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What if you got an $11,000 power bill?
Charlotte Observer ^ | Sun, Nov. 14, 2004

Posted on 11/14/2004 8:52:39 AM PST by Willie Green

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To: Clara Lou
If he received the service and was undercharged, why shouldn't he pay for it? [providing he was actually under-charged] Everybody else in the city is expected to.

It's not quite that simple.

First of all, he was undercharged for reasons totally beyond his control.
More importantly, he runs a business. The pricing of his product includes current incidental costs. This is not a residence, where no such factors exist.

Finally, I would want an independent lab to test the old unmodified meter to verify the inaccuracy. I deal with bureaucrats. Many can be uniformly dumb as bricks and uncompromisingly dense and arbitrary.

21 posted on 11/14/2004 9:28:28 AM PST by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.)
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To: Viet-Boat-Rider

Our records show you haven't been paying enough for your power bill.

Please send the money to your local city-controlled utility monopoly no questions asked.


22 posted on 11/14/2004 9:28:48 AM PST by rwilson99 (I am a South Park Republican)
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To: Willie Green
My position would be prove when the meeter went bad.

And by the way I just added 25% to my consumption last week so don't try to prove anything with usage records.

23 posted on 11/14/2004 9:29:01 AM PST by Dinsdale
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To: Willie Green

The simple and obvious solution, if in fact it was underregistering through no fault of the businessman, would be to pro-rate the amount of the undercharge over the following three years, without interest. The owner would be paying for what he received, but would not be unduly burdened by the utility's mistake.


24 posted on 11/14/2004 9:29:08 AM PST by CatoRenasci (Ceterum Censeo Arabiam Esse Delendam -- Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit)
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To: Sarah

Well, he thought so. :-0


25 posted on 11/14/2004 9:29:57 AM PST by truthkeeper (Yeah, I have a 1998 signup date. So?)
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To: Clara Lou

Because it's unreasonable that a client is responsible for some unknown future cost resulting from a CITY mistake today. He'd have had no way of knowing if or when the meter wasn't functioning right, and no reason or ability to budget for such a surprise bill now. They can correct the problem when found and begin charging the correct amount, but I would resent and reject that they can hit me with an $11,000 lump sum bill when they have no proof of actual usage, just a wild a$$ guess, and, I might add, a w.a.g where the benefit of any error gives the highest benefit to the city.

Nope.


26 posted on 11/14/2004 9:31:22 AM PST by HairOfTheDog (<<<loves her hubbit and the horse he rode in on :~D)
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To: Brainhose
God, how I've come to detest utility companies. I hope these folks get their lawyer on this.

It's not just utilities. All public bureaucracies suffer from that same disease. The cure for ineptitude and incompetence is free services from the private sector.

27 posted on 11/14/2004 9:31:32 AM PST by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.)
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To: woofer
Yikes! How the heck do you rack up a $800 Utility bill? Use 1000 Watt Floods in every socket?

It's a restaurant. Lights are nothin'..... It's the grills and the ovens that are on all the time.

28 posted on 11/14/2004 9:33:30 AM PST by HairOfTheDog (<<<loves her hubbit and the horse he rode in on :~D)
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To: Viet-Boat-Rider

How do you know the old meter under charged him?
Maybe it's the new meter that was faulty?
Seems to me the burden of proof is on the city. He paid his bills, not his fault if they were inaccurate. Think he would get a refund if it was the other way around


29 posted on 11/14/2004 9:34:20 AM PST by Kozak (Anti Shahada: " There is no God named Allah, and Muhammed is his False Prophet")
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To: shellshocked

Under-registering, not failing to register. He was paying $800 when it maybe should have been $1200.


30 posted on 11/14/2004 9:34:52 AM PST by HairOfTheDog (<<<loves her hubbit and the horse he rode in on :~D)
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To: Willie Green

Goodbye to one more independent business.

Like our communist legislators in Arkansas - these "good ole boys" cannot get it into their pin-head brains (if any) that when tax revenues go DOWN from a falling economy, you don't raise the taxes and then wonder why the revenues fell even lower!

A vicious cycle that lawyer/politicians fall into - then if all else fails --- SUE! To hell with the "WORK ETHIC"


31 posted on 11/14/2004 9:35:34 AM PST by steplock (http://www.outoftimeradio.org)
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To: Willie Green

Why shouldn't your barber or local eatery be able to decide they should have asked you for more during the last 3 years and send you a bill for the difference? The city sold him a product, they set the price and he agreed on it, the deal was done, now they want more. No other business but govt. would be allowed to get away with this absent any evidence of fraud.


32 posted on 11/14/2004 9:36:28 AM PST by jordan8
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To: Condor51
I swear, the world is full of idiots and they ALL work for the gubmint and utility companies.

LOL!
Not all...

On a recent trip one of my suitcases apparently fell off the airline luggage "train", was dragged under the cart God-knows-how-far to the point that the suitcase material was worn off and part of the clothes inside...

Upon presenting the remnants of the suitcase at the claims counter, the first question was... "Are you sure it wasn't already like that when you checked it in?"

33 posted on 11/14/2004 9:37:35 AM PST by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.)
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To: woofer

Yikes! How the heck do you rack up a $800 Utility bill? Use 1000 Watt Floods in every socket?



It's a restaurant.

Assuming $1000/mo, $0.10/kwh, that's 10k kwh/mo, or ~300 kwh/day. If the place is operating 15 hours, that is 20 kW consumption at any time. That is like 15 ordinary toasters operating constantly.

Restaurants may have electric griddles, fryers, central heat, warmers, heat lamps, hood fans that suck the warm air out of the building. Never mind lighting, and that big bright sign outside.


34 posted on 11/14/2004 9:38:52 AM PST by Atlas Sneezed (Your Friendly Freeper Patent Attorney)
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To: Nov3
The only dog I got in this fight is "City Policy"..

"Policy" is not law... It has no legal standing..

The utility failed to insure their equipment was working properly..
The customer is not responsible..

35 posted on 11/14/2004 9:39:24 AM PST by Drammach (Freedom; not just a job, it's an adventure..)
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To: Willie Green

The first question his lawyer should ask the city is if they have ever refunded money from over charging a customer. I bet not. Silly question.


36 posted on 11/14/2004 9:39:43 AM PST by cynicom (<p)
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To: Willie Green
It was broken for almost 10 years and the city didn't notice there was a problem? TEN YEARS!

They can't ethically charge him for power they can't show he actually used. At best they're guessing based on current data which may not reflect use during the period in question.

A bill like this could put him out of business especially since we know they'll nag him to death, get a lien and who knows what else to collect.

The only "gotcha" is he should've had some reason to know the meter was wrong such as a sudden plunge in his bill about TEN years ago. Even then, it's been so long that could be explained by any number of things including rate changes, hours of operation fluctuations, expansion, remodeling, change in appliances, etc., etc.

He most certainly needs a lawyer to protect his rights because I can guarantee he'll get "screwed" by the city.

37 posted on 11/14/2004 9:43:49 AM PST by newzjunkey (San Diego, Kleptocrasy by the Sea. -- VOID the Illegal Mayoral "Election")
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To: Clara Lou

You cannot tell with any certainty how much he was undercharged. The City is saying that the meter was malfunctioning three years ago. My questions are these:

How much was it malfuctioning?

If it was malfuctioning, how do you know it wasn't OVERCHARGING for a period of time in the past?

After all, how can you trust a meter that is malfunctioning to give you an accurate reading of how much it was malfunctioning?

The City has no chance. They will settle for much less if anything.


38 posted on 11/14/2004 9:46:11 AM PST by OwnershipSociety
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To: Willie Green
This almost happened to me when I decided to read my own meter because I got tired of electric company employees being afraid of my two Rhodesian Ridgebacks. (heh, also the mail had stopped being delivered) Anyhow.... my bill doubled each month because of something I was doing wrong. After about 5 months when my bill had gone from $300 to $1500 I decided to get a fence and coast along on my overpayments for a while.
39 posted on 11/14/2004 9:50:54 AM PST by Ditter
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To: newzjunkey
It was broken for almost 10 years and the city didn't notice there was a problem? TEN YEARS!

There would be no way of knowing until a signficant difference in usage was detected. That happened when the new meter was installed. Then it would be a matter of analyzing the reason for the disparity: which meter is more accurate? The old one or the new one? If the old one proved accurate, then the new one would be faulty and should be replaced. That apparently wasn't the case, though.

40 posted on 11/14/2004 9:51:03 AM PST by Willie Green
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