We've got three manufacturing clients in Fresno who got hit with massive spikes after PG&E installed their smart meters last fall. One client saw their monthly electric bill jump from $8,400 to $14,200 with no change in operations. The new AMI meters are reading demand intervals that the old mechanical meters never caught. PG&E claims the old meters were "under-registering" but I'm seeing some suspicious patterns in the interval data. Has anyone else dealt with this mess? Looking for strategies to challenge these retroactive adjustments they're trying to push.
PG&E AMI rollout causing billing nightmares - anyone else seeing this?
Dan, TVA rolled out smart meters here in Knoxville about two years ago and we saw similar issues. The problem is that mechanical meters have inherent lag in demand registration - they're basically averaging over longer periods. Smart meters capture those brief spikes that happen during startup sequences or when multiple loads kick on simultaneously. Your client probably was getting a break with the old meter's slower response time. We successfully challenged about 30% of the retroactive billing by proving the interval data showed equipment malfunctions, not actual consumption. Get copies of all the 15-minute interval data and look for patterns that don't match their operational schedules.
Terry's right about the lag issue. MLGW here in Memphis has been pretty transparent about this during their AMI deployment. They actually sent out notices warning commercial customers that bills might increase due to "improved accuracy." What gets me is how utilities spin this as a benefit to customers. More accurate billing that costs you 40% more isn't exactly a selling point! Dan, make sure you request the meter test reports from before and after installation. Sometimes the old mechanical meters were actually reading high, not low.
AEP Texas did the same thing to us down here in Corpus Christi. One of my retail clients got slammed with a $3,800 adjustment going back six months. The AMI meter was catching power factor issues that the old meter missed entirely. Turns out their HVAC system was pulling reactive power during certain load conditions. We ended up installing power factor correction equipment and got them moved to a different rate schedule that was more favorable for their load profile. Sometimes the smart meter data actually helps you optimize the rate structure, even if the initial bill shock is painful.
Good point about power factor, Vivian. That's exactly what we're seeing with one of the clients. Their load factor was terrible during certain production runs and the mechanical meter wasn't penalizing them for it. PG&E's new AMI system is capturing everything in real-time. We're working with their facilities manager to shift some operations to off-peak hours and looking at power factor correction. The 15-minute interval data is actually pretty useful once you get past the sticker shock of the higher bills.
Tampa Electric went through this transition about three years ago. The key is getting baseline data from the mechanical meters before they're removed. We always request a final meter reading test and comparison study. TECO was actually pretty cooperative about it. In about 20% of cases, we found the mechanical meters were reading within acceptable accuracy ranges and the bill increases were due to rate schedule changes that coincided with the AMI installation. Always check if they moved your client to a different tariff during the meter swap.
Vernon raises a great point about tariff changes. Duke Energy here in Charlotte has been sneaky about that. They'll install the smart meter and quietly move commercial customers to "more appropriate" rate schedules without proper notification. We caught them doing this to a grocery chain client - they moved from Schedule SGS to Schedule MGS and the demand charges nearly doubled. The smart meter data justified the move according to Duke, but the customer should have been given options and proper notice. Dan, definitely verify your clients are still on the same rate schedules they were before the AMI installation.