Strange situation in Columbia MO. Ameren customer had primary service discount for years. After smart meter installation last year, discount disappeared from bills. Ameren says new meter shows secondary voltage so no discount. Customer swears nothing else changed. Any ideas?
Ameren Missouri - Lost primary discount after meter change
Seen this before with other utilities. Sometimes meter technicians incorrectly code the service voltage in the billing system during meter swaps. The actual service voltage didn't change, just the billing code.
Check the meter installation work order. Should show if any wiring changes were made. Also request Ameren verify the actual service delivery voltage with field measurement, not just what's in their billing system.
Similar thing happened to one of my Idaho Power clients. Turned out the new meter was installed on wrong side of customer's transformer. Simple fix but took 3 months to get utility to admit the error.
Victory! Ameren field engineer confirmed meter was incorrectly installed on secondary side of transformer during the changeout. Moving meter back to primary side tomorrow. Will get retroactive billing correction.
How much was the retroactive adjustment worth? Working on similar case in Kansas and trying to estimate the value.
Smart meter installations have created numerous billing errors across the industry. Always verify service voltage coding wasn't changed during meter upgrade projects. Simple data entry mistakes can cost thousands annually.