friends. Willy Pep
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Chief Joseph
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PostSun Jan 31, 2016 10:39 pm 
CC wrote:
Sigh. CJ, you really need to let this go. Did you read this quote from the king5 story you posted? "Every 60 days you are going to pay just for the amount of electricity you have used on a two month basis," said Jim West, Assistant General Manager for Customer Service. " Did you play the Almost Live skit that Sluggo posted?
How in the H are you going to pay "just for the amount of electricity you have used" when they are estimating half of it? You won't be paying for what you actually use, you will be paying for what they estimate you used. Again, I have read dozens of comments of people with exorbitant bills since this monthly billing took effect and I find it hard to believe that they are ALL wrong.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Chief Joseph
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PostSun Jan 31, 2016 10:52 pm 
CC wrote:
Did you play the Almost Live skit that Sluggo posted?
Now why would I bother to read the postings of likely the most narcissistic person on the face of the earth? I might go insane or need to attend anger management classes if I did. lol. But good for you to have complete trust that PUD has the best interests of the consumer in mind. I saw a video about an elderly lady who was notified that her meter had been faulty and was reading too low. They 'estimated' that her meter had been faulty for 3 years and she had to pay an additional $1200 for *their* mistake. I suppose you think that's ok too? http://jessejones.com/story/jesse-looks-into-back-billing-from-utility-companies/

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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mike
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PostSun Jan 31, 2016 11:20 pm 
Chief Joseph wrote:
you will be paying for what they estimate you used.
No. You pay what the meter says. Period. End of story. You are misunderstanding the accounting method. It's simple math.

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Chief Joseph
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PostMon Feb 01, 2016 1:07 am 
Fair enough, I get that now. http://www.snopud.com/AboutUs/changes.ashx?p=2797 That still doesn't explain why so many people are complaining about inflated bills since the new billing structure took effect. I suppose they are simply lying. rolleyes.gif

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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nut lady
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PostMon Feb 01, 2016 3:33 am 
We bought our home in June 2015. We were previously in King County, so we have a new PUD account. When we moved in we had ductless heat pump installed and insulation under the house put in (there was none at all previously). We received rebates on both of these projects from PUD. We also bought a new energy efficient washer and installed a new water heater. Again BOTH of those came with rebates from PUD. The house already had new windows installed. We have had 3 PUD bills, all under $100 for our water and electric. This month we got a $465 bill - showing only $.64 for water, the rest for electricity. Though we conserve as we can, we certainly used more than $.64 worth of water. There is also no way the two adults who live here suddenly jumped that much in our electrical use AFTER installing energy saving updates. When I questioned this, they sent someone out to check our water meter to make sure it was not broken. They then tell me that since we are new here, they have nothing to base previous electrical use on for estimating, so they used the usage from last year. There was a family of 3 adults and 3 children here. They used only archaic baseboard heaters. I would much rather they come read my meter and bill me for what we actually use. Yes, if they overcharge, they deduct next month and I get a small bill. But we are retired on a fixed income - I can not budget easily when the power bill is all over the place.

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Randito
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PostMon Feb 01, 2016 4:32 am 
Chief Joseph wrote:
That still doesn't explain why so many people are complaining about inflated bills since the new billing structure took effect
Well any change will have some people complaining. With 100,000s of people living in Sno Co if just 1% of people complain, that is still thousands of complaints. I believe the weather has been a bit colder this winter and isn't the rate ($/kwh) slightly increased as well? For retired folks living on a fixed income the link above mentions an assistance program. There is also annual averaged billing option, but you need twelve months of service and a zero balance to enroll in that.

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Chief Joseph
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PostMon Feb 01, 2016 2:01 pm 
nut lady wrote:
They then tell me that since we are new here, they have nothing to base previous electrical use on for estimating, so they used the usage from last year.
And therein lies the problem imho, "estimating" does not seem right no matter how you look at it, unless they plan to actually pay YOU next time, then it appears you have been ripped off. Get Jesse! smile.gif PS, how can they do an accurate 'estimate' when so many factors might have changed since the previous year as was mentioned by Nut Lady? They should have either stuck with bi-monthly billing or read the meter every month. Plus, it seems like meter readers should have been made obsolete by now given technological advances. O' well, since people have no alternative other than to install a very expensive solar power system, we are simply at their mercy and that sucks. But, then electricity is *optional*.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Chief Joseph
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PostMon Feb 01, 2016 3:00 pm 
RandyHiker wrote:
I believe the weather has been a bit colder this winter and isn't the rate ($/kwh) slightly increased as well?
Yes, that's their "excuses"....if you buy that then I have some oceanfront property in Az to sell you. They say the new billing is part of a "system upgrade"....ya right, more like smoke and mirrors and another way to extort money from poor people.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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reststep
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PostMon Feb 01, 2016 5:44 pm 
This is from the Snohomish County PUD website
Quote:
Estimated Bill Options Customers who feel the estimated usage is too high or too low can call or visit PUD Customer Service. Here are your options: •If you feel your estimated usage is too high or too low: we can make arrangements with you to pay an agreed-upon amount to cover that monthly estimation. As would normally occur, once the meter is actually read the following month, you would simply pay the difference (i.e., your actual usage for the previous two-month period minus the agreed-upon payment).
It sounds like they might make adjustments to the estimated bills. Actually after reading it again, I am not sure what it says.

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
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mb
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PostMon Feb 01, 2016 7:08 pm 
can't you just read your meter to them? that's how it worked 30 years ago where i grew up if they missed your meter on a given month.

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Nancyann
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PostMon Feb 01, 2016 9:05 pm 
Reststep wrote: "Actually after reading it again, I am not sure what it says" In case anyone is uncertain how a light meter is read, you read the little clocks from left to right. The first one is read clockwise, the next is read counterclockwise, and so on until you get to the last one on the far right, which is read clockwise. Read your meter at the first of the month and again at the end of the month. Subtract the first read from the last read. That is how much energy you used. (I was a light meter reader for Seattle City Light in a past life.) CJ wrote "Well, apparently this only happens to non-hikers, not surprisingly." and "Well, apparently us hikers are immune to problems with this new billing system." Aren't we cool? biggrin.gif

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Chief Joseph
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PostThu Feb 04, 2016 12:28 pm 
Thanks for that info Nancy, much appreciated! It appears that this whole controversy is not as simple as some might think, now they are going to have a public meeting. http://jessejones.com/story/snohomish-pud-will-hold-night-meeting-about-bills/ They will likely just spew a bunch of PC rhetoric that the general public will not understand, but o well. Not sure why they didn't just stick with reading the meter every 2 months? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"...although in this instance "fix" might have an alternate meaning.. nopity.gif

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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JVesquire
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PostThu Feb 04, 2016 12:43 pm 
I had this happen on a rental I was managing. They "estimated" a bill that is usually $45 to be $1500. The bills were on autopay, so I just barely caught it.

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Randito
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PostThu Feb 04, 2016 1:09 pm 
JVesquire wrote:
I had this happen on a rental I was managing. They "estimated" a bill that is usually $45 to be $1500. The bills were on autopay, so I just barely caught it.
With a bill like that on a rental, the first think I would check was of one of the tenants was running a grow operation.

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