Eye-Popping Electric Bills Spark Smart Meter Investigations in Texas, California

Prior to installation my electric bills are 111, 112, 114 (2 houses):  after installation 345 (because the utility brought the payment dates up 2 months in advance) and this month 243.  Now its summer and I don't use electric heat.  The average temperature has not doubled and we don't change the thermostat....so what is different in July (smartmeters).

a.  The Michigan public service comission - who should be defending me against rising rates - failed in their protection of the consumer.  The investigation should be directed at the PSC who approved these changes.

b.  DTE has no additional expense (beyond the cost of the meters) and gets a huge drop in costs by firing the meter readers.  Futhermore gets to whack the consumer by upo to a factor of 2.  Then on top of this they bring in 2 months of accounts receivable into cash.  The profit margin must be sailing.  (Note: I don't blame DTE - they're doing what is best for their shareholders) - I blame the PSC for allowing this travesty.  So, I can choose another energy supplier - no I can't its a monopoloy position in Michigan.  Even if you do, in many states the central carrier is still in charge of the lines and those meters are going to stay (why would they cut revenue?)

c.  Peak and off peak consumption - did not affect my bill as much as the vast increase in kWHrs.  However, its 0.06 off peak compared to 0.08 peak is a nice bonus for DTE on top of other benefits.

d.  The above article is written towards the supplier, who should pay you handsomely for this puff piece.   I am sure you mean well.  We just need to understand, how loving and caring the utility is to increase your monthly rates by $100.  How wonderfully accurate the new meters are.  See, now you have the power to reduce your consumption and to learn the beauty of conservation (all rubbish). 

The customer base is getting leveled by these rate increases.  The PSC has lost its mind in allowing these rate increases.  In summary, what's another $1000 a year per client to DTE, just around 10 billion dollars.  (Not including the benefit in accounts receivable, and staffing cuts.)

I've actually seen a drop in my bill ever since I made the change to a smart meter. Erik, it's funny that you post that link, because I use Reliant. I've read that before.

Here are 5 smart meter myths: http://www.energyinyourlife.com/article.php?t=100000066

I think after reading for 2 hrs I understand the problem.  No communication on the part of Alabama Power regarding the "Proper" usage times if you want to pay less.  All the people in my neighborhood are experiencing the double bill syndrome.  My solution?  Cease to be on the grid effective immediatly.  Sounds harsh huh?

Harsh is the order of the day. I choose to be offgrid in every way from this day forward. It`s not really a hard jump for me since I am self employed, and have very little income anyway.  Maybe indigent, and offgrid is a harsh reality for most people but believe me it exists in every one of your home locations.

Harsh? Oh yes it is. Think third world, because that is where it is headed in my personal opinion. I pray, {is it still legal to do that?} for the world we live in, for the people in the world that we all stop and realize God is real, Jesus died for your sins, and if your still breathing its not too late for you.

Thank you for reading this, I hope you listened and open your heart to Jesus.

Bury your utility with writen requests for copies of your past bills and any other paper they are legally required to provide. Call them and take a long, long time on the phone. Be nice but definately take up their time. If everyone floods them with such requests, it only takes a little time on everyone's part but heaps of time on the part of the utility. If you have a local regulatory agency, flood them also. Finally, flood your state and local reps with requests that they investigate and reply. If you get a form letter from them, write back, call, bug them. Don't just sit there and accept a higher bill.

A matter that needs investigated
On case#VA107160
People Vs buddy lee George 
Los Angeles superior court norwalk California division S
Judge the Honorable Roger Ito
Los Angeles county district attorney Kang. 
A case that can be proved as unconstitutional due to the following
1.) I was denied my due process rights. 
2.) the district attorney had me charged with prison priors and strikes that I did not have and it was not until after the verdict did she admit her mistakes. 
3.) I was denied to confront witnesses I supoened 5 officers and only one showed up. 
4.) the only witness that showed up was detective hakala from Whittier police department he was the lead detective and expert witness. 
5.) there was bias with the processing of evidence he used his own lab. 
6.) he lied under oath by saying he removed the drugs before the pre search video because he had a dog. 
7.) the evidence in the case had been destroyed before the trial
Evidence was destroyed 5-29-09
The verdict was read on 8-15-09
8.) henry salcidos law firm that represented me right before the trial caused a conflict of interest by violating attorney client privilege by having a meeting with the city of la mirada without my permission nor knowledge were he discussed my case were he was convinced by the city saying I should take a deal under the condition I move out of la mirada when I get out of prison. 
9.) Henry salcido also told me at one point he didn't care If I was innocent or guilty I should take a deal. 
10.) he also told me at one point he was best friends with steve Cooley and if I gave him $180.000 and sign over the deed to our home he could make the case disappear. 
11.) their was two retired district attorneys that were working for Henry salcidos law firm that were also over familiar with sheriffs and narcotics department that were involved in my case. 
12.) through the whole case the la mirada mayor and council members had law enforcement harassing me their was about 300 or more calls made to law enforcement with the intent to have me harassed 
13.) I can also prove false imprisonment. 
14.) I was charged with possession for sales when no drugs were ever found to be in my possessing neither was any money ever recovered and according to the detective he found $13 dollars worth of drugs in our home all together in separate bags and only one had been tested the second one was never tested. 
15.) it was unconstitutional for detective hakala to target me when their was 5 occupants living in our home at the time. 
16.) the search warrant he used to get in our home the day he supposedly found the drugs was stamped denied. 
17.) the second search warrant had a type -o- error and the name on the search warrant was Walter Eugene Farris a guy that I don't know and neither did any one els that lived in our home and he had never been in our home. 
18.)The attorney that represented me during the trial had not been given enough to to familiarize her self with my case the judge refused to give her time to overlook the case.
19.) after we picked the jurors one of the jurors was prejudice he said no matter what he would find me guilty because he hates drug dealers the judge still allowed juror # 19 to hang out with all the other jurors until he was replaced. 
The following needs to be investigated
1.) violation of due process rights
2.) my state and federal rights were violated. 
3.) false imprisonment
4.) harassment 
5.) negligent
6.) malpractice
7.) wrongful conviction
8.) officer misconduct
9.) judicial misconduct
10.) cruel and unusual punishment. Email below evidence when the evidence had been destroyed a email from detective hakala to district attorney kang. 
11.) the city of la mirada offered to buy our home at cost saying under the condition I couldn't live in la mirada nor Whittier. 
12.)la mirada law enforcement was raiding our home practically daily. 
13.) before this case started detective jerry Reyes told me as he handed me his card with his hand writing on it that if I dident help him he would screw me.
14.) detective hakala and district attorney kang kept inflicting lies on the jury. 
15.) I was not on probation or parole when this case started. 
16.) our car had also been impounded 3 to 4 times every time officers said just tell us were the drugs are we won't impound the vehicle and every time I was honest by saying I don't have any drugs they impounded it any way. 
17.) detective hakala went through my confidential legal mail violating my constitutional rights instead of using normal mail he used a 42 u.s.c 1983 to identify me as living here during The trial mentioning a law suite involving Copley
18.) during the proceedings of the case no one had any idea I studied law I even represented my self in the federal courts I studied criminal and civil for about five years including 42 u.s.c $1983"s torts writs civic codes ethics even the CCR title 15 rules and regulations. 
19.) I'm hoping to resolve this with out filing in the federal courts I'm exhausting all remedies if the matter is not resolved then I'm given not much choice because I was wronged 
Sorry but this is frustrating I just want this matter looked into. 
20.) I can prove the following. 
1.)defamation of character. 
2.) false imprisonment. 
3.) negligence. 
4.) harassment. 
5.) malpractice. 
6.) wrongful conviction. 
7.) constitutional violations with my civil rights. 
8.) including $10.000 dollars of damage to our home. 
9.)reckless disregard.  
10.) coaxing
11.) including due process rights involved in a criminal court proceeding involving corruption. 
12.) the situation that escalated 
Into this case was a incident involving a parole officer mr verimontes he worked for la mirada public safety and the Santa fe springs parole department in the year 2001
He was contracted by both at the same time their was a incident involved with are daughters boy friend driving a vehicle in a irate speed going to autozone test driving a 1997 ford explorer some car was parked 3 ft out from the curb 
And some kids were playing in the middle of the street they moved out of the street as he was driving up hill and swerved to miss the car when we got back a neighbor showed up cussing and yelling in a violent manner as I got out of the passenger side he was trying to provoke me I asked him to calm down he told me fuck you I said I have kids and theirs no need for this he stated bull I ignored him and went next door and eventually went to the store with our cousin next door not knowing while we were gone the neighbor had called the sheriffs by time I got home their was no law enforcement around but when I reported to parole I was giving him the heads up about possible call made to law enforcement with our address he asked did you have any police contact I stated no he said don't worry about it then that nite shows up with law enforcement to arrest me for driving with out a license I was in jail double the normal time waiting for my bpt hearing mean while I hired a attorney for ADA issues he had no idea that the attorney representing me at board had investigated his wrong doing because he went to every neighbor showing first my whole criminal past then mug shots asking if they seen me driving the attorney caught him lying under oath at least 12 times the commissioner let me go home when I had got out mr verimontes told me pack up your shit your moving back to Sacramento in such a irate manner to were other people eventually had to get him he told me that if I appealed him he would get a petition with our neighbors so I reported to parole in Sacramento and while I was there I filed a 602 inmate appeal demanding It to be exhausted so I could file a 42 u.s.c $1983 I charged him with the following
1.) racial profiling 
2.) negligence
3.) harassment 
4.) deformation of character 
5.) false imprisonment 
6.) I filed to a copy of the bpt hearing tape only to find out it had been damaged 3 days after the hearing when it was not suppose to be damaged for 120 days were I was entitled to a copy of it only to be denied eventually the 602 complaint allowed me to come home after he was involuntarily moved from both jobs. 
7.) the city mayor and council members had sheriffs going through any lengths to get me for anything just to send me to prison also to force me to move from la mirada. 
8.) we had a 2002 ford explorer literally torn apart to the point it was not worth having the interior completely destroyed. 
9.) our home was stalked by sheriffs to the point our kids moved out. 
10.) their are witnesses to two sheriff deputies named Morris and tousey that work for the city of la mirada telling every drug addict that I am a kingpin and a drug dealer. 
11.) we even called the sheriffs about some one driving a car into our garage door they showed no interest in the damage done to our home. 
12.) the sheriffs also known our home had been broken into and vandalized on numerous occasions. 
13.) Morris and tousey also were telling people say his name you go free Morris and tousey are Los Angeles county sheriffs. 
THIS ALL ADDS UP WASTEFUL
SPENDING

Buddy George - VA107160From: joanne alberry
View Contact To: LAURIE YTARTE -----------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
-- Laurie,here is the email from the Detective 
telling the court that all the property was
destroyed. Sorry about all of it. Feel free to mail
me any payments you can at my office address
4229 Main St Suite 4 Riverside CA 92501 I will
let you know when I find an attorney who will
take on a governemtn entity. good luck to you
and Buddy,Joanne ---------- Forwarded message
----------From: Date: Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 7:23
AMSubject: Fw: Buddy George - VA107160To:
joannealberry@gmail.com Hi Joanne, Per our
conversation, here is the email from Detective
Hakala confirming that the evidence was
destroyed. I will request that our matter be taken
off calendar today. Thanks. ----------------------
Forwarded by Miriam Kang/DAUsers/NLADA on
09/25/2009 07:22 AM --------------------------- To:
cc: Subject: RE: Buddy George - VA107160 I
contacted our central property and the items
seized in the Buddy George case (408-15814-
0460-184) were dispoed on 05-29-09. Any other
questions just let me know. Eric ---------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: MKang@da.lacounty.gov
[mailto:MKang@da.lacounty.gov]Sent: Thu
9/24/2009 2:49 PMTo: Hakala, Eric J.Subject:
Buddy George - VA107160 Hi Detective Hakala,
Just as a reminder, please email me a letter
confirming that the the property booked into
evidence for this case has been disposed of and
the date of disposal. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,Miriam KangDeputy District
AttorneyTel: 562-807-7211 

You ever notice that 99% of the time "errors" in the cost of anything is in the business's favor.

What's to stop these people, who, like PG&E, have proven time and time again that they put the bottom line WAAAAY above the interests of their customers from simply fudging the numbers when they come into their offices via computer? Nothing. Not a thing. It'd be simple as pie, no one to watch over them either. Just a few cents per customer can really add up. But I'm reading of HUGE increases. The corporations know that by the time the issue is investigated they will have pocketed many millions of dollars.

Do we have a legal choice NOT to accept these meters?

Nothing in my electric usage has changes either but when the smart meter went on my house my bill went from 200 to over 450 a month sometimes higher. I disputed it but pge states the meter is correct. We never run the air condition, actually we are always at work. Me and the wife no kids. We wash clothes once a month (at night per PGE reccommendation). But no difference in the bill. I am getting ready to just hit the dam meter and break it so they can have a reason to get me a different meter. They would not evern just replace the smart meter with another smart meter, Just in case mine was malfunctioning. I mean how hard could that be. When they placed the smart meter on my old place, the light bill did not change at all. I would hate to see what my neighbors bill is due to they all have kids,pools and run the air conditions all the time. I have no idea what else to do. Obviously PGE could care less about people, they only care about their pockets (example san bruno, not using the money they received to fix the gas line). What goes around comes around. It will come back to them three fold!!!!

I keep a daily log on my electric use. Recently, my meter was replaced right after I made my daily recording. When my bill came I had readings from old and new meters. The final reading on my old meter was exactly 100 units higher than what I had recorded just before it was changed. I asked Reliant if they made a recording error since it was exactly 100 over my recorded reading. Twenty-five days later they informed me they were sticking with their number. Copies of my daily log and Reliants responses will be forwarded to the Commission. Should be interesting to see what Commission does with facts.

My bill went from 57 in june to 114 in july, I don't have air conditioning and nothing has changed.

rip off!!

In May of 2009 my electricity bill for a family of 4 was $85. In July 2010 my bill was $160 with 3 people at home and no change in appliances. That's close to a 100 percent increase. Don't tell me i'm not being gouged. I'm filing a formal complaint with the PUC and giving them copies of my bills. Only had the smart meter 2 months and the biil went up more than $40 a month in that time alone. By the way, I live in Los Angeles, not up north. Class-action suit anyone?

These meters are to force us to change our ways others see fit (Marxism?). And if you dont want to change will will charge you an arm and a leg. What ever happen to our government and utilities that simply provided a service for x cost. Now they want to double tax us on most everything and give away our hard earned money to just about any company able to apply for grants/funds. I want the damn power company to provide me electricity not monitor my household for when and on what I use my electric on. Its none of their bussiness or anyone elses. They can see excactly what your useing most of the time once these smart meters are in, and you can see how by checking out programs like googles power meter which shows you when a light is on or fridge comes on etc. Im getting really tired of big brother and his pals spying on us. These smart meters are nothing more then the utilities being able to charge us more in the name of trying to force us to use less and at odd times of the day. All in all its a scam. Anyone think useage of cars will go down if getting gas at 5am in the morning is cheap and double the price during the 2-6pm time. Im buying a unit of energy regardless if its in the form of electric or gas. One more point befor I get off my soap box is imagine once they think of doing this time of use priceing on water. Everyone will pay out the nose to use it at any normal time and no dought many will opt for a lower bill while taking showers at midnight in order to prevent being ripped off.

This one of the questions from supporters of these smart meters: The big question is: Who will entice pesky consumers into “behavior change”

One day, smart meters will become commonplace around the world with energy customers who will become accustomed to checking the displays in order to supervise the energy consumption within their households.

Dear PG&E, Here is the evidence behind Smart Meter fraud. Would you like names?

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=4036600...

I live in San Diego and got the smart meter installed two months ago. My bill is usually around $100, and the one I just got was $22! I'm not complaining, but it does not seem accurate.

"it makes sense their bills will go up"

Not if their energy use remains unchanged. The point of many of these complaints is that their normal use patterns have remained the same, but the bills increased tremendously after installation of these meters.

The electric companies had to have known that new meters would have been the subject of controversy. I can't imagine a wide-scale conspiracy here. Maybe they are just *more* accurate?

EVER HEARD OF JAMMER ? THESE NEW METERS WILL FAIL ON A SCALE UNSEEN OR IMAGINED. IN THE END THIS MISTAKE WILL COST CHINA SOME INTEREST ON THEIR JUNK BONDS. TAXPAYERS MONEY? GET YOURSELF INDEPENDENT FROM CORRUPT IDIOTS AND SAVE SOME FOOD AND WATER.

Sullivan, Missouri a small town about 60 miles S.W of St. Louis got smart meters starting 2005, finished in 2008-09. Now over 500 - 600 of the 6000 residents are having the same issues with the readings on the digital meters. Very high KH usage, not posible for a single lady by herself to use 7700 KH in one month. Many have gotten over $500 - 700 bills this past month. They are starting to investigate, it has to be in the faulty digitial meters, lawsuit may be pending if they don't find an answer to help the people. I see we are not the only towns having this issue, the Public Utilities Commission needs to get on top of this, people are being forced out of town by cut-offs of electricity.

Thanks,
Anonymous

There are many complaints from the Texas electric consumers about these "Smart Meters" that made our life sour due to their inaccuracy. I hope they would take every smart meter out of our households and do something about the money we have paid to the Texas electricity providers.

I think the electric bill will probably be even higher in the summer, and perhaps lot more blackouts.