EPCOR customer faces giant bill after meter mix-up

A woman in rural Alberta is dreading the arrival of her electricity bill after a foul-up by two giant utility companies.

For a year and a half EPCOR has been sending Dawn Kalin, of Drayton Valley, Alta., the wrong bill.

Kalins bill actually reflected her neighbours usage, while the neighbour wound up paying for the power Kalin used.

The largest bill Kalin received was under $200, while her neighbour paid close to $450 for the same month.

EPCOR is Kalins electricity retailer but the wires and meters are owned by FortisAlberta, which provides EPCOR with customers meter readings.

Kalin said six weeks ago EPCOR called and told her to check the serial number on her electricity meter and record the meter reading, then confirmed there had been a mix-up.

My heart dropped to to my stomach and I felt sick, Kalin said.

Kalin is still waiting for EPCOR to tell her what she owes, but the difference between what the two neighbours paid over the year and a half is more than $2,000 and EPCOR says it expects her to pay.

They just told me they crossed the meters and it doesnt matter whose mistake it was. Im the owner and I have to pay it.

Kalin, who keeps livestock on a hobby farm, said she could have taken steps to conserve power had she been sent an accurate bill.

Theres lots of things I would have done differently if Id known I was consuming all the power, Kalin said.

I would have made my pasture smaller. I wouldnt have had two heat lamps in the chicken coop. Instead of having four (water-trough heaters) pluggedin I would have made it two. But you dont know until you get the bill.

Error threatened friendship, customer says

Kalin said the mistake threatened to cause a rift between her and her neighbour.

She saidthe two were friends and their children played together, but relations turned frosty when the neighbour texted to say EPCOR would only refund her for 12 months of overpayment and that she would be trying to collect the remainder from Kalin herself.

It almost wrecked our friendship, Kalin said.

If I consumed the power and she paid the bill, shes only right to get the money back. But it wasnt my fault. I shouldnt have to refund it.

Kalin saida call to the Alberta Utilities Consumer Advocate confirmed that under Alberta law EPCOR would have to refund the neighbour the entire overpayment.

EPCOR has since refunded the neighbour, but insists Kalin must pay for 12 months of usage, the maximum it is entitled to claim under the law.

Kalin said shes frightened what the mail will bring this week and feels she shouldnt have to pay for a large corporations mistake.

Bill is accurate, consumer must pay, EPCOR says

EPCOR saidit did nothing wrong and the bills it sent Kalin and her neighbour were correct based on the meter readings it was given by FortisAlberta.

FortisAlberta spokeswoman Jennifer MacGowan said Kalin was caught in a cross-metering situation.

FortisAlberta has over 500,000 customer sites and in the last year weve had instances of about 100 sites where the meters were crossed, MacGown said.

MacGowan puts the blame on mistakes by electrical contractors in a busy economy, but saidits a small portion of the the companys customer base.

Its an honest mistake when this happens and obviously FortisAlberta is there to correct it when we are aware of the situation.

FortisAlberta only collects for various distribution and system charges, whileEPCOR collects the cost of electricity.

What it boils down to is there was no EPCOR error, said Tim LeRiche, EPCOR spokesman.

Weve checked and weve accurately billed all the meter information that was given to us, LeRiche said.

Now weve gone back to the customers and will apply the appropriate credit and debit to correct the error.

We all have to pay for the energy you use. You have to pay for your energy, I have to pay for my energy, LeRiche said.

Both MacGowan and LeRiche said its up to the consumer to make sure their bill is right.

Kalin said the name, address and account number on her bills were all correct.

I mean, who reads the back, the little fine print of your meter number?

LeRiche dismissed suggestions EPCOR benefited by selling Kalin more electricity than she would otherwise have used had she been given accurate bills.

Under the rules we can go back one year. I understand this issue goes back even farther than that, so they wont have to pay for that.

Kalin said simply following the law isnt the same as doing the right thing.

I think they should eat it to tell you the truth. I dont know if it was Fortis or Epcor, but one of them should be eating the bill because it was their mess up not mine.

EPCOR response 'pathetic'

Joe Anglin, theWildrose utilities critic,calledEPCORs insistence that it made no error ludicrous.

Thats a pathetic response, Anglin said.

If they accurately billed, then they would have accurately billed. Clearly, they did not.

Anglin saidits like someone going into a store, paying the bill, then being chased down a year later for more money.

They misbilled. Thats their problem. They need to eat their mistake and be responsible and theyre not being responsible.

What they are doing is penalizing and bullying an individual and weve got to stop this whole bullying, Anglin said.

EPCOR is wrong on this. They should be held accountable and someone should step up and hold them accountable for this misbehaviour.

Kailin is moved to tears when she describes what its been like dealing with EPCOR.

Trying to deal with the neighbour, trying to deal with everything, trying to call EPCOR, calling all the Utilities Commission ... then dealing with my animals, dealing with my kids. I feel like they are picking on me.

A spokesman for Energy Minister Diana McQueen referred inquiries to Service Alberta, which said Kailins options include contacting the Utilities Consumer Advocate Mediation Team.