You are wasting your time and effort!  remember PG&E was challanged on their Life Line rates during the late 70"s.  There was a meeting at Bakersfile High. Great public turnout.  Today, 25 years later, we still have very low life line rates and PG&E still calls the shots.  Move on.............

 My house has had 2 bills over $600 in the roughly 8 months since they installed the new meter, we are extremely happy if our bill is in the neighborhood of $200-$300.  We live in a 1400 sf. house in the Oleander area.  It has been completely redone with new AC, new windows, new insulation, new roof, and new gas powered heater.  This was all done before the new meter, and we don't have a bunch of electronics running up the bill.  We also don't use the air conditioner or heater very much, 69 in the winter and 83 in the summer.  The new meters are a complete scam, how can my house have bills as high as we do when my boss has a house off Stockdale Hwy. that is over 3500 sf. and his bill is constantly half of ours...it doesn't make any sense.  We have been in contact with PG&E (a complete joke), they sent out a technician out to see if our new meter was not reading properly.  The technician didn't ever know what he was doing, he had to restart his test at least 5 times and at the end said it seems to be working fine.  After he said that he also informed us that he was new to these meters and there is nothing that can be done.  I am completely frustrated...what is the consumer to do?  Not pay your bill and live without gas and electricity?

 I live in the Stockdale  Area  in a 2400 sf home.  I also have an office that runs during the day behind my home.  We use heat when we need heat, and air when we need air.  We also have a pool.  It is not unusal for me to do laundry during the day.  I have always had a PG&E bill that runs about $400.00 per month.  During the summer, the hottest time of the year my bill has gotten up to $800.00.  In walks the smart meter.  My bill has been consistantly between $800.00 and $900.00 every month.  What is going to happen this summer? 

I'm just sayin......we've all been taken.....I'm just sayin

 hmmmmmmmmmmm  I printed out all my PG&E statements from last summer through now and the only time mine was "high" was the Dec/Jan bill and I could understand that as we had family visiting and they were occupying our RV in the driveway for a week.  We hook up the electricity to the RV for guests.  Our "smart meter" was put in in October.  We did have a new AC put up in July 2007, don't know if that has anything to do with the bill not being as high.  Our Jan 07-Feb 07 was higher then our Jan 08-Feb 08.  Our house is only 1150 sf.  go figure

 just sayin-

I see $1500 in your future...probably around July...I could be wrong, my psychic skills are off at times.

 I checked mine and the usage is the same as last year.  Doesn't seem to be a problem here either.  Last year 31 days billed for 494 kwh.  This year, 32 days billed for 505 kwh.  Jan through Feb was $43.78 on Smart Meter.  And my dog doesn't even bark when it's read.

Are people comparing their bills to the display on their meter? I have to wonder if there's an error in the meter reading. All it would take is recording a "2" for the thousands slot when it should have been a "1" to signficantly increase the bill. I know now that I've been upgraded, I will be doing this quite frequently to verify if it's the meter itself or the meter reading/transmission of data that is the issue.

Lois, I never even knew I had a smart meter until your article.  Thanks for informing me.  You're a doll.

 I was told they were going to install the smart meter but then, I have a dog that strikes fear in the hearts of men so they needed my cooperation.  Prior to that, they'd been reading the old meter through my neighbors fence.

 Shwaine, the only issue with that is that if the meter was read high one month it would be corrected in the next reading.

 I'll be glad when they get the smart meters in for gas.  I'm not sure if they're estimating mine or if they're reading it from the neighbors yard in back of me.  The first winter I lived here they estimated it based on the prior occupants, a family of four with two small children.  Big difference between just me who was gone most of the time and that family.  When they finally caught me home and read it for real..I had almost no gas bill to pay the next month.

The newer homes have the meters outside the fence...MUCH better.

 Listen to this story:

     I just moved into a brand-new house in the City in the Hills development that came loaded with CFL bulbs and energy efficient appliances.  I initiated service on Feb 1, and have yet to recieve a bill.  Not more than five minutes ago I called PGE to inquire about the status of my electricity bill (I had recieved my first gas bill long ago) and their representative, Arline, informed me that my meter was being inspected because MY BILL WAS TOO LOW!

     Sure, they don't hesitate to send all of you $600 bills, regardless of the validity, but in the event they under bill me $40 or so, they begin to sound the alarm.

Sheesh

Tom, the reason I brought up confirming the meter reading is because that is just the pattern some are reporting; high one month and low the next. And those reporting consistent high bills may be signed up for that program to average costs out across the year, so one high read will do that in. When in doubt, you should always go outside and read the meter yourself just to be sure. It's really not that hard to learn to do.

 Schwain, my bad.  I thought the pattern was high then regular, not high, low then regular.

Just another smart meter horror story to add to the list:  In the 1st month after installation of PG&E's new Smart Meter, my bill soared to 10 times it's normal amount. I disputed, but they are holding firm - and before the matter has even been resolved, I received the following month bill - which takes my bill to 14 times it's normal amount. I had to argue for 2 weeks before I could even get someone to schedule an appointment to look at my meter.  Not that I trust PG&E to do the inspection, but what choice do I have at the moment. I am going to check in to the options listed in "No Holds Barred".  Great information. Thanks!

PG$E has found a way to get more money!

The old meters would only read the amount of use during a period of time (monthly) and we we're charged a flat rate for the amount used, fair enough. Now PG$E has found a way to get a rate hike through these NEW METERS.. These new meters read every half hour and send the information to PG$G.. This NEW METER method shows them that you're using power at what they call peak periods between 2pm and 7pm and they raise (double and triple?) the price for these prime times, all under the excuse of "conservation" and the need to teach you to use your appliances at different hours (which won't help you at all if you work).  Those hours are the busiest (cooking dinner and relaxing after work) and the hottest part of the day. Here in Bakersfield those temperatures are around 104 deg. to 117 deg. during the summer months. How can families shut down during those times and wait tell 7pm to cook and eat and do chores?  PG$E claims to have had brownouts and blackouts because we use so much power during these “peak” times so it's necessary to force you to pay more to learn new behavior.. Really? I would ask why PG$G doesn’t upgrade their systems to accommodate the rising population instead of feeding us their tripe about “environmental issues”? They claim they’re strapped for cash and can’t do these needed upgrades. Hmmm. Yet these neat little meters that give PG$E their rate hike have appeared on the scene (and to make the salt hurt worse we must pay for these devices that rob us), yet PG$E won’t upgrade their infrastructure to bring us the power we need and we’re their customers, paying their bills.

I am curious as to how many folks blogging on this issue have contacted the CPUC ?

I did, but now am wondering what good it will do, and do they actually 'reply' or just file the question/complaint (in a round file) ?

If you're going to complain, at least get your facts right. If you went to the PUC with your complaint as written now RoundMan, your complaint would end up in the round file because you have one key fact wrong: there is no extra charge for peak usage unless you sign up for the time of day rate plan. You have to request that rate plan. It is not the default. The default plan charges you the same amount regardless of when you use the power.

Everyone on the default rate plan has NO extra charge for peak usage. Sure, the SmartMeter reports back every hour or so and you can get a nice little time of day usage graph on the website. But that has absolutely NO effect on your bill unless you VOLUNTEER to sign up for the time of day rate plan. About the only people I know who have volunteered for the time of day rate plan are those with solar panels installed, since they are using solar power during peak hours and the off-peak rate is much lower than the default rate.

We got a smart meter almost two months ago and I haven't noticed  a huge increase in my bill so far.  Any change can be accounted for by the 25% rate increase.  What is the percentage so far of people whose bills have increased drastically after their smart meters werre installed and have they accounted for the rate increase?  I admit we turned off our AC over 7 years ago and put in an energy efficient swamp cooler.  That made a dramatic change in our bills.  Just curious.

I have the original smart meter. My rates this year are identical to last year to the dollar amount. So  considering the rate increase. Cleaning my Air unit and conservation by insuring windows and doors are kept shut, have worked for me. Trust me. Little Lacie and I follow the problem makers around the house.

I have received the notice that I am to get the newest meter in a short time.

I'll let you know.

It may be too late for the air conditioner bills this year. But have your unit serviced for the heating season. And make sure your condenser and evaporator are cleaned.

If it is dirty. It could be the explanation for many of the problems.

And yes the problem could surface over one winter period.  The Unit gradually dusting/scumming over many years. Then reaching the breaking point over one winter.

The problem that I have with pg&e is that my bill showed that I used 1900 kwh for one month whitch comes to about 68 kwh a day until they put the new smart meter on that I love because ever since they put it on my kwh went down 20 kwh a day. When they said that I used 1900 kwh my ac was set to 84 no way could I have used that much electricity but when they changed the old "smart meter" with the new one then I turned my ac down to 79 & some how used only about 50 - 55 kwh a day.