Yesterday I told you about customers in Snohomish County who are facing higher than average utility bills. The response was massive. Thank you to everyone who wrote in with comments and submitted their bills. Today I went back to Snohomish County PUD to see if I could clarify some things.
Jim West at Snohomish PUD said the issue began when the utility changed from bi-monthly billing to monthly in the fall. It then began to read meters every other month. One bill is customers real usage. The next is an estimate from the previous year. But customers aren’t buying what the PUD is selling.
“Estimated bills are working well for the vast majority of our 300 thousand customers and we want to work with customers who have questions or need any assistance with a new system,” said West.
We’ve also learned the PUD has upgraded its billing systems. I asked if the utility audits its system for issues.
“We look at that system every day and every week and every month,” said West. “Nothing about going to monthly billing has raised anyones rate, changed the price anyone pays for electricity or caused any over charging over a two month basis.”
PUD also points to this winter being colder than last. The average low is only around three degrees colder but PUD says it doesn’t look at averages. Instead it’s a comparison of the number of really cold days which would cause people to run their heat higher and for longer. My advice – go to budget billing to spread out your bills evenly for the entire year and ask to get your estimate from the past 60 days not from last year.
Click here to watch my full interview with Jim West of Snohomish County PUD.
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