Got a weird situation with Idaho Power's Itron smart meters. Three different commercial clients have had their meters "recalibrated" in the past month, and all three saw immediate 15-20% increases in their bills. Idaho Power is claiming the meters were reading low due to "temperature compensation errors" but won't provide detailed calibration reports. Anyone else in Idaho Power territory seeing similar adjustments? This feels like the old AMI swap scam all over again, just with software updates instead of physical meter changes.
Idaho Power AMI "calibration issues" - anyone else seeing this?
Pete, I'm not in Idaho but we saw something similar with MLGW here in Memphis about six months ago. They pushed out firmware updates to about 3,000 Landis+Gyr smart meters and claimed it fixed "accuracy drift" issues. Funny how the "fixes" always result in higher bills, never lower ones. I'd demand detailed before/after calibration data and compare it to your historical usage patterns. If the increases don't align with actual consumption changes, file complaints immediately. Don't let them use software updates to manufacture phantom revenue.
Randy's right about the pattern. Entergy Mississippi pulled the same stunt last year with their Sensus AMI network. Called it "accuracy enhancement updates" and hit about 1,200 commercial accounts with retroactive billing adjustments. They claimed meters were under-registering due to "environmental factors" but couldn't explain why the same meter models in other territories didn't need similar corrections. Total cash grab. Document everything and demand independent verification of their calibration claims.
Update from Texas - just heard from a colleague that Oncor did mass meter "recalibrations" across their AMI network last month. Same story: firmware updates to fix alleged accuracy issues, followed by higher bills and retroactive charges. This is definitely becoming a coordinated utility strategy. They're using remote meter access to justify billing increases without the hassle of physical meter swaps. File complaints with your state PUC immediately - these utilities are testing how much they can get away with.