Anyone else dealing with CEI's smart meter deployment in Cleveland? I've got three commercial clients who saw massive spikes in their bills right after installation. One manufacturing plant went from averaging $18k/month to $31k in July. CEI claims the old mechanical meters were running slow for years. Yeah right. These Itron meters are reading phantom loads or something. The timing interval data shows usage spikes at 3am when the facility is completely shut down. Has anyone successfully challenged CEI on faulty smart meter reads?
CEI smart meter rollout - billing errors through the roof
Frank, we're seeing the same thing with Duquesne Light here in Pittsburgh. Three of my restaurant clients got hit with huge demand charges after smart meter install. The 15-minute interval data is showing demand spikes that don't match their actual operations. One pizza place supposedly pulled 85kW at 2:17am on a Tuesday when they were closed. I'm demanding meter accuracy tests but DQE is dragging their feet. Document everything and push for independent testing.
Same story with Ohio Edison in Youngstown. They rolled out Landis+Gyr smart meters last year and my clients are getting hammered. The old mechanical Sangamo meters were reliable workhorses. These digital units seem hypersensitive to power factor issues. One auto parts shop saw their bill jump 40% overnight. OE claims the mechanical meter was 'running 35% slow' but couldn't provide any calibration records to back that up. I'm filing complaints with PUCO left and right.
Here in Connecticut, CL&P's smart meter program has been a disaster. The Elster meters they installed are constantly malfunctioning. I had one client whose bill showed 47,000 kWh in a single day - more than they typically use in three months. CL&P's response? 'The meter is working correctly, your usage increased.' It took six months and a formal complaint to get it resolved. Always demand the raw interval data and look for impossible usage patterns.
Georgia Power finished their AMI rollout here in Atlanta last year. The Itron OpenWay meters are generally more accurate than the old GE I-70S mechanical units, but the billing system integration has been problematic. I've caught several instances where the interval data wasn't properly uploaded, causing estimated bills for months. The key is getting access to the raw meter data through their web portal. GP charges $25 for detailed interval reports but it's worth it to verify accuracy.
Update on my CEI situation: finally got them to test the meters at two of my client sites. Both meters tested within ANSI standards (±2%) but I suspect the issue is with the transformer compensation settings. These smart meters calculate usage differently than mechanicals when it comes to line losses. CEI admitted they're still 'fine-tuning' their billing algorithms. Translation: they're using customers as guinea pigs while they figure out their new system.
PECO rolled out smart meters in Philadelphia three years ago and we're still dealing with billing anomalies. The biggest issue I see is with time-of-use rates. The old mechanical TOU meters had simple peak/off-peak dials. These Sensus iConA meters capture 15-minute intervals but PECO's billing system sometimes applies the wrong rate periods. I've found billing errors where peak rates were applied during off-peak hours. Always cross-check the rate schedule against the interval timestamps.