Is my electricity company manipulating my bill

cremeegg

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I have been in contract with one of the electricity companies for just over a year. For the first year my unit rate after discount and before VAT was 11.82 cent per unit.

I have just received my most recent bill and the rate has gone up to 18.88 cents a unit on the same basis.

The last bill on the discounted rate was based on an actual meter reading and was for 697 units, charge at 11.82 cents

The first bill on the new rate was based on an estimated reading for 1454 units, charged at 18.8 cents.

I feel that now I am on a higher rate they are bumping up the estimated usage.

Am I being paranoid.
 
Surely if the last bill under the old unit charge was an actual reading then all future usage under the new charge will be correct.

If the estimated usage is too high you can just ring up with a reading for an accurate bill.
 
Surely if the last bill under the old unit charge was an actual reading then all future usage under the new charge will be correct.

The current reading is estimated, so the number of units charged is an estimate too.

If the estimated usage is too high you can just ring up with a reading for an accurate bill.

The estimate was on 11 Jan and for a period of 66 days. Today is 22 Jan that makes it 77 days.

The bill at the discounted rate was for 697 units, the bill at the full rate was estimated at 1454 units. I'm still very suspicious. There is no reason why the usage should be less in Oct Nov than in Dec Jan. I do not have electric heating.
 
I suspect that there is a bit of manipulation in it but as soon as you move you will get any refunds due ob the readings. This should be the kita you needed to actually change immediately. AS an aside, many years ago when my mothers bill was always estimated I found that she was out by over 1000 units too much. At that time prices were falling and I was always certain they did this on purpose so as to get maximum price.
 
Perhaps the previous reading to the two you refer to was estimated? This would mean that the last bill on the previous rate is not for actual usage either as it commenced with an estimate which could be well out.

You could be right but I don't think you have a strong case as you could have taken readings yourself.


There is no reason why the usage should be less in Oct Nov than in Dec Jan. I do not have electric heating.

I would expect that most use more electricity during December and January, with the increased need for lighting even during daytime hours. Over the Christmas and new year period people are also at home more using appliances etc.
 
I'm having difficulty understanding your post.
The current reading is estimated, so the number of units charged is an estimate too.
The reading (number of units consumed) is the bit that's estimated, the rest of the invoice, number of days Standing Charge, Months' of PSO Levy, VAT Rate are at the going rate and are fixed. The Rate per Unit is the contracted rate - was the contract period up?

The estimate was on 11 Jan and for a period of 66 days. Today is 22 Jan that makes it 77 days.
Ah yes, the mysterious 10 to 12 day elapsed time from the date of the meter-reading, estimated or actual, to receipt of the invoice. The ESB (oops they're Electric Ireland this week) have told me the reason for the delay is the time it takes for ESB Networks to transmit the reading to them, which is nonsense in the 21st century. It may also be a manipulated elapsed time to help justify the €1.2 bn spend on digital meters we don't need. It may also be the time i takes to transmit data to Fujitsu or Siemens to produce invoices and have them posted back to Ireland from The Netherlands or Luxembourg

The bill at the discounted rate was for 697 units, the bill at the full rate was estimated at 1454 units. I'm still very suspicious. There is no reason why the usage should be less in Oct Nov than in Dec Jan. I do not have electric heating.
My actual reading for the corresponding periods were 679 and 1172 units. I don't have electric heating but sometimes use an electric rad.
 
The ESB (oops they're Electric Ireland this week) have told me the reason for the delay is the time it takes for ESB Networks to transmit the reading to them, which is nonsense in the 21st century.

I'm currently with Energia and I've been issued with an accurate bill the day after ESB Networks have read my meter. No real surprise here that Electric Ireland have inherited poor ESB performance.
 
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